GOSHEN — Taylor Grim wants to help others find their physical potential.
“I’ve always loved training,” says Grim. “What I love more is finding a way to push other people to do their goals.
“You are capable of more than you think.”
As Goshen High School’s strength and conditioning specialist, Grim is working with students familiar with the weight room as well as first-timers.
In leading school-day strength training classes, he sees GHS athletes and those not on RedHawk teams.
“I definitely want to have a athlete-centric focus,” says Grim, who was hired in September 2022. “Results are definitely something I want to happen. But I want it to be a lifelong skill.
“I want to create passion in them so they’re not only willing to train hard for me, but it’s something they don’t hate when they graduate. I want to create an environment where you want to be in here.”
Though it is natural to be intimidated when first entering the weight room, Grim wants that sensation to disappear.
“If they feel welcome they’re going to encourage the people around them, and it creates a better environment,” Grim said. “I always encourage my older athletes to take a little bit of a leadership role.
“If we have two coaches in the room and 60 athletes, we obviously don’t see everything. Help someone who is newer and that creates that connection, too.”
Grim teaches lifts and movements while getting students to attack goals and be willing to be uncomfortable.
“Pushing yourself is not always fun,” Grim said. “We want to make sure it’s worth the effort.”
There are leader boards in the spacious GHS weight facility.
“They have that tangible goal that they can grasp,” Grim said.
All students are introduced to the bench press, squat and power clean.
“If you can have a school that’s very strong in all three of these movements generally you’re going to have pretty strong, well-adjusted athletes,” he said.
The first step is to build a base and add to it.
“Can we get them strong and athletic?” Grim said. “We’re focusing on building an athlete in general.”
Grim was involved in football then cross country and wrestling was his top sport during his time at West Noble High School, where he graduated in 2015.
“I always encourage my guys and my girls to be multi-sport athletes,” Grim said. “If I can get them stronger and faster and more efficient with their movement, I think it will transfer over to no matter what we’re doing. They may excel at their sports skill after that.”
Grim said a change in the curriculum is coming with a 7 a.m. Zero Hour training session three days a week that lends flexibility to students who may not be able to work training into their class schedules.
Moving sessions to the early morning will also allow Grim to get more involved with the Goshen wrestling team in the winter. He helped last seasons as his time allowed.
He was a junior varsity wrestling coach and preseason strength and conditioning coach at Pendleton Heights High School 2017-22.
Before coming to Goshen, Grim was a strength and conditioning intern at Purdue University in the summer of 2022.
He earned a Master of Science in Sports Performance from Ball State University in 2022 (he was also an S&C intern with the women’s field hockey team) and a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science from Anderson (Indiana) University in 2019.
Grim says he is looking to re-boot the Goshen strength club and hopes to have fundraisers to upgrade the equipment.
The mission and vision of RedHawks Strength and Conditioning are spelled out on the school website (ghs.goshenschools.org/athletics/strength-and-conditioning).
The mission is “to empower faithful servant leaders capable of creating intentional results, who champion purpose off the playing field and win championships on it.”
The vision is “to be an elite athlete development center that facilitates comprehensive high-performance programs for Goshen High School student-athletes and sports programs.”
The core values include quality (as opposed to mediocrity), family (it’s to be a diverse, open and growth-minded community), culture (built on authentic, compassionate accountability and empathy) and legacy (created with every relationship; with every belief).
“I think we’ll see a pretty big difference in some of our athletes, especially the ones that took it seriously throughout the last year or so,” Grim said. “I’m pretty excited to see where they can go.”
