Digital Mag
November | December
FIRST RESPONSE:
How D1 Training has transformed an Indianapolis-area fire department
BUILT DIFFERENT Q&A with Team Teague Director Kim Felde
FOR THE LOVE OF BASKETBALL The story of The Factory’s own Angel Leonarder
CONTENTS 04 FIRST RESPONSE: How
D1
Training
has
Indianapolis-area
transformed
fire
an
department
09 BUILT DIFFERENT Q&A
with
Team
Teague
Director
Kim
Felder
15 FOR THE LOVE OF BASKETBALL The
story
of
The
Factory’s
own
Angel
Leonard
18 ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT Christopher
Adrian
Hammer
Wilson
20
CONTRIBUTORS Editor Aueyia Taylor
Writer Josh Ayen
FREEZE FRAME
Photographer David Dixon THE PLUG | 1
FROM THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR
Dear Readers, Recovering from the pandemic in small businesses can be tough, it’s essential to remember to let your unique awesomeness and positive energy inspire confidence in others. Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine. If you want light to come into your life, you need to stand where it is shining. Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out. From my desk to yours, Kwana Evans
Live, Laugh, Love
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A LEAGUE FOR
EVERYONE
Bite Size League Ages 3-6 Impact League Ages 7-10 5th & 6th Grade League Middle School League High School League 30+ League Indy Pro Am League THE PLUG |Â 6
FIRST RESPONSE:
HOW D1 TRAINING HAS TRANSFORMED AN INDIANAPOLIS-AREA FIRE DEPARTMENT
By Josh Ayen
Mike Lang had a dilemma on his hands. The Wayne Township Fire Department deputy chief of administration knew a few members of his crew were not in the best physical shape, including himself. Two years ago, Lang took the department’s annual VO2 test, an industry-wide exam developed to measure how much oxygen a person is taking in during exercise and how quickly one recovers afterwards. To pass, a department THE PLUG | 4
member needed to score a max VO2 level of at least 25 – the national standard is now 28. Lang scored below a 25, thus failing his test. “At that time, (I had) 27 years in fire service, and that was the first time I had not passed the minimum standard,” Lang said. Lang was not alone, as other firefighters in the department were not in shape and needed to improve their level of fitness. Those who failed to pass their physical and/or fitness test were not allowed to work until they could meet the department standards again. One colleague was recommended to work with D1 Training on the west side of Indianapolis. Over the course of 4-to-6 weeks, D1 Strength Coach Darien Miskel dedicated time to help this firefighter improve their cardio and well-being. This was only a precursor to Miskel working with the rest of the fire department. Since joining the D1 staff in 2018, Miskel has trained a few police officers and a member of the armed forces on a one-off basis. He did not have the opportunity to work with an
entire first responder group until Wayne Township entered the picture. D1 Training has earned a reputation of developing athletes to be in peak physical shape, regardless of age or where they are in their development. In recent years, Miskel has applied D1’s style of training to a unique branch of athletes. “We call them tactical athletes – firefighters, police, first responders, any branch of the military,” Miskel said. They’re not competing in a sport, but they still have to be physically ready for their job all the time.” Firefighters encounter countless scenarios where some measure of physical fitness is needed. Before stepping off a truck, firefighters are already wearing around 75 pounds of protective gear – most of the extra weight being an oxygen tank over their back. Depending on the situation, they may need to drag a hose for an extended period, climb several flights of stairs or break down debris. “With firefighters, they’re on the go all the time, and you never know when you have to leave and do something,” Miskel said.
