Crouse brings the competitive edge

Strength and conditioning coach to train Canadian women’s softball team

Josh Crouse will work with Canadian high-performance athletes this summer south of the border.

Crouse, a 28-year-old strength and conditioning coach at St. Francis Xavier University, will travel to Florida to train the Canadian women's softball team ahead of the Olympic Games in Tokyo in July and August.

“It's exciting because that's kind of highest level (of sport) I've been exposed to,” says Crouse, who grew up in Bridgewater and now calls Antigonish home.

Crouse will meet with the national team on May 19 for pre-olympic games in St. Louis. He will then accompany the squad to the Sunshine State where he will work with the women until July 6.

“When you're working with that kind of athlete, you're just looking at getting that extra one per cent because that extra one per cent is the difference between winning a gold medal and winning a bronze,” he says.

Crouse will be filling in for head strength and conditioning coach Scott Willgress of Halifax. Willgress is returning to Nova Scotia this month to work with gymnast Ellie Black, along with Olympic women's kayakers, and to spend time with family before re-joining the softball team in late June.

Crouse is thrilled with the opportunity to train athletes at the highest level and says their focus and attention to detail in all facets of training, both physically and mentally, is special. The experience of being in that environment for an extended period will also benefit Crouse, and St. F.X., as well.

“It is great to be able to bring that information back to my student-athletes and be able to talk about it because a lot of our athletes are aspiring to be professional athletes; some of them want to make that next jump, and you can kind of take some of those tidbits back and be able to discuss that with some of our athletes and give them maybe a little bit more guidance of what it takes to become one of the best in the world.”

Crouse, a former personal trainer of Team Canada head coach Mark Smith, of Falmouth, Hants County, hasn't completely ruled out going to the Olympic Games with the national team, however, it's unlikely due to university commitments.

“Because it's during our training camp (at St. F.X.), so it's still a little bit up in the air whether I may go or not, but as of right now, no,” he says.

Canada's women's softball team enters the Olympic Games ranked third in the world, behind the top-ranked U.S. and second-seeded Japan.

X-CEPTIONAL AWARD

Crouse was hired as the St. F.X. head strength and conditioning coach in July 2018 after spending the three previous years as assistant strength and conditioning coach at Acadia University. Earlier this month, he was the recipient of the St. F.X. Athletics X-ceptional Award, which recognizes individuals who go above and beyond to contribute in a positive manner. He worked to provide training and programming for varsity athletes during which time he had to adjust schedules and adapt methods amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was definitely challenging at times but I think our athletes adapted really well, our staff adapted really well and everything went really, really smooth – better than I ever could have imagined,

that's for sure.”

Crouse says winning the award was special, as his selection followed the 2019 award winner Oliver Smith – a brave, young soul who passed away in June 2019, one day after turning 12, after battling the rare bone cancer Ewing Sarcoma.

“The coolest thing was when I found out Oliver Smith was the last one to win the award,” says Crouse. “Honestly, Oliver played a huge role in all of our hearts kind of that last year before his passing … you could never follow up Oliver and what he did and what he meant to everyone, so it was a little emotional when I found that out.”

TRAINING DAYS

Crouse played volleyball at the University of New Brunswick before attending Acadia to complete his kinesiol ogy degree. While attending school in Wolfville, he returned to hockey after a four-year layoff and joined the Valley Maple Leafs of the Nova Scotia junior B league – a decision that piqued his interest in training.

“That's where I fell in love with training because I had to try and get back into hockey shape,” he says. “It's a little different than volleyball so that's where my passion for training developed a bit.”

As a personal trainer in the Annapolis Valley, Crouse previously worked with twotime NCAA hockey champion Brette Pettet of the University of Wisconsin, and Drake Batherson, a star forward for the Ottawa Senators.

“It was pretty cool to see them grow up and do what they've been doing,” he says.

During the summer, he also works with Antigonish Qleague

players Jacob Hudson, Logan Chisholm, Sean Stewart and Jacob Stewart.

“All four of them have made an absolutely massive step in their careers this year. It's great to see them all have breakout years in their own right, and obviously (Hudson) is coming (to St. F.X.) next year which is awesome; I would like to say I had a little part in that,” Crouse laughed. “The whole group of them is just awesome to work with and I'm hoping they'll all become future X-men – that's the plan.”

FUTURE GOALS

Crouse says his goal is to land a job at the professional sports level, and the NHL is at the top of his list. However, his time at St. F.X. has provided him with a greater appreciation of working with studentathletes in multiple sports.

“I think no matter where you go in professional sports it can be very rewarding, but at the same time we sometimes overlook how valuable working at this level can be,” he says.

Crouse says he enjoys his role at St. F.X., and as a result, hasn't set a timeline for his future goal.

“One thing that I've always been taught is be really good in the moment and the rest will take care of itself,” he says. “I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. Obviously, you have a goal set that you want to get to the professional ranks at some point, but I find if you put a timeline on it you don't necessarily do as good a job at staying present. So, I always say, make the best of where you're at because the rest will take care of itself.”