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FAIRFIELD – Fairfield High School is offering a new fitness class this school year aimed at the district’s student-athletes so they can stay in shape, even in the off-season.

The class is called “Athletic Performance” and it’s taught by Jerrod Belzer and Matt Jones, both of whom coach sports at the high school level. They said this new class is different from other physical education classes the school has offered because of its focus on creating a well-rounded athlete. Class exercises improve not just the students’ endurance, strength and speed but also their mind, teaching them how to manage the mental health challenges of being an athlete by doing lessons on confidence, grit and self-awareness.

The curriculum was designed by Jones’ brother Jeff Jones, the head football athletic performance coach at the University of Northern Iowa who was previously at Arkansas State. Matt Jones said the exercises performed in the class are great for athletes in any sport.

“In the past, we’ve offered weight training, but it did not incorporate speed and power,” Jones said. “Now we’re ratcheting it up and doing speed, power, strength and adding mental performance, too. It’s a really awesome commitment by our district, our board of education, our superintendent and our high school administration that we’re all on the same page.”

Jones said the class seeks not just to make the students better at their sport but to set them on a healthy path they can follow the rest of their life.

“All this stuff is so transferrable to when they get older,” Jones said. “They just learn to love training and to push themselves.”

Belzer said that all high school students out for sports are strongly encouraged to take this class, which is offered six periods per day, Monday through Friday. One hundred and ninety students are currently enrolled, and nearly all of them play at least one sport.

“We want to make sure all of our student-athletes were being served really well, and this gets all the kids doing the same program,” Belzer said.

Belzer said schools in Mt. Vernon and Solon were already offering a class like this, and Fairfield used those as a model to create its own. He said that one of the big advantages of the class is that it ensures that all athletes are staying on top of their training, even if their sport is months away from starting.

Each student keeps track of their performance by recording the weight they lifted or the times they ran. Belzer said he and Jones have a personal record board in the weight room that gives every student something to strive for.

Jaxon Coleman, a sophomore who plays baseball and runs track, said he feels the class has made him a better overall athlete.

“It’s a lot to do speed work and come into the weight room, and it makes us better every day,” he said. “Your speed is the biggest thing. For most sports, if you’re fast, it’s a game-changer.”

Henry Swan, a sophomore on the soccer team, says he feels more athletic and more mobile from the class.

“Some of the leg workouts we do helps me with speed,” he said.

Iris Lane, a senior out for volleyball and track, said she’s excited to come to class every day to improve her personal records, while getting support from her friends and fellow athletes.

Bailey Belzer, a senior out for cross-country, wrestling and track, said she likes lifting weights and working on her core.

“I feel like I’m getting stronger and faster from doing the sprints,” she added.

Aislinn Wise, a sophomore in wrestling, track and softball, said “no one dreads coming here” and that “every class is fun because your friends are around you.”