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As D1 develops a workout plan specifically for each competitive athlete, Miskel also develops a workout plan catered to what a firefighter may encounter while on duty. A typical session consists of intense circuit-styled workouts, rotating between two or three exercises per set. The example below is one type of workout Miskel developed for firefighters who train at D1. - Set 1 (skill training): Rope pulls into a sled push x 3. Hammer slams x 8. - Set 2 (strength): Overhead barbell press x 10. Cable press x 10. - Set 3 (core): Boats with medicine ball over head. 1-leg crunches against a wall. *** After hearing of his colleague’s success story, Lang started training with Miskel. Several months later, Lang not only got his VO2 score back to a passing score, but it nearly doubled to 40. In turn, Lang has felt noticeable improvements in his overall health since he began training with Miskel two years ago. “Working with someone who understands how to train with athletes helps, because I don’t think firefighters ever have that mindset,” Lang said. In the years that Wayne Township firefighters have trained at D1, every member has seen notable improvement. “Everyone we have sent to D1 for the immediate type of fitness training has come back and passed (the VO2 test),” Lang said. Lang has successfully convinced other colleagues to become more involved with D1, including the department’s peer trainers and department Chief of Health and Safety Felicity Morgan. Throughout October, Miskel has hosted a series of clinics for Lang, Morgan and other peer trainers at D1. A video on D1 Indy’s official Instagram page shows the group of firefighters going through a variety of firefighterbased exercises, including sled pushes, battle ropes, rope pulls and hammer slams. “The main goal of why we’re doing these clinics is so that these guys can get the same quality training that I’m giving them here,
they’ll be able to give to themselves outside of (D1),” Miskel said. Passing the VO2 test is only the baseline goal for Miskel and the Wayne Township Fire Department. Both parties want to help improve the overall fitness and mitigate the risk of injury for firefighters within the department. “We know by improving the VO2 score, that’s going to improve other health factors,” Lang said. “It certainly has for me.” As for Miskel, he is optimistic the successful partnership with the Wayne Township Fire Department will open the door to work with other area first responder groups. “(Wayne Township) has had other fire departments asking about the programs,” Miskel said. I’m pretty sure that here soon we’ll be expanding to one or two more.”
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Built Different Q&A with Team Teague Director KimBy Josh Felder Ayen
Kim Felder is the director of Team Teague. Felder sat down with The Plug’s Josh Ayen to discuss a variety of topics including how Team Teague has adjusted in wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Team Teague’s family environment and the overall landscape of AAU basketball. Thank you very much for your time, Kim. First off, could you expand on your role and responsibilities as the director of Team Teague? Yeah, I kind of help coordinate the teams with everything. Players – we give some advice on what type of players (coaches) should be
looking for with regard to the position and skillset.Then we help with the schedule, with the scheduling of events and helping (coaches) get registered for events. And then also helping organize internal events that we host with the club. How does Team Teague differentiate themselves from other AAU basketball programs based in Central Indiana? Well, you know, Team Teague is different. It’s more than a slogan; we are built different. We emphasize on development. We are building our teams very strong at a younger age than say, Indiana Elite or Indy Heat. Indy Heat is looking for somebody that’s already turned their talent into ability at that eighth, ninth grade, even into high school - if that’s in state or if that’s out of state. They’re just looking for the highest-ranked guy to put in their uniforms. THE PLUG | 9
League Appreciation Weekend Offer valid only 12/4/2020 - 12/7/2020
"WE'RE TRYING TO DEVELOP THAT TALENT AND TURN IT INTO ABILITY."
