Blog
FaR Out Staff Leading from the Front at PowerStrength
The partnership between PowerStrength Training Systems and FaR Out Volleyball has been building for years.
Earlier this year, we introduced some of the FaR Out athletes who are training at our Byron Center location. This time, we’re spotlighting the people leading them.
Cameron Rowland, Sidney Schiller, and Valerie Lurye are three members of the FaR Out coaching staff who have been training at PowerStrength since January. They aren’t doing it because they have to. They’re doing it because they believe in it — and because it’s making them better.
THE BUILDING BROUGHT THEM IN. THE RESULTS KEPT THEM.
PowerStrength’s Byron Center location is inside the Special Olympics of Michigan Unified Sports & Inclusion Center. It is also one of FaR Out Volleyball’s primary practice facilities.
That shared space made something natural possible.
When FaR Out Assistant Director Cam Rowland saw the opportunity for himself, Sidney, and Val to train in the same building where their athletes were already working, it was an easy decision.
“It allowed us to have this centralized for our athletes,” Cam said, “and then it allowed Val, Sid, and I to also work out here.”
FaR Out’s history with PowerStrength goes back more than a decade, when some of Cam’s teams trained here as a group. What started as a team initiative has grown into something much larger — this season, more than 80 FaR Out athletes are training at PowerStrength across multiple locations.
Now the coaches are part of that number.
REAL PEOPLE. REAL RESULTS.
All three came in with different backgrounds and goals. All three have walked away with results they didn’t expect to feel this quickly.
Cam had not trained consistently since high school. After battling Crohn’s disease and a serious illness in 2022, getting his stamina back felt like a long road. Starting in January changed that faster than he anticipated.
“I think I’m just in better general shape,” he said. “My energy level this season has definitely been back up again. I am pretty energetic on the sidelines anyway, it’s been easier to maintain that. I think the season has felt very fast and I think this is a part of that too.”
For Event Coordinator Sidney Schiller, a former college athlete, the challenge was reestablishing a healthy relationship with the gym after years away.
“When I graduated, I did not have a great relationship with working out,” Sidney admitted. “I saw it strictly as a punishment.”
PowerStrength changed the framework.
“This is structured. I have guidance from the coach. It’s put me in a healthier mindset when it comes to working out.”
She’s recognized the difference in how she feels when she’s coaching and when she’s not.
“We have to set the nets up all the time and throw those poles over our shoulders and carry them. Val and I will joke around, ‘wow, these poles are lighter.’ You get up in the morning, you just feel better. I want to feel better and stronger when I move and that’s definitely what I’m noticing.”
Program Assistant Valerie Lurye came in wanting to get stronger and reconnect with her identity as a former athlete. She got both.
“I feel so much stronger every day. I’m way more energized in the mornings. I just feel like I have a lot more that I can give throughout my entire day.”
At practice, that carries over directly.
“I definitely can keep up better with the kids,” she said.
COACHES WHO GET IT
One of the less obvious benefits of this arrangement is what happens between coaches and athletes outside of training.
When Cam, Sid, and Val are training consistently like they’re players are, the conversations become different. The connection becomes deeper.
“There’s a deeper understanding now of when the girls are talking about their workouts,” Cam said.
Val notices it on the court.
“They’ll always ask what I did in my workouts, and I’ll ask them what they did. We get excited and chat about what they’re squatting, what I’m squatting.”
Sidney takes it further.
“I find the 13, 14, 15-year-olds who are doing it and I always ask — what did you guys do today? We kind of make it competitive.”
That shared experience — coaches and athletes in the same building, doing similar work, chasing similar results — is part of what makes this partnership different.
WHAT THEY’VE SEEN IN THEIR PLAYERS
As coaches, they are also watching what consistent strength training does to the athletes they lead.
The partnership is helping FaR Out lead from the front in the club volleyball world.
“Our growth on the court very much aligns with our partnership with PowerStrength,” Cam said.
Sidney sees it in real time during gym rotations.
“You see the PowerStrength kids trying to do lunges in perfect form when they’re off the court. They’re doing push-ups, and you can tell they’re working on form they were taught. These kids are 14, talking to me about their mobility, their flexibility. I did not learn that until I was 18 or 19 in college.”
Val has seen specific athletes on her own team transform across the season.
“They’re able to get through longer sessions and sustain better reps and skills — because they’re just stronger, tougher mentally and physically.”
WHY THIS PARTNERSHIP MATTERS
When FaR Out athletes and their coaches are training in the same building, building the same habits, and speaking the same language — that is alignment.
“Mark’s mission for PowerStrength very much aligns with who we are at FaR Out and what we’re trying to get for young female athletes,” Cam said.
That mission is not accidental. It is something both organizations have built toward for years, and the move into the Special Olympics building has made it more integrated than ever.
WANT TO SEE BIG RESULTS?
PowerStrength offers specific partnerships and team training options in all sports to get faster, stronger, and more confident.
4th–12th grade athletes of all sports and ability levels can sign up at PowerStrength at any time throughout the year while spots remain. Multiple sessions are offered after school and into the evening, specific times vary by location.
PowerStrength has 8 locations in West Michigan – Alpine, Kentwood, Jenison, Plainfield, Holland, Byron Center, Jenison Youth Academy, and Plainfield Youth Academy.
Visit https://powerstrengthpro.com/athlete/contact/ to learn more or click below to Get Started.