Synergy SPT looks to ‘revolutionize’ training industry

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — A strong business model includes using a name and logo to represent what the brand is all about, and nobody does it quite like Synergy Sports Performance Training.

The logo portrays a representation of the Vitruvian Man, once drawn by the great Leonardo da Vinci in 1490, as he holds a hockey and lacrosse stick with his hands. The background is filled in with a baseball, football, soccer ball and basketball to form a perfect, symmetrical circle.

That’s what the Vitruvian Man is all about; the embodiment of perfection and harmony, and the work Synergy SPT has done reflects just that.

“I wanted to come up with a name that would combine all the sports together, and originally I had the logo designed as an atom,” said Adrian Holcomb, Synergy SPT’s managing partner and president of operations. “I kept looking online at names that worked around atoms, and synergy was a word that just kept popping up.”

Since rebranding from their original name, which was Macomb Sports Academy, and before that, Hockey Sports Academy when the building opened in 2015, Synergy SPT has provided high-quality training to athletes of all sports, which wasn’t the case in the beginning.

Once a hockey-specific training facility, Synergy SPT, on the east side of Kelly Road north of 14 Mile Road in Clinton Township, has now prided itself on branching out to all sports and making it well known to the public that their full intentions were to take on athletes of all sports when Synergy SPT rebranded in November 2022.

“When we took over in November, we wanted to take it to the next step, so we kind of remodeled everything,” co-owner and head hockey trainer Matt Thomas said. “It’s been kind of a step-by-step process, and you don’t rewrite a brand overnight; you kind of chip away at it. That’s what it’s kind of been, and we’ve had a lot of support from the baseball facility (Macomb Batting Cages) next door.”

Thomas, who first joined the facility when it was Hockey Sports Academy in 2017, has continued to lead the charge alongside Kyle Lamont as one of the best training programs in the state for hockey.

Having their own synthetic ice rink inside the facility, Thomas and Lamont are able to work with young hockey players through stick drills, passing and shooting mechanics on the ice while also taking them through the off-ice training. Off the ice, trainees are working on box jumps, broad jumps, sprint machines, other strength exercises and the Synergy SPT favorite, the skating treadmill.

Thomas is a certified personal trainer who played Division I hockey at John Carroll University and currently coaches the 2009 Saints Red and 2012 Saints White.

While having that on-ice atmosphere that sets them apart from most, Thomas said Synergy SPT’s personable staff is what really matters.

“One of my mentalities for training is I’ll just be your older brother,” Thomas said. “Yeah, I’ll be tough on you, but I’ll care about you. You got school questions or life questions? Yeah, I’ll answer them for you and be that older peer influence. I am who I am because of my older brothers, and I think every person would be better off with an older brother. Someone to look up to and ask questions that aren’t your parents.”

While Thomas and Lamont handle the hockey side of things, Brian Krusinski, the head strength and conditioning coach at Synergy SPT, has trained athletes of all sports including football, track and field, and baseball.

Krusinski, who joined the facility in 2018, charged the initial spark for the training center to base its operations outside the sport of hockey as well, coaching on both the Grosse Pointe North football and track and field staff, and holding extensive experience in baseball. Krusinski is a certified strength and condition specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

While a huge advocate for a fun and lively atmosphere for his students, Krusinski said there’s one major thing he focuses on with his groups.

“Communication,” Krusinski said. “I make the kids come in, and they don’t know each other in their groups, they look each other in the eye, shake hands and say hi. We just teach them how to communicate with one another, and if an athlete has been here for a while and knows the ropes a little more and when someone new comes in, I expect them to help out a little bit and be a peer and mentor to that kid.”

Communication and education are two ideologies that Synergy SPT strongly values in its facility, and it stretches outside of the building.

Through Krusinski’s program of Always Repping SPT, which includes drills based on speed and agility, strength and conditioning, and mobility and flexibility, the education behind training is a key component that Krusinski wants to get across to his students.

“When they come here, they’re going to learn not only how to work out, but maybe make it a lifestyle as they get older and carry it into training their friends,” Krusinski said. “I always tell my athletes no matter the age, show your friends the proper way and educate other people how to do it correctly. Just education, having a fun environment, and teaching it the right way.”

Now on a full-fledged scale of over 500 athletes, and almost 1,000 during the winter with its offseason baseball team training, it’s safe to say Synergy SPT has found its footing in the training world.

Holcomb said there’s still work to be done, but the youthful company has exceeded expectations since opening its doors, and it’s only going to improve from here.

“We’ve only been open for six months, so we’re just learning how to crawl,” Holcomb said. “When we get up and sprint, we’re going to revolutionize the industry.”