As a high school athlete, Samuel Roome, CSCS set his sights on playing college football. After a significant injury derailed his initial plans, he decided to take a break before joining the football team at Averett University as a defensive lineman. That experience reignited his love for the game, and he got to see what a strength and conditioning coach does for a team. In 2015, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physical education with a concentration in personal training and began working on internships in the strength and conditioning field.
“I worked at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Catawba College with their athletic departments and absorbed as much as I could from those positions,” said Samuel. “I worked on a wide variety of teams – from swimming to lacrosse and tennis – and learned about what makes a great strength and conditioning coach.”
In 2017, he returned to his alma mater at Averett University and is now the head sports performance coach. He works with several teams and teaches courses in strength and conditioning and weightlifting, as well as serving as the liaison between the dining hall and the athletic department.
Samuel knew he wanted to pursue a master’s degree in strength and conditioning and discovered that Logan University’s Master of Science in Strength and Conditioning (MS-SC) program was the perfect fit.
“I heard a lot of good things about the Logan program and decided to pursue it, especially since I was working full time, and the program was online,” Samuel said.
He graduated with his MS-SC in 2023.
“The curriculum was so robust, the faculty were extremely accessible and caring, and the material was presented really well,” he said. “This program definitely got me the knowledge and jumpstart I needed to pursue my Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) accreditation. And it was very applicable to my daily job.”
The nutrition classes in the curriculum also proved to be valuable as he took on the role of dining hall liaison for the athletic department, where he helps athletes with nutrition.
“I love what I do and this job, and I always want to grow and learn,” Samuel said. “I love working with athletes – I can’t imagine what else I would be doing that wasn’t in this setting.”