Photo courtesy of Vestavia Hills High School.
Vestavia Hills High School strength and conditioning coordinator and defensive line coach Chris Cournoyer.
Chris Cournoyer is the strength and conditioning coordinator and defensive line coach for the Vestavia Hills High School football program.
He was recently named Alabama’s Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year by the National High School Strength Coaches Association.
The Vestavia Voice caught up with Cournoyer to discuss the honor and more.
Q: What’s it like to be recognized as the strength and conditioning coach of the year in Alabama by an organization made up of your peers?
A: It was really an honor for me to be recognized by an organization like the NHSSCA. This organization is made up of other high school strength coaches, and for them to single me out this year for my work is really special to me. Alabama has some of the top-tier strength coaches in the nation at the high school level — not just at larger metro-area schools, but also in the smaller classifications. I’ve really grown as a professional by being a member of this organization and have met some outstanding people through it.
Q: Tell us a little about your background and how you got to Vestavia Hills.
A: This is my 25th year coaching overall and my third year at Vestavia Hills. I came over from Mountain Brook High School with Coach Robert Evans when he became the head coach. He brought me in to run the strength program and be an assistant football coach. I started as a graduate assistant strength coach at the University of Alabama in 1998 under Terry Jones Sr., which is where I was first exposed to strength and conditioning at a high level. I hold certifications from the NSCA [National Strength and Conditioning Association] as a certified strength and conditioning specialist, USAW [USA Weightlifting] Level 2 Coach, ISSA [International Sports Sciences Association] specialist in sports nutrition, and FRC [Functional Range Conditioning] mobility specialist.
Q: What makes Vestavia unique from other places you’ve worked?
A: Every place has its own set of challenges and traditions that you learn once you’re on the ground working with kids day to day. One thing I find unique about Vestavia is the kids love the weight room. They love to train. They feed off a challenge and a chance to compete. That says a lot about the work ethic instilled in them by their parents and how a competitive culture is nurtured in Vestavia.
Q: What brings you the most pride as a coach?
A: That’s a great question. Seeing a kid develop into more than he thought he could be — both physically and mentally — brings me a great sense of pride. I love seeing kids work through shared challenges and hardships and come out stronger on the other side. A lot of times, we try to shelter kids from adversity, but that’s not what life is like. Life isn’t a dance — it’s a wrestling match. You have to overcome things and deal with adversity to succeed. Nothing worth having comes easy, and I enjoy seeing kids learn that and persevere.
Some answers have been edited for brevity and clarity. The full Q&A is available at vestaviavoice.com.
