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Successful sports trainer helping local athletes improve
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| University of Central Arkansas basketball player Brooks Taylor, center, gets instruction from personal trainer Chris Hatley, right, in the Reynolds Fieldhouse weight room as Missouri Southern State basketball player Chris Scruggs looks on. The former Buffalo Island Central standout is hoping his workouts with Hatley can improve his endurance on the court. Cory Clark/Daily Press |
By CORY CLARK
cclark@paragoulddailypress.com
Personal trainer Chris Hatley has come to northeast Arkansas on a mission to give as many young athletes as he can an opportunity to attend college on an athletic scholarship.
Hatley has been training young athletes for six years in an operation that he started out of his garage in Boliver, Tenn.
As a person who was always interested in staying in shape, Hatley wanted to play professional football, but after 13 knee surgeries, he was forced to go another route.
When he landed in Boliver six years ago, he had been working as a conductor on the railroad for 10 years, but he decided to quit the job because he was not happy doing it.
“It was miserable,” Hatley said.
When he realized that there was no place to work out in Boliver, he had an idea.
Hatley had learned a lot about the body as he was constantly rehabbing from knee surgery.
He combined what he learned growing up with what he learned during his rehab and decide to start training people out of his garage.
Once word got around Boliver that people were seeing immediate results, Hatley said the business took off.
“I was having clients from six in the morning until nine at night,” he said.
Now, Hatley still co-owns the facility in Boliver that has moved from his old garage into a former grocery store building.
What makes Hatley’s Maverick Training System so unique is that it employs strong man and power lifting exercises into regular weight training and sports specific exercises.
Hatley found someone who could make lighter versions of strongman competition devices that he uses in his program.
“I’ve got them in smaller scales so people can handle them,” he said.
One of the strongman exercises he uses is flipping large tractor tires.
He said it helps athletes with their explosion because they cannot lift the tires only with their arms.
In Boliver, Hatley has helped almost 20 high school athletes earn college scholarships in a town of only 5,500 people.
After coming to northeast Arkansas recently to be closer to his parents, he found that Paragould is a town that is loves its high school sports.
His ultimate goal is to build up his reputation locally so he can open a sports academy.
In Boliver, Hatley helped Willie Kemp and Wayne Chism earn scholarships to play basketball for the University of Memphis.
Though Hatley is proud of Kemp’s and Chism’s accomplishments, what he is most proud of is that they are going to college for free.
Kemp was the first athlete in which Hatley trained for free in his coaches choice scholarship program.
The program takes athletes who make good enough grades that cannot afford a trainer and trains them for free.
Hatley had been living out west before he moved to Northeast Arkansas and implemented the program at sports academies in Las Vegas and Phoenix.
“My passion is to work with kids,” he said.
Hatley hopes someday soon he can start the scholarship program in this area.
“The ultimate goal is to get your education paid for,” he said. “There is always a perception that the university uses the athletes and what I preach to the kids is that we are going to use the university and they are going to pay for your school.”
After he started working with the Boliver High School football team, the team saw immediate results.
Hatley said the coaches were not too fond of his system, but after the team had only won three games in three seasons, the parents decided to give his system a try.
“The next three years in a row they went to the state playoffs,” he said. “Last year they were 9-3 and lost in the state quarterfinals.”
Hatley says the proof is in the results of the athletes he has worked with.
When it comes down to it, Hatley said he does not charge those who can afford his training very much money.
“It’s not about the money,” he said. “It’s about helping a kid go to college for free.”
The only thing he asks of his athletes in return is to come back one day and talk to young kids who are just getting started in his program.
“That’s all I ask of them,” he said.
Hatley said helping a student who wants to play college sports an opportunity to do so is very rewarding to him.
“It’s not about getting a kid to the professional level because so few make it,” Hatley said.
“But if a kid has a passion and wants to play college sports there are enough colleges out there for them to play and the goal is to get your education paid for.”
This summer, Hatley is working with several local athletes from this area, including Missouri Southern State basketball player and Greene County Tech graduate Skyler Bowlin, University of Central Arkansas basketball player Brooks Taylor and Chris Scruggs, who plays at Missouri Southern State along with Bowlin.
He is also working with some members of the Tech senior boys basketball team, including Wes Livingston and Trase Davis.
Bowlin said though he has only been working with Hatley for a short time, he can already see results.
“It’s definitely working,” Bowlin said. “We are going to be a lot stronger by the end of summer.”