For us, it’s different. We’re trying to develop that talent and turn it into ability. That’s not necessarily looking for a superstar, so to speak. When you’ve had a chance to get to know kids at a young age and kind of help mentor them and develop them, your sense of ownership is there as far as that family. You want to do more. You want to do right by them, and people remember that. When talking to families and they ask about the development side of Team Teague, is there a particular player or alum that you reference by describing, “Look at where they started, and look at where they are now”? *Laughs* I tell you that is so – there are so many players that fit that description. Trayce JacksonDavis. I mean, he was a bigger kid, he was a little bit awkward, he didn’t really play a lot. But we just kept instilling in him that, “You just got to work.” He wasn’t the most athletic kid when he was younger, but you wouldn’t know that now by looking at him. We could also say the same thing for Luke Goode; he’s committed to Illinois. He was also a kid that we had from the second grade through the ninth grade. He just kept working, kept working, kept working. I don’t even know if Luke was a consistent starter throughout the years, but that didn’t stop him from falling in love with the basketball game and falling in
love with the process. That’s what we try to teach; it’s “You do what you can control.” It’s the effort that you put on the court and the effort that you put off the court. You do those things, we’re going to help you instill confidence. Another kid would be Leland Walker. He’s a kid who’s never worn another uniform besides Team Teague, and we saw his ability at a young age. He wasn’t the most polished player, but we just kept instilling in him to work. We allowed him to play up in the tournament with the 2021 guys [Walker is on track to graduate in 2022], and he just saw how hard those kids played and how much fun it was. Again, he just fell in love with the process of getting better and training. When I ask Team Teague families and other staff members to describe the program, one of the most common words I hear is “family.” How does leadership go about creating a family feel within the Team Teague program? It starts at the top, and Shawn Teague has done something in the state that few people have had accomplished, and that’s getting two sons drafted in the NBA in the first round. That’s phenomenal, but the time he spent with his boys, you can’t do that through osmosis. You have to THE PLUG | 11
spend time with them, and so that’s the one thing with being in this environment there’s some great men, great role models, especially in a time like this where the country is so divided. At Team Teague, it doesn’t matter if you’re white, black, purple, green or yellow. We are unified, and you can learn something by the men that are in this program. One of the great guys in this program, he doesn’t even have kids, [and that’s] Bill Collins. He’s one of our administrators as well. But you can learn a lot from just being a better father, being a better man, and that’s how we foster that style. When you have kids, you want someone to treat your child the way… do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Team Teague is very much like a dad putting his son on his shoulders. We stand on shoulders of giants around here. When you have a child and put them on your shoulders, his perspective changes. Not only is he able to see a little further, but ultimately he may be able to (because of what he sees) reach a little higher and achieve a little more. That’s the perspective I think a lot of coaches have, and if they don’t have it, they’re going to see it in action. Hopefully they’ll try to do better, based off of what they see [from] Shawn, myself, Bill Collins and some of the other great coaches we have. They’ll see that and mimic that. You’ve played a large role in helping Team Teague navigate through COVID-19. It’s been uncharacteristic, but you were still able to have a summer of AAU basketball. How were you able to overcome this and help ensure that the kids were able to play? Well, my background is in healthcare. The policies and procedures and concerns – we had an advantage having that background, knowing about social distancing, whether it’s mask-wearing or sanitation. So we had a plan from day one, even while The Factory was closed.
We were meeting and talking about our plan to reopen, and I think that starts at the top with leadership. As far as the actual tournaments and figuring out how we can [safely play] – every detail was on the board and discussed. How they were going to enter the building and temperature checks, and how they were going to exit the building and the flow of traffic. We did everything to try and make our kids and our families feel safe throughout COVID, because unfortunately I don’t see this going away anytime soon. We could be dealing with this through late 2021. You either get out front, or you get left behind with your program. As I mentioned earlier, AAU basketball has looked quite different because of this pandemic. The overall landscape shifted because many national shoe circuits were canceled. Do you see any of these changes being permanent in a post-COVID world? I really don’t think permanently it’s going to change, because I do feel like that’s the world. You have to be able to adapt and adjust and overcome, and basketball can certainly teach you that. We’ve learned a lot of lessons with COVID [with] appreciating the small things you take for granted so much until it’s taken away from you. You have to be innovative, and that’s the strength of Team Teague because we’re not just reliant on Jeff Teague or Shawn Teague or myself to come up with these ideas, but we rely on a team within a team.
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We have an administrative staff that’s one of the best staffs in the Midwest, and we have a wealth of knowledge. So we can brainstorm some ideas, bounce them off one another and we figure it out. I think that once this post-COVID stuff happens – it’s just basketball is too powerful with some of these shoe companies. I think that they’re definitely going to drive the market and start travel back up again when it’s safe. Until then, I think with some of the [other] states shutting down, the leadership in Indiana in the basketball community has definitely figured it out with basketball-only facilities. We don’t rely on just schools. Some of these other states, they don’t have the luxuries that we have here in Indiana with basketball-only facilities. So if [other states are] reliant on schools to get in, during the COVID break no one could get on a school campus because it just wasn’t safe. You couldn’t get on a college campus and have a basketball tournament; it just wasn’t safe. So Indiana is blessed with a lot of basketball-only facilities, and we were able to capitalize once we kind of figured out how to go about it in a safe and responsible way.
