BY MARC LALONDE
marc.lalonde@transcontinental.ca
Al Gurhan says he and partner Bruce Creamer aren’t really selling anything at Velocity Sports Performance, their year-old athletic-development business in Dollard des Ormeaux.
But they are.
They’re selling the feeling you get when you’re running so fast that it feels as though your feet are barely touching the ground. Some people aren’t lucky enough to experience that any more than a handful of times in their lives.
But at Velocity Sports Performance, it’s their mission to help you achieve that feeling every time you set foot on a field, track or court of any kind. Want to get faster and more explosive?
They’ll teach you how.
“That’s what we do,” Gurhan said. “We make people faster.”
The company, located in a nondescript warehouse on Brunswick Blvd. nestled amid industrial and storage space, boasts a fully trained staff of kinesiologists, an Olympic-style track, 30-yard mini-field, and one philosophy: use core training to increase explosiveness.
In fact, their name says it all, Gurhan said.
“It’s all about velocity and how to get more of it into your sport,” he said.
The Beaconsfield resident found out about Velocity Sports Performance when he was looking for a resource to help his son work on his soccer skills about eight months ago.
“I saw what was happening here, and I was hooked,” Gurhan said. “I absolutely wanted to be part of it.”
Gurhan quit his job and invested into Velocity, and now handles promotions, information and publicity — among other duties — for the fledgling speed clinic.
“Personally, I took a big hit when I came on here, but I believe in what we’re doing and it was something I’m passionate about,”
he said.
Velocity presents a unique speed-training program tailored to each individual’s strengths and weaknesses.
“Coaches will sit down with athletes and evaluate them to figure out where they need work. Maybe we’re talking about a kid whose straight-line speed is great but who doesn’t have good bidirectional movement (side-to-side speed and quickness). Our coaches look at that and incorporate into the athlete’s training package,” he said.
But don’t just take his word for it. Ask the Montreal Alouettes, who enlisted Velocity’s coaches to help their players get faster over the duration of the team’s pre-season training camp held in June in St. Jean-sur-Richelieu.
“Certainly, we have a number of elite athletes in our program, but we feel the Alouettes connection is quite positive,” Gurhan said.
It’s affordable, too.
“Normally, a personal trainer will set you back $200 or more an hour. We run classes with our coaches, so the kids pay their registration and come in on schedule for their classes, and it costs them a lot less per hour,” Gurhan said, adding although the centre’s target market is the eight- to 18-year-old athlete, Velocity holds classes for adult weekend warriors still holding a torch for competition.
“Clients can come as often as they like, but we advise people to take a day off in between workouts. It’s pretty tough on the leg muscles.”
North Shore Mustangs running back Shane McKenna said Velocity’s training me-thods have already paid off for him after a half-year of working with them.
“I can already see a difference in my speed after working with them for six months,” he said. “I’m faster, I can change directions faster and I feel stronger when I run. Those guys really know their stuff,” the St. Lazare resident said.
For more information about Velocity Sports Performance, call 514-684-7007 or check
www.velocitysp.com
by Marc Lalonde 
Steven Guilbeault - 
