09/22/2015

Australia Rugby Visit Turns into Great Sharing of Sports Performance Practices

One of world’s top rugby squads visited Notre Dame campus earlier this month.

10/21/2011

The Performance Team: Combining Notre Dame’s Resources to Make Irish Athletes Bigger, Faster, Stronger

The Business of Notre Dame Athletics–Fourth of a six-part series

02/09/2012

HKY: ICON 35 – In-Season Workout

Irish Connection profiles an in-season strength and conditioning workout for the Notre Dame hockey team.

Tony Rolinski, a veteran member of the University of Notre Dame strength and conditioning staff since 1998, was named Director of Strength and Conditioning for Olympic Sports on July 1, 2010. The 2015-16 season will mark his 18th working within the Notre Dame athletics department. Rolinski is responsible for the development and implementation of the strength and conditioning programming for 25 Irish sports while continuing to have day-to-day oversight for the men’s basketball and hockey teams.

Rolinski’s position is part of Notre Dame’s Sports Performance Program, an initiative that began at the start of the 2009-10 school year. The Sports Performance Program focuses on the areas of strength and conditioning, athletic training/rehabilitation, sports medicine, sports nutrition, sports psychology and equipment with the goal of assisting all athletic teams to achieve maximum athletic success.

Rolinski had served as the associate director prior to his promotion for the past four years. Previous to that, he spent five years as the program’s strength and conditioning coordinator and three years as an assistant strength coach. He continues to be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Joyce Center and Compton Family Ice Arena strength training facilities and the management of the Olympic sport’s strength and conditioning staff. Further, he will help facilitate new programming for the Sports Performance Program.

He joined the Fighting Irish strength and conditioning staff following a one-year stint as the head strength and conditioning coach at Duquesne University during the 1997-98 school year, where he implemented and oversaw programs for 20 varsity sports.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Rolinski received his bachelor’s degree in health education with a minor in exercise science from Penn State in 1991. From 1994-96, while earning his master’s degree in exercise physiology at the University of Pittsburgh, he served as an intern on the Panther football staff where he assisted with all aspects of the strength and conditioning program. Following his stint at Pittsburgh, Rolinski was the head strength and conditioning coach at North Hills High School in suburban Pittsburgh (1996-97).

In May of 2014, Rolinski received the highest honor given in the strength and conditioning coaching profession when he was named a Master Strength and Conditioning coach (MSCC) by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa). He has also earned certification through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (CSCS). Rolinski was honored at the hockey team’s 2014 postseason awards program, as he received the team’s Honorary Alumni Award.

Born December 10, 1968, Rolinski and his wife, the former Julie Connolly, have two daughters, Allie and Jaclyn, and two sons, Jake and Jared.

Tony RolinskiTony Rolinski

Position:
Director – Olympic Sports
Department:
Strength and Conditioning