On the FASST Track in Lyndhurst

NOTE: This is a feature I wrote that unfortunately won't see print. But since it was my idea to do the story in the first place and it's already been written, I thought the best way to share it would be here on the blog, which is mine, all mine. So here goes. It's a fascinating feature about two hard-working young men who wanted to be involved in sports.

The association between Ryan Marshall (left)and Paul Johnsen (right) began more than 25 years ago, when the friends were teammates in Lyndhurst Little League together.

“We were on Cricket Converters,” Marshall said.

“Cricket Converters,” Johnsen said a few hours later. “I was a catcher, pitcher and third baseman. Ryan played shortstop. We became good friends.”

When it came time to go to high school, the buddies went their separate ways – Marshall to now-defunct Queen of Peace, Johnsen to St. Mary’s of Rutherford.

Marshall’s football career ended with a serious knee injury in high school. Johnsen, the younger brother of former pro boxer Wayne Johnsen (known nationally for his participation in the NBC-TV network series called The Contender with Sylvester Stallone and Sugar Ray Leonard in 2005), went on to play at the University of New Haven and later with the Arena football team called the New York/New Jersey Xtreme.

But Marshall and Johnsen remained close friends.

“We would cross paths every so often,” Johnsen said. “We were always friends.”

They both decided to become athletic trainers and strength and conditioning instructors becoming certified around the same time.

“I was getting older and I had to figure out a way that I could make a living in sports,” Johnsen said.

“Physical training was in my blood,” Marshall said. “I think it was something that I just had to do.”

They both secured positions with the famed training facility Sports U, located in Fairfield, for about four years, when they decided to do something on their own.

“We have similar personalities,” Johnsen said. “We looked into going into business together.”

In 2010, the birth of FASST – an acronym which stands for Functional Athletic Strength and Speed Training – took place, even though it had very humble beginnings.

“We worked with the St. Mary’s football team at different locations,” Marshall said. “We trained them on our own.”

But it was vital for the new business to have a central location. Marshall and Johnsen scoured the area for a locale. They wanted to stay close to home, because of their association with local athletes.

“A lot of it came by word of mouth,” Johnsen said. “Ryan is excellent on the social media side. I knew I couldn’t do something like this by myself.”

“I think I put a lot of faith in Paul,” Marshall said. “We slowly became well known and earned a reputation.”

Marshall and Johnsen worked on enhancing an athlete’s skills and cut down on the occurrence of sports-related injuries. They concentrated on increasing overall strength and speed, the proper way for athletic stretching, flexibility, endurance and cardiovascular health in order to develop a better overall athlete.

According to the FASST website, the goal is to “challenge our athletes in the aspects of leadership, work ethic, winning attitude, attendance and the ability to follow instructions.” The website continues by stating, “Through these principals, we will help develop discipline and develop the motivated leaders of the future.”

Marshall and Johnsen had the right plan. Now, all they needed was a prominent location.

They found a former garage on Park Avenue that was converted into a baseball batting center, but that didn’t succeed.

“It was right in Lyndhurst,” Marshall said. “It was a perfect location for us.”

“We just had to get the word out there,” Johnsen said. “The relationships we have developed are the key.”

The friends went to the area’s coaches and showed the coaches the facility and their plans. Slowly, but surely, the business grew. And so did the clientele.

Lyndhurst head wrestling coach Scot Weaver brought his teams (Queen of Peace, then Lyndhurst) to FASST.

“Coach Weaver was great to us,” Marshall said.

So did Lyndhurst girls’ soccer coach Kim Hykey and head football coach Rich Tuero.

Some of the Kearny wrestling team went to FASST for training. Stefanee Pace Kivlehan brings her Kearny girls’ soccer team to FASST on a regular basis. 

Marshall was already the strength and conditioning coach for the women's soccer team at Rutgers-Newark, so the R-N women’s soccer coach Ariana Ruela, a Kearny native, brought her team to FASST. Former Harrison football coach Danny Hicks trained at FASST when he was an athlete at FDU-Florham, so when he became a coach, he brought his athletes there.

Some of the local youth programs, like Ironbound of Newark and the famed Thistle program in Kearny, brought their athletes to FASST for proper training.

Another prominent local athlete is Kearny native Jacob Cardenas, the two-time NJSIAA state wrestling champion now headed to Cornell University. Cardenas has regularly trained at FASST since he was in seventh grade.

“Jacob started coming here, because other kids he wrestled with were coming here,” Marshall said.

And three former Observer Athletes of the Year – Petey Guerriero of Lyndhurst, now playing football and running track at Monmouth University; Dustin Huseinovic of Harrison, now playing football at Pace University and Giulia Pezzolla of Lyndhurst, headed to Monmouth to run track and field this fall – are all products of the FAAST training regimen.

That’s some ledger of success. All of these great athletes, the best that the area can offer, head regularly to a converted garage on Park Avenue, to train to make themselves better athletes. They must be doing something right.

“You have to build up the relationships you have with the coaches,” Marshall said.  “We put the product out there and parents see what we do. We put the word out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. A lot of what we do is marketing. Some kids hear that their friends are coming here, so they want to join. I have kids who ask, ‘Do you mind if I bring my friend?’”

Marshall believes that FASST has a leg-up on the other training facilities.

“We do a lot with injury prevention,” Marshall said. “We want to keep the kids healthy. Of course, we value when a kid has to rehab an injury. But a lot of what we do is remaining pro-active in keeping an athlete healthy.”

This summer, FAAST’s membership level approached 500 athletes. The growth is astounding. Marshall and Johnsen work with kids as young as eight years old, teaching them the proper way to sprint and lunge on a soccer field. The middle school kids work with resistance training and the high school kids work more extensively.

“It’s all based on age and ability,” Marshall said. “It’s not based on sport. Some of what we do applies to gymnasts and rowers. And it’s not all just for athletes.”

Needless to say, the Lyndhurst friends remain very busy.

“We work long days,” Marshall said. “I honestly don’t have much of a social life. I may start with the Rutgers women’s soccer team at 7:30 in the morning and end the day with the Lyndhurst football team at 9 p.m. It depends on the day. One day just rolls into the next.”

But Marshall knows that FASST didn’t exactly take the fast track.

“We didn’t do this overnight,” Marshall said. “We knew that we had a good recipe here and it all added to a recipe for success with the right people in mind. If we keep doing the right thing, I think we’ll be here for a while.”

Johnsen knows he’s doing something he loves.

“My goal was to do something I wanted to do,” Johnsen said. “I knew I couldn’t do it on my own. It’s awesome. We can only help the kids. They’re the ones who have to put the work in. But I want to keep getting bigger. I’ll put the time in. I’m willing to work 20 hours a day. It’s great. My advice would be to find something you love to do and believe in and just do it.”

Sounds like a sneaker commercial.

Marshall knows that FASST is not slowing down.

“I’m beyond proud,” Marshall said. “I always believed in myself and I thought we could have success. I couldn’t be more proud. This is what I thought it could be. We’re beyond lucky to be able to do this. Part of me is amazed. It’s all about the kids. They didn’t stumble into success. For the most part, the kids control our destiny.”

For more information about FASST, located at 136 Park Avenue in Lyndhurst, and its programs, call (201) 933-0778.