Allegheny Health Network Director of Sports Performance to Serve as Strength and Conditioning Coach for Team Nicaragua in World Baseball Classic

Allegheny Health Network’s Director of Sports Performance, Frank Velasquez Jr., ATC, CSCS, has been selected the strength and conditioning coach for Team Nicaragua in the World Baseball Classic. Velasquez will oversee the strength training, conditioning, and overall wellness program for the team.

Velasquez is a certified athletic trainer and certified strength and conditioning specialist who worked in professional baseball for 16 years, including nine years with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 2015, he joined Allegheny Health Network (AHN) to serve as Director of the Sports Performance program with locations at the AHN Sports Complex at Cool Springs in Bethel Park, Pa.,   AHN Sports Performance at Wexford Plaza in Wexford, Pa., and the AHN Montour Health & Sports Medicine Center in Coraopolis, Pa.

The World Baseball Classic is the premier global baseball competition in which 20 teams from countries around the world participate. After three rounds over the course of two weeks, the winning team is named the world champion.

With the Classic taking place just weeks away from the start of the MLB regular season, Velasquez says he will also assist the players in their preparation for the upcoming season.

“I want to support Team Nicaragua’s athletes to compete at a high level throughout the World Baseball Classic, but I’ll also be there to help each of the players in the continuation of their spring training regimens,” said Velasquez. “I have long been dedicated to helping athletes reach their highest level of performance and am appreciative for this opportunity.”

Under Velasquez’s leadership, the AHN sports performance team offers advanced, individualized strength training, physical therapy, sports nutrition, massage therapy and sports medicine services for developing youths, performing athletes and active adults. Specialty programs and clinics available include strength training for endurance athletes, in-season arm care, summer/winter athletic development and the ACL integrity program.  

These programs follow scientifically proven, industry-leading protocols and are supported by highly advanced technologies, including an Alter-G anti-gravity treadmill, VO2 Max Testing, the Dynavision Reaction Board visumotor-training device (designed to improve reaction times), and the Makoto Functional Arena (a 360-degree, multi-planar simulator that provides a close approximation to real-time sports).

“With Frank’s wealth of knowledge and drive to develop athletes at all levels, it is no surprise that he has been asked to help lead Team Nicaragua in the World Baseball Classic,” said Patrick J. DeMeo, MD, Chair of the AHN Orthopaedic Institute and Medical Director of the Pittsburgh Pirates. “We are proud to have Frank represent AHN on this global platform and wish him and the team the best of luck.”

AHN is the official medical provider of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Gannon University, the Community College of Allegheny County and more than 30 Pittsburgh-area high school athletic programs.

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