Sports Performance & Injury Prevention
Stronger Athletes.
Fewer Injuries.
Better Soccer.
Columbus’s only soccer-specific strength & conditioning program led by a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist — built to keep your player on the field and accelerate every dimension of their game.
30-minute orientation · No obligation · Small-group only
Program Lead
Dr. Cory Schierberl
CSCS · Sports Performance Specialist
Dr. Cory Schierberl
CSCS · Sports Performance Specialist
Meet your coach
Specialized. Soccer-specific. Columbus-built.
Dr. Cory Schierberl is SFA’s Strength & Conditioning Coach — a Columbus native and Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist building player durability the way the modern game actually demands.
The CSCS is the gold-standard credential in performance training, held by strength coaches across the NFL, NBA, and Division I athletics. It signals a coach who’s been formally tested in physiology, biomechanics, and program design — not someone running cone drills they pulled off YouTube.
What makes Cory’s work different is the orientation. He builds around the demands the modern youth player actually faces — multi-club seasons, year-round play, the volume of high-speed running that produces the hamstring strains and ACL scares you read about in club group chats every Saturday morning.
At SFA, he leads small-group sessions designed to fit alongside your player’s club training and tournament play — not replace it. The goal isn’t to make your player more tired. It’s to make them more durable.
- NSCA-Certified (CSCS)
- Soccer-specific programming
- Small-group coaching model
- Movement-screen-led design
“The best ‘performance’ improvement is staying on the field. Everything else compounds from there.”
How it works
From orientation to on the field.
No sign-up pressure. No surprise fees. Three simple steps from your first call to your player’s first session.
Book Free Orientation
30 minutes with Cory. We screen your player’s movement, talk through their position and history, and answer every question you have.
Get Your Plan
Cory builds a training plan from the screen — what to work on, what to protect against, and how it fits alongside club practices.
Train On Your Schedule
One-hour small-group sessions Mon, Wed, Fri, and Sat. Flexible blocks from 3:30–8:30 PM to fit around school and club.
What we train
Six pillars. One complete athlete.
Every protocol is built around the qualities that actually decide soccer outcomes — and the ones that quietly cost a season when they’re missing.
Explosive Power & Acceleration
The first three steps decide most 1v1 outcomes. We build the strength and burst that gets your player to the ball first.
Soccer-Specific Agility
Linear speed isn’t enough. Real games demand decel, plant, change direction — under fatigue. We train it directly.
Core Strength & Stability
The trunk is where speed becomes balance and balance becomes power. Without it, every other quality leaks.
Mobility & Movement Quality
Most “tight hamstrings” are actually weak. We screen, then build the range of motion that protects against soft-tissue injuries.
Injury Prevention Protocols
ACL, hamstring, groin, and ankle injuries don’t happen randomly. We train the movement patterns that meaningfully lower the risk.
Recovery & Regeneration
The work between sessions is where adaptation happens. We teach players to recover like the pros they want to become.
The case for prevention
Most soccer injuries don’t have to happen.
The data on youth soccer injuries is unsettling. The data on what works to prevent them is encouraging.
70%
Non-ContactMost youth soccer injuries happen without contact — hamstrings, groins, ankles. The kind that build over weeks, not seconds.
2–3×
Female ACL RiskFemale soccer players tear their ACLs at multiple times the rate of male players — driven largely by trainable strength and movement factors.
9–12 mo
ACL ReturnAverage adolescent recovery timeline after ACL reconstruction. Many players never return to pre-injury performance.
…injury reduction in the published research.
Structured neuromuscular training programs consistently cut non-contact injury rates across age, gender, and competitive level. That research is the foundation Cory’s protocols are built on.
The injuries that cost a season are mostly the ones that build slowly — under-developed posterior chain, poor landing mechanics, asymmetric strength. More practice doesn’t fix any of it. Training the body itself does.
That’s what this program does. Movement screen first. Protocol second. Adjustments built around your player’s age, position, and history — because a 12-year-old defender doesn’t need what a 17-year-old striker needs.
