May 7, 2014
Salt Lake City, Utah – May 7, 2014 Tony Rolinski, the Director of Strength and Conditioning for Olympic Sports at the University of Notre Dame, has been named Master Strength and Conditioning Coach by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches association (CSCCa). He will be honored on Thursday evening, May 8th at the association’s national conference at the Salt Lake City Marriott.
Rolinski is among 23 strength and conditioning coaches who will receive the honor on Thursday night, bringing the MSCC’s ranks to 159 Master Strength and Conditioning Coaches in the nation.
“This is an incredible honor for Tony,” says CSCCa Executive Director, Dr. Chuck Stiggins.
“Being named a Master Strength and Conditioning Coach signifies a commitment to the student athlete, the University of Notre Dame Athletic Program, and the strength and conditioning profession. We are honored to have Coach Rolinski as a member of our association and to have him join the ranks of the Master Strength and Conditioning Coaches. He is truly a model of an outstanding strength and conditioning professional.”
In order to receive this certification and corresponding title of distinction, an individual must first meet the following criteria:
1) Hold a minimum of a bachelor’s degree;
2) Be a currently practicing, full-time strength & conditioning coach on the collegiate or professional level;
3) Hold current membership in the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches association (CSCCa);
4) Hold the CSCCa Certification – SCCC (Strength & Conditioning Coach Certified); and
5) Have a minimum of 12 years experience as a full-time strength and conditioning coach on the collegiate and/or professional level.
Rolinski is in his 15th year at Notre Dame after joining the strenght and conditioning staff in 1998. He was named the Director of Strength and Conditioning for Olympic Sports on July 1, 2010. 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.
The veteran coach 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.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., 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 will continue to be responsible for the day-to-day operation of both the Compton Family Ice Arena and Joyce Center strength training facilities, while managing the Olympic sports strength and conditioning staff.
The popular strength and conditioning coach joined the 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. He 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 Pittsburgh (1996-97).
Rolinski also has earned certifications from the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches association (CSCCa) and National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).