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TheFactory D1indy
Angel Leonard knew she wanted nothing to do with basketball at a young age. She still remembers her dad pouring a slab of concrete and installing a basketball hoop in the backyard of her childhood home in South Bend. It was the attraction of the neighborhood, so much that Leonard started charging admission for anyone who wanted to play. Leonard got some shots up in her backyard when she was little, but she knew the game was not for her. “Once I got to middle school and it was time to actually try out for the team, I just didn’t want to do it,” Leonard admitted. “I didn’t want to sweat, I didn’t want to break a nail, it just wasn’t my thing. So, I just kind of left it alone.” Basketball was not in the cards for Leonard, but the sport would continue to follow her wherever she went. After graduating from Indiana University in 2006, Leonard moved to Indianapolis. Not too long after moving to the Circle City, Leonard gave birth to her first son, Adrian, and met her second family, the Teague’s. Leonard’s first encounter with Shawn Teague was about 12 years ago.
FOR THE LOVE OF BASKETBALL
The story of The Factory’s own Angel Leonard
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Adrian’s father and Teague frequently played basketball together at SportZone on the northwest side of Indianapolis. When Adrian was old enough to play basketball, Leonard signed him up to play in bite-sized leagues and clinics ran by Teague family. Adrian, now 13 years old, currently plays with M. Teague 2026, representing Marquis Teague and one of the top middle school AAU teams in Central Indiana. There’s much about the Teague family that reminds Leonard of her family back home in South Bend. “They’re so welcoming, they’re very down-toearth,” Leonard said. “Just meeting them, you would never think they have two very successful sons [that are] pro athletes. You just wouldn’t get that vibe from them.” The Teague’s and Leonard have been very close since the mother of two moved to Indianapolis. When the doors opened to The Factory in August 2017, Leonard was present to celebrate the grand opening. Seven months later, Leonard became part of The Factory crew as staff manager. As the staff manager, Leonard plays a crucial role in overseeing the people who run events at The Factory. Visitors may see Leonard at the front entrance or manning the concession stands, but her role expands beyond that. On top of working the events, Leonard manages the weekly gym schedule and ensures there are
enough staff members to help work at each event. During the height of the AAU season, Leonard is shuffling between her full-time job and The Factory for up to six days a week. All the back-and-forth can be quite stressful but working alongside her second family makes the job much more bearable. “It doesn’t feel like work here. It’s a lot of fun here,” Leonard said. “Just being able to interact with a lot of the kids and the parents, and you’re seeing them grow up.” After saying no to basketball in her youth, the game continues to find a way into Leonard’s life thanks to her son and working alongside one of Indiana’s most famous basketball families. THE PLUG | 16
ATHLETE
t h g i l t o Sp
Name: Christopher Hammer Age: 16 Sport: Baseball Favorite Baseball Player: Kris Bryant Favorite Baseball Team: Chicago Cubs Favorite Movie: Major League Favorite Song/Artist: Thunderstruck by AC/DC Favorite Baseball Memory: Coming back from a broken arm and playing for a chance at a major travel-league baseball tournament in 2018 Best part about working out at D1 Indy: Everything. The workouts translate well with what I do in school, and it makes me feel good.
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ATHLETE
t h g i l t o p S
Name: Adrian Wilson Age: 12 Sport: Basketball Nickname: Pigg Favorite Basketball Player: LeBron James Favorite Artist: NLE Choppa Favorite Movie: Elf If you could play any other sport, what would it be, and what position would you play? Football. I would be a wide receiver or tight end What are your strongest attributes on the basketball court? My passing and my defense
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