Sources: BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine · American Journal of Sports Medicine · American Academy of Pediatrics
Who this is for
Built for players ready for the next gear.
Not every program fits every player. This one is built for athletes who are already serious — and want a structured, soccer-specific complement to club training.
High School Varsity Hopefuls
Players preparing to make the jump from club to varsity — the moment the physical bar gets meaningfully higher and tryouts get meaningfully harder.
Build the strength to compete for the starting eleven.College Recruitment Track
Players being scouted, on showcase rosters, or eyeing ID camps. The measurables matter — and coaches notice durability nearly as much as flair.
Add the inches, tenths, and pounds that show up on film.Returning From Injury
Players coming back from hamstring strain, groin pull, ankle sprain, or ACL reconstruction — who need a controlled, structured return instead of “you’re cleared, go play.”
Come back stronger — and harder to re-injure.Off-Season Builders
Players who use winter and summer to come back ahead of the pack. When club practices ease up, the gap between motivated players and the rest widens fast.
Use the quiet months to compound development.Not sure if your player fits? The Free Orientation is the answer. Bring them in. Cory will tell you straight.
Book Free OrientationSchedule & Pricing
Built to fit alongside everything else.
Four training days a week. Flexible blocks. A starting price that doesn’t make small-group expert coaching feel out of reach.
When we train
- Monday 3:30 – 8:30 PM
- Wednesday 3:30 – 8:30 PM
- Friday 3:30 – 8:30 PM
- Saturday 3:30 – 8:30 PM
- 1-hour sessions
- Flexible scheduling
- On-site at SFA
per session · small-group rate
- 1-hour small-group training
- CSCS-led coaching (Dr. Cory)
- Movement screen at intake
- Personalized programming
Full pricing shared at the orientation — no payment required.
Need a different format? Private 1-on-1 sessions available for athletes with specific schedule or recovery needs.
Frequently asked
The questions parents actually ask.
Straight answers. Nothing buried.
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We work with players from roughly age 10 through high school. Younger players focus on foundational movement, coordination, and learning to load their bodies safely. Older players get sport-specific demands — change of direction, deceleration, real strength work.
The Free Orientation includes an age- and stage-appropriate movement screen so Cory can confirm fit before you commit to anything.
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Two things. First, Cory holds the CSCS — the gold-standard credential in strength and conditioning — which most personal trainers don’t.
Second, every protocol is soccer-specific. We’re not training generic “fitness.” We’re training the exact qualities that decide soccer outcomes — explosive first steps, change of direction under fatigue, the deceleration patterns that protect ACLs and hamstrings.
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Yes — that’s how the program is designed. Sessions are built to complement club practice, not compete with it. Cory adjusts load based on your player’s club volume, tournament schedule, and rest needs.
The goal isn’t to make your player more tired for club. It’s to make them more durable for it.
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Thirty minutes with Cory at SFA. He runs a movement screen on your player, talks through their soccer background, position, and any injury history, then walks you through what a program would look like for them.
There’s no sign-up pressure and no obligation. If it’s not the right fit, Cory will tell you that directly.
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Cory works with returning athletes regularly. The orientation will identify what’s safe, what’s restricted, and what should be the priority for the first 4–8 weeks back.
He’ll also coordinate with your player’s PT or surgeon when that’s relevant — the goal is a controlled return that compounds, not a rushed one that re-injures.
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Programs start at $30 per session, with small-group rates more economical than private. Specific package pricing depends on frequency and goals.
Cory shares the full breakdown at the Free Orientation so you can choose what fits your player’s schedule and your family’s budget.
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All sessions are at Soccer Field Academy — 2901 E. 4th Ave, Columbus, OH 43219. Same facility as our Weekly Academy Training, Tech-Fusion, and SoccerBot360 programs, with full access to indoor turf.
Easy parking, family-friendly waiting area, and no weather cancellations.
Ready to start
The best ‘performance’ improvement
is staying on the field.
Book a free 30-minute orientation with Dr. Cory. We’ll screen your player’s movement, answer your questions, and tell you straight if this program is the right fit for them.
30 minutes · No obligation · No payment required
Grind Now, Shine Later.