Crossfit Fast Factory - St. Cloud, MN

The Fast E.A.P. is THE Elite Training Program for advanced hockey players looking to excel in a professional training environment.  No other program will meet the hockey players need like this.

How are players selected?

If you wonder why you have never heard about “tryouts” for the Elite Advancement Program, the reason is simple: we do not conduct tryouts.  Such tryouts generally serve as mere “fundraisers” anyway.  Rather, we at the Fast Elite Athlete select our athletes based on three criteria: 1) the recommendations of coaches, athletes and hockey professionals who comprise a sort of referral-network; 2) the homework our own Staff conducts; and 3) our scouting and vetting of prospects who have submitted to us their Player Profiles.  We look at many elite hockey players, of course, but we choose to invite only those whom we believe will represent their teams, clubs, and countries with the class, integrity and character of a true athlete.

Player recommendations are therefore based not only on hockey ability, but also on depth of character, leadership ability, and scholastic efforts.  In the simplest of terms, if you are recommended to us, it is because someone somewhere has seen your son and recognized him as an outstanding athlete and as a good person.

What are our Goals and Objectives?

What the Elite Advancement Program does is provide these elite players with an opportunity to achieve their own goals and objectives:

We:

• Identify talented young hockey players and assess their inherent abilities and potential for future development and success.
• Make contact with the coaches and parents of these players with an eye toward becoming involved in their future development.
• Work to inform parents and players of the available options for future development, so they can make informed decisions regarding the serious pursuit of the player’s training and opportunities.
• Incorporate on-ice training to identify players’ strengths and weaknesses with the goal of enhancing his skills development and remedying any deficiencies.  
• Enhance early preparation of skills and abilities that will be needed for a higher level of competition for more years in the future.
• Identify and work on deficiencies in skill factors that can be determined through interaction with Fast Elite Athlete staff coaches.
• Identify deficiencies in training and health/nutrition that can be remedied by education and, if necessary, expert intervention.
• Make sure these deficiencies are discussed with both the athlete and the parent for remedial work.

• Enhance the flow of information and educational opportunities to players and their parents in an effort to help improve the athlete's training.
• Assist the player and family in the development of these young athletes through enhanced access to the best authorities available, in addition to other training and performance opportunities.
• Serve as a "fast track" for talented hockey players from the early years of training so they are prepared to advance through the junior/college/pro and international levels.
• Provide a truly unique elite program for all players.

The Elite Advancement Program is committed to work with and showcase the future elite hockey players and no other spring/summer organization provides the foundation we do for elite athlete development.  

Last Word…

The Elite Advancement Program is not a random process and we work hard on identifying the players we invite to participate.  If you would like your son to be considered for acceptance into the Elite Advancement Program, please fill out the application link on this site .  Notification will be provided to the player via an email letter addressed to the parents.

Thank you for your interest in Fast Elite Athletes & The Elite Advancement Program!

John W Swanson

“I have experienced incredible gains using FAST techniques. At the beginning of the summer, we discussed my goals - both professionally and physically - and through his workouts and intense approach to training, my goals were not only attained, but also surpassed. I would recommend FAST to any athlete that is serious about reaching their maximum potential.”

-Andrea Nodl,
Philadelphia Flyers
2006 - 2nd round (39th overall) by the Philadelphia Flyers

"Training with FAST bring many things to the table such as: hard work, determination, and a family atmosphere. It will teach you to push yourself and stride to become the best you can be. Training with FAST has helped me through my hockey journey by preparing me with strength, agility, a strong mindset and much more."

Ethan Prow - Sauk Rapids, Minnesota

St. Cloud State Men Hockey  

The Twelve (12) Week On/Off Ice Training Program (Limited to 16 Skaters per Session)
Skill Development Sessions (25 On Ice Sessions)

Students will skate  a week for 8 weeks.  The Skill Development Sessions will focus on the following with and without the puck:

   • Over-Speed Training 
   • Multi-Directional Movement Skills
   • First Step Quickness
   • Lateral Mobility
   • Powerful Strides
   • Forward and Backward Transitions
   • Stick-Handling in tight areas
   • Shooting the puck at high tempo simulating game situations. 
   • Small Area Games

Strength and Conditioning Program: (Off-Ice Strength and Conditioning Training)

Students will be put through an intense 1.5 hour off Ice Training Session five (5) times a week.  This Hockey Age Specific Training Program is designed specifically for the Bantam athlete moving on to the next level.  This program combines all aspects of the Functional Athletic Sports Training highly successful Strength and Conditioning program, which focuses on the teaching of proper technique in a highly successful competitive environment.  This program is designed to improve:

• Strength
• Power
• Explosiveness
• First Step Quickness
• Agility
• Speed
• Lateral Movement
• Balance
• Reaction Skills
• Flexibility
• Injury Prevention

All Programs have been designed to improve a skaters balance platform thus improving their Strength and Power on the ice translating into improving their top end speed.  All training sessions are implemented in The FAST Factory - State of the Art Strength and Performance Facility.

All programs have been designed by John Swanson and are implemented by John and his FAST Coaches certified by ANSI.

Camp Dates: June 11th - August 24th, 2012
**No Training the week of July 2nd-6th.**

Check out this video at about the 1:25 mark, Tim Thomas (winner of the Vezina Trophy at the NHL Awards) thanks Jay Schroeder and ARPwave for helping him recover from hip surgery and allowing him to attain maximal athletic performance!

ARPwave and EVO Sport (also developed by Jay Schroeder) are the same methods used by Elite Advancement Program Members!

All Athletes require an application.  All applications will be reviewed by our FAST Staff.  You will be notified if  qualify for the EAP as well as the availability. 

If you have questions or problems with the application please contact our offices at:

Dear Parents,
As promised I have finalized the schedule with National Hockey Center. Over the three months period I have 25 one hour ice sessions. Along with that, the athletes will have 65 hour and half training sessions totaling 122.5 hours of training. My goal with this program was to create the best program out there at an extremely reasonable price.I understand you may not be able to make every session but I would love to see the athlete make 85%-90% of the training sessions. I have given the athletes off over the July 4-8, 2012

Come September 1st your game will be at a whole new level.
Thanks,
John W Swanson