Rangel’s son, Steffin, has been
participating in the Plyo-City program for the past
three years trying to increase his vertical jumping
ability. After playing just two years of high school
volleyball, Steffin, who is now 6 feet 6, can jump and
touch 11 feet 9 inches. He’s been ranked as one
of the top five high school volleyball players in the
country and is being heavily recruited by universities
from around the nation.
“He’s my son, but he’s also my poster
boy for the program,” Rangel said. “We
live in a society that will only believe in a program
and try it if they can physically see the results.
I just have him jump a few times and I’ve got
new customers.”
The first set of classes Rangel held were at the Laguna
Beach Volleyball Club because it was centrally located
and it was close to his house in Laguna Niguel. And
despite the fact that Rangel moved to Huntington Beach
last January so Steffin could attend Marina High School,
it’s still his most popular facility.
“It doesn’t matter if you come from San
Juan Capistrano, Mission Viejo, San Clemente, Irvine,
Dana Point or Coto, you’re still there in 20 minutes,”
Rangel said. Rangel admits that though Plyo-City has
been extremely lucrative for him, it never has been
about money.
“I feed off the results and get a charge
when I see the kids seeing results,”
Rangel said. “I make my living exercising, working
with kids and making athletes better at what they do.
If I wasn’t making anything, I would still love
what I do.”
Rangel has 50 athletes he trains free of charge
because they just couldn’t afford it otherwise.
I offer partial and full scholarships to my program,”
Rangel said. “Nobody should ever be denied reaching
their maximum potential because of a lack of money.
I like working with those kids because those are the
ones who tend to work the hardest for me.”
Rangel gave us a Up Close look at his Plyo-City Youth
Development Program and what it’s meant to him
and his son:
PLYO WHAT?
Usually done in a group setting, plyometrics is a
series of hops, skips, jumps, cone hops and mat work
designed to increase and athlete’s foot speed,
quickness and vertical jumping. The word plyometrics,
in the original Greek form, means “measurable
increases,” which is exactly what the
aim of the program is.
JUMP START
While trying out for the Junior National volleyball
team in 1978, the coaches had us performing some drills
that they said would help us jump higher. Well, as it
turns out, I injured both my quadriceps running and
was the last person cut from the team that year. But
I started trying the drills on myself at home twice
a week and I noticed my vertical jump increased after
two months. Fast-forward three years ago when I have
a son who wants to be a volleyball player. A group of
kids we knew came over to us while we were jumping on
the grass at Aliso Niguel High School and asked to train
with us.That group saw increases in their jump after
just a month, and parents wanted to pay me for it. It
just exploded from there.
Building
The Bobby Knights of the world are now considered archaic
because the athletes are smarter today. They don’t
care about how much you know; they want to know how
much you care. Once they learn that, they will run through
a wall for you. My program is a success not
because of visible results in the fast twitch, quick
feet or vertical jump, but because people leave feeling
better about themselves than when they came in.
We build self-esteem by being positive and encouraging,
by making it hard work but fun at the same time. I get
three to four calls a week from parents saying that
their son or daughter doesn’t want to miss a workout
because of the way the classes make them feel.
OC SPORTS
An Orange County sport is phenomenal right now. In
fact, it’s the hotbed for the future athletes
in the country. Parents are committed to the success
of their children and want to give them every competitive
edge possible. Many of the elite athletes in America
right now come from Orange County, and there are a couple
of reasons ways. First of all, look at the sheer number
of kids in Orange County playing sports at the moment.
Secondly, we’re talking about an extremely affluent
area of the country, enabling parents to afford paying
for extra training and competition. Athletics are so
competitive these days that if you don’t do something
aside from the regular season, then you won’t
play at the next level. Kids are playing sports year-round
at a higher level of competition, raising the bar for
Orange County sports.
GOING PRO
In my business, I train athletes ranging in age from
youth sports all the way up to the professional level.
And as far as athletes skipping out on college to pursue
a professional career in sports goes, be it early or
altogether, there is not one thing that I like about
it. They miss out on four years of education, maturity,
life experience, and there’s nothing you can ever
do to replace those years or get them back.
COACHING HIS SON
He came to me three years ago wanting to play volleyball,
and I have absolutely loved the ride ever since, even
though coaching Steffin has been tough at times. Tough
because he’s the only person that gets to point
where he thinks he knows everything and he’s the
only one who likes pushing my buttons, like stopping
short on certain drills, which he knows drives me nuts.
It’s because of little things like that, that
he’s the only athlete that I’ve ever had
to discipline during a workout. But on the whole we’ve
had a great relationship, and I think it’s been
a phenomenal experience for both of us. For me, it’s
been fantastic because I’m one of these fathers
whose life revolves around his son.
KEYS TO SUCCESS
I think that an athlete is able to achieve
success when they have prepared themselves to give a
100% effort during any given game situation. Persistence
and determination defines a person’s success more
than their win/loss record. As long as an athletes
refrains from ever giving up, then they’ll be
successful regardless of the game’s outcome. As
a trainer and a coach, I’ve been greatly affected
by the coaching philosophy of John Wooden, who never
used the word “win” while coaching. I just
tell my players to use everything they’ve got,
stay positive and let the results take care of themselves.
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