Jets Barbell Team Continues to Develop National-level Athletes

The Jets Barbell team, a competitive youth strength sports team in Shreveport, Louisiana, has fielded a competitive team at the AAU Junior Olympic Games and the AAU Strength Sports World Championships for the past 10 years.  Now, the addition of a full-time coach has increased the team’s capacity for winning.
       
Glenys Ramirez, a native New Yorker who now lives in Bossier City, Louisiana, has taken over the role of Jets National Coach, and has primary strength and conditioning coaching and athlete development responsibilities for the Jets youth competitors training for the upcoming world weightlifting, powerlifting and Feats of Strength championships, as well as this winter’s USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation team trials for Youth World Cup international competition.

“Glenys is a fighter, she pushes the limits and she makes each of our kids better,” says Jets founder John Crofton.  “Parents can do a lot, but having a dedicated, full-time national coach who is focused on getting each of these kids to be their very best…  that’s special.” 
    
Initially focused on Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting, the Jets added training for the JO Games Allsports combine in 2014, and expanded to speed training supporting the winter sports of bobsled and skeleton in 2016.  Bobsled and Skeleton are winter sliding sports that place an emphasis on an explosive and powerful start.  A half-dozen Jets athletes will attend training and team trials at Lake Placid this winter to compete for a slot to represent Team USA in Youth World Cup bobsled & skeleton during the 2018-2019 season; those athletes include skeleton hopefuls Max Crofton, whose older brother Noah competed as a member of Team USA in 2016, and 2017 Strength Sports national athlete of the year Savannah Brister. 

“I’m thankful for the opportunity to expand my experience as a coach and mentor at this level,” Ramirez says.  “It’s exciting to contribute to the athleticism as well as the character of these young athletes.”

Ramirez works one on one with all the Jets athletes on specific programs to prepare them for competition, and she will travel with the team to the upcoming AAU World Championship Weekend in Laughlin, NV, at the end of September.  In addition to coaching, Ramirez will also compete in powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting and Feats of Strength.
 
Ramirez also serves as strength coach at Christus Louisiana Athletic Club in Bossier, and at the Billiton YMCA of Northwest Louisiana; she also coaches CrossFit at both locations.  

Founded in 2010, Jets Barbell has grown from a team supporting youth Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting to a full-fledged athlete development program.  In addition to winning numerous team championships in powerlifting and weightlifting at the AAU JO Games, the Jets have become the dominant team at the JO Games combine, with numerous national athletes of the year.