Taylor said he thinks Hatley can help him on the basketball court and likes what he seen so far from working with the trainer.
“It’s going to help you in every aspect of the game in whatever sport you choose to play,” Taylor said. “I’m anxious to see how it works for me as time goes on.”
Hatley can be contacted at 870-761-0604 for consultations.
Hatley has been training young athletes for six years in an operation that he started out of his garage in Boliver, Tenn.
As a person who was always interested in staying in shape, Hatley wanted to play professional football, but after 13 knee surgeries, he was forced to go another route.
When he landed in Boliver six years ago, he had been working as a conductor on the railroad for 10 years, but he decided to quit the job because he was not happy doing it.
“It was miserable,” Hatley said.
When he realized that there was no place to work out in Boliver, he had an idea.
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He combined what he learned growing up with what he learned during his rehab and decide to start training people out of his garage.
Once word got around Boliver that people were seeing immediate results, Hatley said the business took off.
“I was having clients from six in the morning until nine at night,” he said.
Now, Hatley still co-owns the facility in Boliver that has moved from his old garage into a former grocery store building.
What makes Hatley’s Maverick Training System so unique is that it employs strong man and power lifting exercises into regular weight training and sports specific exercises.
Hatley found someone who could make lighter versions of strongman competition devices that he uses in his program.
“I’ve got them in smaller scales so people can handle them,” he said.
One of the strongman exercises he uses is flipping large tractor tires.
He said it helps athletes with their explosion because they cannot lift the tires only with their arms.
In Boliver, Hatley has helped almost 20 high school athletes earn college scholarships in a town of only 5,500 people.
After coming to northeast Arkansas recently to be closer to his parents, he found that Paragould is a town that is loves its high school sports.
His ultimate goal is to build up his reputation locally so he can open a sports academy.
In Boliver, Hatley helped Willie Kemp and Wayne Chism earn scholarships to play basketball for the University of Memphis.
Though Hatley is proud of Kemp’s and Chism’s accomplishments, what he is most proud of is that they are going to college for free.
Kemp was the first athlete in which Hatley trained for free in his coaches choice scholarship program.
The program takes athletes who make good enough grades that cannot afford a trainer and trains them for free.
Hatley had been living out west before he moved to Northeast Arkansas and implemented the program at sports academies in Las Vegas and Phoenix.
“My passion is to work with kids,” he said.
Hatley hopes someday soon he can start the scholarship program in this area.
“The ultimate goal is to get your education paid for,” he said. “There is always a perception that the university uses the athletes and what I preach to the kids is that we are going to use the university and they are going to pay for your school.”
After he started working with the Boliver High School football team, the team saw immediate results.
Hatley said the coaches were not too fond of his system, but after the team had only won three games in three seasons, the parents decided to give his system a try.
“The next three years in a row they went to the state playoffs,” he said. “Last year they were 9-3 and lost in the state quarterfinals.”
Hatley says the proof is in the results of the athletes he has worked with.
When it comes down to it, Hatley said he does not charge those who can afford his training very much money.
“It’s not about the money,” he said. “It’s about helping a kid go to college for free.”
The only thing he asks of his athletes in return is to come back one day and talk to young kids who are just getting started in his program.
“That’s all I ask of them,” he said.
Hatley said helping a student who wants to play college sports an opportunity to do so is very rewarding to him.
“It’s not about getting a kid to the professional level because so few make it,” Hatley said.
“But if a kid has a passion and wants to play college sports there are enough colleges out there for them to play and the goal is to get your education paid for.”
This summer, Hatley is working with several local athletes from this area, including Missouri Southern State basketball player and Greene County Tech graduate Skyler Bowlin, University of Central Arkansas basketball player Brooks Taylor and Chris Scruggs, who plays at Missouri Southern State along with Bowlin.
He is also working with some members of the Tech senior boys basketball team, including Wes Livingston and Trase Davis.
Bowlin said though he has only been working with Hatley for a short time, he can already see results.
“It’s definitely working,” Bowlin said. “We are going to be a lot stronger by the end of summer.”
Taylor said he thinks Hatley can help him on the basketball court and likes what he seen so far from working with the trainer.
“It’s going to help you in every aspect of the game in whatever sport you choose to play,” Taylor said. “I’m anxious to see how it works for me as time goes on.”
Hatley can be contacted at 870-761-0604 for consultations.
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