Sports Performance
The UB Sports Performance staff is responsible for designing and implementing
strength and conditioning programs for all of UB’s intercollegiate athletic teams.
Vision Statement
To establish an elite training program in the country by assembling a “team” of
individuals driven by one goal – enhancing both the mental and physical attributes of
athletic ability.
Mission Statement
To produce a state-of-the-art training regimen that will significantly improve
both the mental and physical demands of athletic ability. The Sports Performance staff
will enhance each individual student-athlete’s athletic potential through a structured
program that includes all aspects of development and injury prevention.
We will achieve this through evolving training programs that are successful and
measured based on individual and team testing results. In addition, we will evaluate
conditioning levels of our athletes during games, particularly the latter part of
competition. We will continue to develop a plan that will put our athletes in a
position for success.
Facility
Robert G. and Carol L. Morris Sports Performance Center
Sports Performance Staff
Ed Fitzsimmons
Director of Alumni Arena Weight Room
After five year's as UB baseball's strength and conditioning coach, Fitzsimmons
joined the UB athletic training staff in the new position of functional reconditioning
specialist in 2004. In this position, Fitzsimmons works closely with UB student-athletes,
sport performance coaches and head coaches on assisting in the prevention and
rehabilitation of injuries. He formerly served as the coordinator of strength and
conditioning at the UB Sports Medicine Institute. He earned his bachelor's and
master's degrees from Brockport State and also has national certification as a
strength and conditioning coach from the National Strength and Conditioning
Association and certification from the American College of Sports Medicine.
Julia Ladewski
Assistant Director of Sports Performance
Julia Ladewski is in her sixth season at UB as an assistant coach with the sports
performance department where she works directly with UB’s women’s basketball, women’s
soccer, men’s and women’s cross country and track and field and men’s and women’s
swimming and diving teams. She came to UB from fellow MAC-member Ball State where she
served as a student strength and conditioning coach and earned her degree in exercise
science in 2002. While at Ball State, Ladewski worked with the Cardinals’ swimming and
diving, gymnastics, baseball, softball, and track and field teams. During the summer of
2002, Ladewski served as a performance specialist at Athletes’ Performance in Tempe,
AZ, where she worked with many professional athletes from the NFL, NHL, NBA, WTA and
the PGA as well as elite high school and college athletes.
Paul Childress
Sports Performance Assistant Coach
Paul Childress is in his second season as a member of the Buffalo sports
performance staff. A highly-decorated weightlifter, Childress holds teh world record
for the squat (1,146 lbs) and total lift (2,662 lbs.). Childress earned his bachelor's
degree in health and wellness from Buffalo State where he was a three-time All-American
on the Bengals football team. He earned a master's degree in physical education from
Canisius. Prior to coming to UB, Childress spent five years as the director of
facilities and fitness management at Total Health and Fitness. He also spent the
previous five years as an online strength and conditioning consultant with professional
and collegiate football teams, including the University at Buffalo and the Cleveland
Browns.
