De Luna credits Ira experience for career choice

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  • Contributed Photo Ira’s Ricky De Luna (right) visits with Special Operations U. S. Navy SEAL Team Strength and Conditioning Specialist Paul Titus (left) and Margaux Isaksen, who is ranked No. 1 in the modern pentathlon in the United States, inside the U.S. Olympic Training Center.
    Contributed Photo Ira’s Ricky De Luna (right) visits with Special Operations U. S. Navy SEAL Team Strength and Conditioning Specialist Paul Titus (left) and Margaux Isaksen, who is ranked No. 1 in the modern pentathlon in the United States, inside the U.S. Olympic Training Center.
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Lessons learned during his football-playing days at Ira High School led Ricky De Luna to becoming a strength and conditioning assistant at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

De Luna battled injuries during his final two seasons with the Bulldogs and used that experience to help military personnel and world-class athletes achieve their goals.

“I knew if I wanted to reach my goal, I would have to leave Ira,” De Luna said. “I started at Angelo State before being accepted for an internship in the strength and conditioning program at the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) and ended up at UCLA. I went into the military (U.S. Marine Corps Reserves) and used my knowledge to help military guys.”

De Luna earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology from Angelo State and UTSA and completed his internship at UCLA.

“Getting courses approved in each school system was the most difficult part of it,” De Luna said. “That was harder than actually completing the course.”

De Luna knew getting a job at the training center would be a long shot, but he applied and never expected a call.

“I was helping guys in the Marines to find exercises that would help them working on their limitations,” De Luna said. “Most of them were injured in combat. After two years, I applied at the Olympic Training Center, knowing it would be a long shot. I received a call from Amanda Wittenmyer (director of strength and conditioning at the U.S. Olympic Training Center). She asked me when I would be available and the interview was set up for the next day. The interview went well and, one week later, they offered me a position.”

De Luna credited his years at Ira for establishing the foundation for his career.

“It drove me to get into this type of work,” DeLuna said. “I did the same thing at Ira, built and implemented programs for me when dealing with my hamstring problems. I learned to trust the process and worked hard. I worked with Division I athletes and military people and used the same concepts at a different level of knowledge. I remember the times at Ira and how I improved my performance during the season. My No. 1 approach now is to help people stay healthy, regardless if it is military or an athlete.”

De Luna works with athletes in sports ranging from judo to cycling to wrestling on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

“My job is helping athletes with training programs for their individual sports,” De Luna said. “A typical day will start at 6 a.m. working with paralympians in judo and cycling for two hours. We go through warmup exercises and address limitations.”

De Luna said working with judo athletes is a different challenge.

“Judo athletes have vision problems and some of them may be totally blind,” De Luna said. “The toughest challenge is to get them to make their moves precisely. It’s all verbal coaching.”

Paralympic swimmers usually arrive for a workout around 11 a.m.

“Paraswimmers may be visually impaired, have missing limbs or other limitations.” De Luna said. “They work out on the same weight racks and do the same exercises as judo athletes.”

De Luna worked with McKenna Dahl, who won the bronze medal in rifle at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

“I feel fortunate to have the responsibility of working with an athlete like McKenna, who has Cerebral Palsy,” De Luna said. “It was  humbling to work with her.”

De Luna’s day ends with working with paracyclists and combat veterans.

De Luna works with boxers, wrestlers and figure skaters on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“It’s the same concept with a lot of impact for the athletes in those sports,” De Luna said. “Figure skaters are more individual. I try and work with the psychological aspect from my experiences at Ira. Most of the figure skaters are prone to injuries. My words seem more meaningful to them because they know I went through the same thing at Ira. I can have that type of communication during workouts. It’s at a different level, but the same battle.”

De Luna plans to earn a master’s degree and possibly work for a professional sports organization.

“Being bilingual helped me get interviews with the Tampa Bay  Rays and New York Yankees,” De Luna said. “Professional teams are seeking strength and conditioning people who can work with non-English speaking players. One of the questions in the interview with the Yankees was if I could speak Spanish comfortably.”

De Luna believes a master’s degree will open new doors.

“The field looks promising,” De Luna said. “I made top five in the interview with the Yankees. The next step is to complete my master’s degree. But for now, I will continue to work with the military and at the training center.”