Former Star Trains Today's High School Athletes

When Mike Aidala made his debut as a starting quarterback at Horace Greeley early in his sophomore season in 2004, it marked the start of a varsity career that ended with his selection to the All-State team.

To be clear, Aidala has no regrets. Except one.

“I wish I had someone who I could have trained with who would have really helped me to reach my potential as an athlete by showing me the right way to train and how to get the most out of my potential,” Aidala said.

Today, not long after his high school playing days ended, Aidala is filling that very role. He is a certified sports performance coach whose day job is at White Plains-based Next Level Speed.

Beginning Tuesday, he’ll be returning to his high school alma mater to conduct a six-day Athletic Performance Clinic. Sessions at Greeley are set for Nov. 1-3 and Nov. 8-10 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. each day.

“Greeley is where I went and I know it’s something the athletes there can benefit from,” said Aidala, who also trained as an Olympic weightlifter, winning a silver medal in the 2007 Empire State Games that were held in White Plains.

The program at Greeley, which is being run through the New Castle Parks and Recreation Department, includes speed, agility and strength training, as well as plyometrics and an overview of proper recovery methods and injury prevention. It’s open to male and female high school athletics.“After my past experiences, I know the importance of proper strength andspeed training,” Aidala said. “There’s a lot of improper stuff being taught out there. "It's as damaging to train the wrong thing as it is beneficial to trainproperly.”

Earlier this year, Aidala completed a five-month program at Athletes’ Performance, an innovator in the sports performance field, located in Los Angeles, training a variety of athletes, including former Division I football standouts preparing for the NFL Combine. Prior to that, he worked with the New York Jets’ strength and conditioning staffs during their preseason camps at Cortland State, where he played football.“This is the area I know most about and it’s my passion and I want togive something back,” he said.

He already has. Among the athletes he has already trained at Next Level are current Horace Greeley quarterback standout Justin Ciero and Ciero’s younger brother, Jeremy.

“I trained them together in the preseason,” Aidala said. “We worked mostly on stabilization and moving correctly.”

Justin Ciero is a senior at Greeley. Cameron is a freshman. “The sky’s the limit for those athletes like Cameron that get started early,” Aidala said.

Joe Lombardi's look at sports of all sorts in Westchester appears Sundays.

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