National Sports Journalism Center

USA Football and St. Vincent Sports Performance (SVSP) formally announced an official partnership the morning of Jan. 24 at the SportZone in Indianapolis.

The two organizations made their announcement shortly after the current athletes in the SVSP pre-combine training program wrapped up a morning training session at SportZone’s facilities.

The partnership between the two Indianapolis-based organizations will make St. Vincent Sports Performance the official performance medicine partner of USA Football and its U.S. National Team program.

“We are incredibly excited to find a world-class partner in St. Vincent Sports Performance right here in our back yard,” said Scott Hallenbeck, executive director of USA Football.

St. Vincent Sports Performance Executive Director Ralph Reiff echoed Hallenbeck’s sentiments.

“As we celebrate the sport of football with the Super Bowl coming up, we couldn’t be more proud to be closer to the game through this relationship with USA Football,” Reiff said.

The partnership will allow SVSP to expand their reach across the country through USA Football’s myriad programs. SVSP is already the official performance medicine provider for several other National Governing Bodies like USA Gymnastics, USA Track & Field, USA Diving, and USA Synchro, but this partnership marks a significant foray for SVSP into the sport of football from a national perspective. USA Football manages the U.S. National Team program and is also the official youth football development partner of the NFL.

“When we talk about reaching out into the community, this relationship with USA Football enlarges our community immensely,” Reiff said. “This relationship with USA Football immerses us into a grassroots foundation with the sport of football across the United States.”

St. Vincent Sports Performance will provide support in the form of trainers, physicians and strength coaches for USA Football at several nationwide events, the first being the International Bowl in Austin, Texas on Feb. 1. Hallenbeck described the event, which takes place on National Signing Day, as an “exciting concept” which pits some of top high school football players in America against the top high school-aged players from around the world.

Hallenbeck also expressed hope that many of USA Football’s current athletes might wind up training with SVSP’s pre-combine training program down the road. This year’s iteration of the eight-week training program is already underway. 15 athletes are participating in the comprehensive program in preparation for the NFL Draft. Five of the athletes have been invited to the NFL Combine, which will be held in Indianapolis Feb. 22-28.

Hallenbeck looked on as the athletes went through on-field skills training Tuesday morning, taking direction from several NFL veteran coaches, including two-time Super Bowl Champion linebacker Roosevelt Colvin.

Both Hallenbeck and Reiff looked forward to a long-standing mutually beneficial partnership.

“It’s a great day for USA Football and St. Vincent Sports Performance,” Hallenbeck remarked, “two great world-class organizations that are committed to making the game better.”