[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/05\/sports-medicine-niko\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/05\/sports-medicine-niko\/","headline":"Italy-Bound Goalkeeper Trains with Sports Performance: Niko’s Story","name":"Italy-Bound Goalkeeper Trains with Sports Performance: Niko’s Story","description":"\u201cHe\u2019s probably one of the top athletic people I\u2019ve ever worked with because he\u2019s so well-educated. I honestly wouldn\u2019t want to work with anybody else.\u201d \u2013Niko Niko has been kicking a soccer ball for as long as he can remember. A beloved sport that he grew up playing in Baltimore has led him to Pittsburgh, […]","datePublished":"2020-05-22","dateModified":"2020-05-22","author":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/services\/sports-medicine-regions","name":"Sports Medicine","url":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/services\/sports-medicine-regions","sameAs":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/sports-medicine\/","parentOrganization":"UPMC"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"UPMC HealthBeat","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/iStock-1150952747.jpg","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/iStock-1150952747.jpg","height":325,"width":754},"url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/05\/sports-medicine-niko\/","about":["Health Topics A-Z","Sports Medicine"],"wordCount":1241,"articleBody":"\u201cHe\u2019s probably one of the top athletic people I\u2019ve ever worked with because he\u2019s so well-educated. I honestly wouldn\u2019t want to work with anybody else.\u201d \u2013Niko Niko has been kicking a soccer ball for as long as he can remember. A beloved sport that he grew up playing in Baltimore has led him to Pittsburgh, taken him across Europe and back, provided him a virtual global audience, and will soon take him to Italy to further his goal of becoming a professional footballer. Both a player and coach, a true student of his craft, Niko has been dedicated to attaining his dream,\u00a0 and he is well on his way to achieving it.Connections to UPMC Sports MedicineAfter playing at a community college Division I level for two years, Niko transferred to Point Park University (PPU) to finish out his college career. As PPU\u2019s team physician and athletic trainers (ATs) are provided by UPMC Sports Medicine, Niko was able to receive medical advice and referrals from them to treat his injuries and help improve his mobility and performance. When he noticed pain in his hamstring while training for his junior season, he turned to team physician Kelley Anderson, DO, first.Dr. Anderson booked Niko a priority appointment at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex and saw him in a matter of days. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t until I saw Dr. Anderson at UPMC, and she sent me for some tests, that I knew I had a herniated disk,\u201d he says. Dr. Anderson met with Niko again a few days later to discuss an action plan and help him adapt his training regimen while working through recovery. \u201cShe helped me stay active while being safe,\u201d Niko reflects. Determined to provide Niko a full recovery, Dr. Anderson referred him to Shane Conley, PT, DPT, OCS, for physical therapy at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex and continued to check on his progress. \u201cShane healed my back and helped me feel so much better,\u201d Niko says.Next-Level Sports Performance ServicesBut Niko\u2019s journey with UPMC Sports Medicine wasn\u2019t quite over. After making a full recovery and excelling in his junior and senior seasons, Niko complained of inflexibility and stiffness to the PPU athletic trainers, something he says he has always struggled with but finally decided to address if he could. The ATs immediately thought of Ron DeAngelo, MEd, CSCS, director of sports performance at the UPMC Freddie Fu Sports Medicine Center. Niko started to train with Ron in February 2020.\u201cI went to see him and, within minutes of evaluating me, he knew exactly what I needed,\u201d Niko says. \u201cThe exercises I did on the very first day already had me feeling 10 times better and more mobile.\u201d Niko shares that while he works with Ron on mobility and strength, he works with Sports Performance Coach Sam Pitcairn, USAW, on his diet\u2014a full package that helps Niko practice healthy habits as he continues his athletic career and contributes to his overall wellbeing. \u201cEverything that Ron and Sam have had me do has really changed my body composition for the better and boosted my energy levels,\u201d Niko says. \u201cI feel very energized and active, ready to take on each day.\u201d The specifics of Niko\u2019s training regimen with Ron include resistance band exercises, active warmups, weight training, and more. The band exercises are done in specific motions and at specific speeds to retrain the muscles and joints and loosen them up, thereby furthering mobility. The active dynamic warmups help prepare the body for intense training, while the weight program is individually designed to build muscle and stamina in the areas most important to each athlete, depending on their sport and position. The weight training varies from upper body to lower body and everything in between, and the reps and sets are tailored to each athlete based on their experience and growth in the program.Creativity Outperforms ChallengeConveniently, most of what Niko learns from Ron can be practiced at home and applied to his everyday training regimen. As Sports Performance services are largely digital during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Niko hasn\u2019t been able to train with Ron in recent months, but they\u2019ve kept in touch. Niko has continued to train on a daily basis, and he hopes to resume his regular in-person training with Ron. With a stay-at-home order in place, Niko says that he has stayed active by working on cardio with sprints and plyometrics and strength with bodyweight exercises.\u201cThis has been an unusual time for workouts, but it has been a nice challenge as a player and coach,\u201d Niko says. Not only has he played on a variety of community, traveling, collegiate, and semipro teams, Niko coaches many of them as well. \u201cThis has been a time of growth as a coach,\u201d Niko says. \u201cI\u2019m able to design my own workout routines to do individually. I\u2019ve never encountered a challenge like this before where I couldn\u2019t train with a team, but now I have this new perspective on individual training, especially without weights.\u201dA Dream on the Horizon\u201cAs soon as Ron\u2019s program opens back up, I plan to go back and work with him for a few weeks before I have to leave Pittsburgh,\u201d says Niko, who is moving to Italy in August 2020 to attend the Soccer Management Institute (SMI). This one-year master\u2019s program yields a degree in coaching, as well as a UEFA B coaching license. While the program\u2019s Serie A connections provide ample opportunity for trials, or extended tryouts, with professional teams, the program also provides students the tools to carry soccer throughout more of their lives through coaching. Niko is one of 25 men and 25 women who will attend the SMI at the American University of Rome during the 2020-2021 academic year.Reflecting on what Ron and the Sports Performance team have done so far to help prepare him for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Niko says, \u201cHe\u2019s probably one of the top athletic people I\u2019ve ever worked with because he\u2019s so well-educated and understands what he\u2019s doing\u2014to the extent of assigning helpful stretches and mobilities within minutes of seeing me. The way he\u2019s been able to change how I feel is fantastic, and his level of knowledge is impeccable. I honestly wouldn\u2019t want to work with anybody else. It\u2019s just unfortunate timing that I\u2019m leaving soon, but I wish I could\u2019ve worked with him a lot longer. We continue to keep in touch. It\u2019s truly some of the best training I\u2019ve ever gotten.\u201dFinally, Niko shares that this training has helped with his overall education as an athlete and coach, not only offering an educational process for himself, but providing additional knowledge that he can pass on to the teams he coaches. \u201cThe process, the exercises\u2014they\u2019re simple,\u201d Niko says, \u201cbut they have made all the difference.\u201d All of us at UPMC Sports Medicine are proud to know an athlete and coach like Niko and wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors.While PCP and physical therapy services are typically covered by health insurance, sports performance services typically are not. Please consult your health plan if you have questions about your coverage.To schedule an appointment with Sports Performance at UPMC Sports Medicine, please call 1-855-93-SPORT (77678). To learn more, visit UPMCSportsMedicine.com."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2020","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"05","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/\/05\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Italy-Bound Goalkeeper Trains with Sports Performance: Niko’s Story","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/05\/sports-medicine-niko\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]