09/23/2026
McKel Major (HHS Grad)
Spring 26’ Intern
Currently: Furman University Strength and Conditioning Fellow
Prior to my time at Hillcrest High School, I worked in the collegiate realm of strength & conditioning at the Division 1 level for multiple schools working with multiple different sports. This internship was my first opportunity to work with athletes at the high school level. My interest to get exposure to different levels of strength & conditioning as well as professional development were the major reasons for me working in this position.
Throughout the semester 1 was able to work with multiple teams such as Varsity Football, JV Football, C-Team Football, Boy’s Basketball, Baseball, Track & Field, Boy’s Soccer, and Girl’s Soccer. This allowed me to experience coaching and program development/implementation with sports that were in the offseason and in-season.
Working with all these teams allowed me to grow my communication skills, coaching eye, and ability to be adaptable to different situations. Being a 5A school, the athletes at Hillcrest are highly motivated to succeed and improve which makes it a fun environment for athletic development.
Coach Chester was extremely helpful in my professional development both during and after my time as an intern at Hillcrest. One of the greatest strengths he brought to the experience was his knowledge of program development and data analysis. We frequently had discussions about topics such as sport-specific training, long-term athletic development, exercise selection, and periodization. These conversations were not always hypothetical; they often transitioned into discussions about the teams and athletes we were working with on a regular basis. Another valuable aspect of the internship was the exposure I gained to different technologies, including Velocity-Based Training (VBT) systems, Dashr timing systems, and OVR jump technology.
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