Kim Jones.

Strength and Conditioning Blog

Last November I interviewed for a Strength & Conditioning position at El Camino College in Torrance, California. After a successful group interview with a hiring committee, I was offered the position and gladly accepted. Now if I were to show you a picture of our weight rooms on campus, you would be astonished, and possibly even appalled. I do not have much to work with, but I get the job done. Outside of my Athletic Performance internship at UCLA, I have not been afforded the opportunity to coach at schools with unlimited resources. Because of this I am able to adapt, think outside of the box and find innovative and efficient ways of holding training sessions.

When Megan asked me to write something for this blog I wondered what I would say. What could I share that we all haven’t heard before? Then I thought back to a comment a strength coach made to me during the last 2012 CSCCa convention. When I told her I was a strength coach at a Junior College her response was, “That’s great, but don’t you want something better?”

My thought was, “this IS better!” Heck, I’m programming for football, baseball, men’s basketball and men’s volleyball! I work 32 hours a week Monday through Thursday, but I get paid the same salary as a 40 hour a week employee. I have great benefits, and an awesome retirement plan. My hours allow me to train private clients before and after work for supplemental income. So when I hear experienced, dedicated and qualified female strength coaches talk about their struggles obtaining top tier teams, (at Division I Universities), I appreciate just how fortunate I am. Would I like more Division I Universities on my resume? Sure. But, does a bigger name signify how skilled I am? Is my experience as an Assistant Strength Coach at California State Northridge, (a Mid Major Division I), less significant than someone’s who has worked in the SEC, Pac 12, or Big 10? That is food for thought.

Now, here is the real scoop on the good, the bad, and the ugly of Strength & Conditioning at the Junior College Level. First, I am considered a classified employee, not a full time faculty member. This is relevant because the conditioning and lifting classes are technically not mine. Students register for classes under the full time, certificated faculty member’s name, not mine. Also, students that are not on a team can take these strength and conditioning classes. Therefore, when I train men’s volleyball, for instance, I train the student athletes, and the faculty member (the head coach or assistant coach) takes the other students. I execute my training philosophy freely, and carry out my own programming. I do not have ANY resistance whatsoever from coaches about how I implement training sessions.

Now, technically, if the teacher is not there I cannot train the team. They can’t step out for 30 minutes because they have a meeting with a studnet, or because a coach from a 4 year wants to meet with them about some of their athletes. The coach must be there, since it is their pre-season/off-season class. Nine times out of ten they are there, but it is a weird reality for me sometimes. I have no problem training the team in front of the coach, but I’m accustomed to doing my thing whether the coaches are there or not. There is definitely a feeling of restriction to a certain sense. Yes, I am the one responsible for training the athletes, but if budget cuts start to eliminate certain Physical Activities classes, I could lose out on the opportunity to train certain teams. There is currently a situation occurring where students will be unable to enroll in a Physical Activities class that they have already taken. Remember, pre-season and off-season trainings are only offered through classes (Physical Activities classes). What will happen to a sophomore who enrolls in a pre-season strength & conditioning class, when they’ve already taken the course as a freshman? Coaches are working around the rule, but you can see how being restricted to a class time can be…well….restricting!

Here is where things get hairy. If a sport is in the off-season, or pre-season the ONLY time they can lift or condition is during the schedule class time. So, if a student fails to register for a class on time and does not get it, he will miss the sessions. I also cannot meet with coaches and schedule lifts based on athletes’ class schedules, and the coaches availability (which is what I was accustomed to coming from a Division I system). Technically, athletes are NOT covered by the school’s insurance (pre and post season), if they are not enrolled in a class. Keep in mind; practices are also classes in which students must enroll. So sometimes students have jobs that conflict with practice or training, or another class takes precedence (because they need it for eligibility), so they aren’t available during my training time etc. Once teams are in-season I have full reign. Right now I train men’s basketball in our main weight room without any of the coaches there. This is legal, because they are in season. We can lift at any time during the day, and we have the freedom to re-schedule lifts on different days and times etc.

Ultimately, what is my goal as a strength coach at a Junior College? It is to become a full time faculty member, who offers strength and conditioning classes for the student athletes. The head strength coach at College of the Canyons, a school in our conference, has this type of position. Full time faculty members become tenured after 3 years, and automatically get a $2000 a year raise each year (despite the fact that California’s budget is in the crapper!) Also, most faculty members at El Camino College are making 6 figures, easy. With my previous teaching and coaching background, I can be earning that six figure salary in no time. Fortunately, Education has legitimate pay scales that can guarantee a specific salary. There is no guess work. There are steps that can be reached based on upper level degrees and years of experience. They won’t offer an arbitrary number, for a salary. There is a carefully calculated scale that dictates exactly what a teacher will make. What a novel idea. Our profession seriously needs to adopt a similar system. Faculty members at El Camino College are compensated handsomely for their schooling background and valid work experience. I don’t know about any of you coaches, but I want to get paid what I’m worth. I’m at a place that will afford me that opportunity. Hell, what is “better” than that?


Kimberly Jones
Notre Dame Academy: Assistant Women’s Varsity Basketball Coach ’03 – ‘04
Notre Dame Academy: Head Women’s Varsity Basketball Coach ‘04 – ‘08
Notre Dame Academy: Strength and Conditioning Coach:’06 – ’08 (basketball, volleyball)
UCLA: Athletic Performance Intern 2008
California State University, Northridge: Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach ’08 – ‘10
United States Tennis Association: Strength & Conditioning Specialist, 2011
El Camino College: Head Strength & Conditioning Coach/Exercise Fitness Specialst
​Teams: Football, Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Baseball, Men’s and Women’s Volleyball, Softball, Men’s and Women’s Soccer, Men’s Golf, Water Polo, and Swim