Nov. 14, 2022

A gym co-owned by pro football and hockey players opens this week in Sioux Falls.

ETS Sioux Falls is part of a national network of ETS Performance, which is based in Minnesota and has 23 locations in five states.

The Sioux Falls gym is in a 4,500-square-foot space at 3505 S. Minnesota Ave., which is part of the former ABC Rentals space.

The business caters to “athletes of all ability levels, ages 8 to 18, who are looking to maximize their physical and psychological potential,” said Gabriel Boyce, director of operations and performance.

“Our business is unique in the culture of the facility, the results the athletes get, and we deliver individualized personal training but at a fraction of the cost of traditional personal training.”

Boyce trained as a football player at the first ETS facility in Minnesota when it opened in 2010. He went on to win a full scholarship to play at Concordia St. Paul and two years later transferred to Gustavus Adolphus College.

Every gym is majority owned by ETS HQ and with partners who co-own the facility as well. ETS Sioux Falls is owned by ETS HQ, pro football player C.J. Ham, who played for Augustana University before joining the Minnesota Vikings, and former pro hockey player Thomas Vanek, who played two seasons for the University of Minnesota and spent two of his 14 NHL seasons with the Minnesota Wild.

Services offered include speed training, individualized strength and power development training and “elite speed,” which includes development and mechanics to maximize speed and reduce susceptibility to injury. There’s also customized team training onsite and offsite during the season and in the offseason. Athletes receive a free evaluation before committing to a membership.

“This is where an athlete and his or her parent or parents come to tour the facility, go through physical testing to determine a baseline, as well as for us to determine and discuss the athlete’s strengths and areas of improvement,” Boyce said.

“The initial response has been tremendously positive. Our membership base will be primarily athletes, both male and female, ages 8-18.”

Hours during the school year are 3 to 8:30 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. There will be summer classes offered with extended hours.