Frozen Ropes expands line drive for success

Chester — Last March, Frozen Ropes, a baseball and softball training center with 33 franchises throughout the U.S. and Europe, kicked it up a notch by adding its new soccer and One Step Closer programs. Jim Lagarde, director of the Soccer Academy at its Chester franchise, said they are following the same format of the successful Frozen Ropes baseball. It has been so well received, he said, that all of its time slots are consistently filled. Just like the baseball program, Frozen Ropes soccer offers several levels of instruction: Born to Kick for ages 3 to 4; Little Kickers, for ages 5 and 6; and the After-School Academy, for ages 7 to 12 They offer individual instruction and local team training as well as individual development lesson packages. They have an excellent rapport with local schools, which are able to rent their facilities either with or without the use of staff during the winter, when weather conditions prohibit outdoor use of fields, Lagarde said. The One Step Closer program is described by John Nathan, the national director of Strength and Conditioning, as a program designed for the complete athlete without a focus on any particular sport. Nathan, who has trained with Frozen Ropes since he was 10, said this program can be attended one to three times per week, addressing concerns such as strength, agility, and speed and helping set individual goals for success in these areas. In this way, he said, athletes get one step closer toward success in any sport they play. Each person is assessed in each area, and training is individually tailored. Lagarde said many athletes have the technical ability to play sports and make it to a certain level — but because their bodies haven’t been conditioned to take them further in these areas, they reach an impasse, keeping them from college-level sports. Within four sessions, he said, the Frozen Ropes program can take someone who is pigeon-toed, for example, and teach them to run faster with straighter legs and arms. “You get out what you put in,” he said. “We are not coaches here, we are teachers,” he stressed. “We are also not affiliated with any particular team.” He said other sports complexes with teams use their training sessions to pick and groom players for these teams. This is not the case with Frozen Ropes, which therefore doesn’t threaten local teams who send players there. “Thanks to former President Bill Clinton’s highlighting the problem of childhood obesity and the need for federal funding, Frozen Ropes is taking a holistic approach toward addressing a problem that seems out of control in our country,” Lagarde said. He said this program is also for the non-athlete who wants to be in better physical condition. It can help anyone become less intimidated by others who come by sports naturally by instilling them with the self-confidence that comes with training. Frozen Ropes was founded in Chester by Tony Abbatine, a former New York district attorney who played baseball in college and worked as an agent, according to Lagarde. Abbatine saw a need for training ballplayers in the art of learning how to read a ball as it’s traveling towards them at 100 miles per hour. When Frozen Ropes’ corporate headquarters moved from the warehouse across from the old train station downtown to Black Meadow Road, Abbatine and Manny Ravirez of the Red Sox filmed a DVD there titled “Building the Complete Hitter.” The Yankees’ Mariano Rivera, called the best closer in baseball, also filmed a DVD titled “Calm Before the Storm” about pitching with Abbatine at the Chester headquarters. Since then, Frozen Ropes has developed 33 franchises, mostly on the East Coast, but also as far away as California, Texas, and Canada, and has worked with National Teams at facilities in Verona, Italy, Toulousse, France, and Germany. Their Big Apple Convention gave them a forum for presenting their national and international plan. They have teamed with the Red Bulls for soccer camps at a different location each week. Members of the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets have helped with their baseball programs. Frozen Ropes in Chester looking to move to a new location where it can expand, not only in physical space, but into other team sports. Lagarde is quick to say “it is not about a building because Frozen Ropes could be on 17M or anywhere in the county, and there would be a line out the door. It is about the passion about what we teach.” When asked about the possibility of moving to the new sports complex now going up on Route 17M, Lagarde said, “It is one direction if the owners were to come to terms.” Frozen Ropes may consider one of three other buildings in Orange County, he said, but they will stay in this area. For more information, visit www.frozenropes.com and www.frozenropessports.com.