New Coshocton gym aims to boost student athletes

• Coshocton Tribe X-Treme Gym recently opened in the home of Steve and Ashley Justice on Fulton Drive.
• It offers physical conditioning, strength training and flexibility to those in second grade to graduated seniors.
• Justices said they wanted to start the gym as there was any such outlet for those under 16 in the area.
• Both are former coaches with Coshocton Schools with Ashley also a nurse and Steve a retired Marine with a degree in middle grades education.

COSHOCTON — Giving student athletes a leg up on the competition is the goal of a new gym Steve and Ashley Justice are running out of their home. 

Coshocton Tribe X-Treme Gym recently opened and has more than 45 clients ranging from second grade to graduated seniors. Cost is $10 an hour with group rates, sibling rates and a referral system available. 

The gym provides individual and group training sessions designed to target physical conditioning, strength training and flexibility. Training regimes are tailored to an athlete’s individual goals. 

Steve said there are other gyms in the area, but most of them are for those 16 and older and don't provide instruction. 

"If you are waiting for someone to turn 16, you're really behind the power curve and teaching them the right things to do," he said. "I thought the kids in this town deserve better. They deserve somewhere or somebody to take an interest in them sooner." 

The gym is in a garage the couple built last fall for Steve's pickup truck. With a laugh, Steve said he was willing to sacrifice it. He then started buying equipment ranging from free weights to resistance bands.

However, he said one of their biggest assets is the long, curvy, uphill driveway to the house on Fulton Drive. He'll have youth play football up and down it without them even realizing the workout they're getting. 

"We offer strength and conditioning, but more so than that, we offer speed, agility and mobility. I'm teaching them to stretch, I'm teaching them to do things that are going to help with injury prevention," Steve said. 

Steve previously was a football coach for Coshocton City Schools and Ashley was a cheer coach. They said they don't want to replace anything sports programs are doing, but compliment it. And the gym is open to more than just Coshocton students. 

Along with their coaching experience, Ashley is also a registered nurse and Steve is a licensed trainer and former Marine with a degree centered on middle school education. 

"What we've tried to become is a tool for the coaches. We're not replacing coaches. We're not teaching basketball, we're not teaching baseball, we're not teaching football," Steve said. "It's supplement to what they're already getting." 

Future goals for the gym include developing a competitive cheer program, a biddy football program and training camps for different sports. They would also like to obtain a permanent building that could offer other amenities, like batting cages. 

Champ Haley, 13, is entering eighth grade at Coshocton. He plays basketball, football and baseball. He said working at the gym has greatly improved his strength training, mainly because of the guidance Steve provides. 

"Before I started lifting with (Steve), I made excuses not to lift. I wasn't motivated to lift, but he had me come up and lift and I got addicted to lifting. I always come up because he motivates me," Haley said.

For more information, contact Steve at 910-787-0077 or steve@tribextreme.com. You can also find Coshocton Tribune X-Treme Gym on Facebook. It's open noon to 7 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; noon to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays and closed on Sundays. 

Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with close to 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.