Intro from Ryan McCarthy
"In my new role as Director of Strength and Conditioning, I have created an incredibly talented team to deliver high-quality strength and conditioning to our St Paul’s Students. Our weight room facility is open at certain times to all students. However, with the increasing roll, we have had to create a timetable to help facilitate opportunities for everyone to experience the multitude of benefits from resistance training, whether for sport performance or health and well-being.
To help deliver this service, we are lucky enough to have secured three talented strength coaches."
Corban Hall is a St John’s Old Boy. He then graduated with a Bachelor of Human Performance Science from Wintec in 2023 and is currently completing his Master of Exercise Physiology and Strength and Conditioning.
Corban completed an internship with BMX NZ as a Strength and Conditioning Coach and worked across multiple New Zealand water polo squads in this capacity. He continues to work with a few performance cyclists at the velodrome in Cambridge.
Corban has competed in water polo at a national and international level across multiple age groups and is one of seven New Zealand referees on the World Aquatics list. Outside of exercise, he continues to play and referee water polo.
Keegan Grainger hails from the mighty King Country town called Te Kuiti. He grew up performing kapa haka and playing basketball, where he played at the national tournament in Year 12.
He then discovered the gym while living in Denmark in Year 13. From there he went on to pursue a certification in Exercise Science from the Wellington Institute of Technology and was part of the Victoria University Handball team, coming second at nationals.
He studied a Bachelor of Science majoring in Physiology at Otago University. He then moved to Papamoa, where he worked as a personal trainer at a commercial gym and a physiotherapy clinic.
He has just started his third year at Wintec studying physiotherapy; he works closely with our onsite physiotherapist and follows several teams throughout the year. He dabbles in various activities, including surfing, CrossFit, and working out with friends.
Keegan’s favourite whakatauki is: “Whaka paohotia oku painga kia ngaro oku ngoikoretanga,” this translates to highlighting my strengths, and my weaknesses will disappear.
Mitchel Clark (Hall 2016-2020) intimately knows working in a busy school. Mitchel is in his third year studying for a Bachelor of Human Performance Science at Wintec. Mitchel is an avid rugby player, playing for Marist Premier Bs in the pivotal 10 position. Mitchel also competed in Olympic Weightlifting and at the national level in CrossFit as a teenager. Mitchel has a deep passion for health and fitness and is looking forward to giving back and applying his knowledge to help develop the next generation of athletes at St Paul’s Collegiate School.
