He used weightlifting to help kids find purpose. Now he's taking it a step further

Niko Hulslander is aware his philosophy on weightlifting sounds counterintuitive.

"I couldn't care less how much they lift," he said.

Come again?

"Because it's about how much you lift correctly," he continued. "Everyone has the opportunity for success whether it's lifting the bar or 500 or 600 or 700 pounds. Anybody can win first place against you but nobody can take away your personal best."

Hulslander has stuck to that principle while building up one of York County's most successful and niche athletics programs ― the Kennard-Dale powerlifting team. The Rams have won three Pennsylvania State Coaches Powerlifting Association team state championships, two female state championships, one team national championship, 48 individual state championships and one individual national championship since its inception in 2012. Hulslander has been with the club program since 2013 and the head coach since 2014.

But after a decade with the team, Hulslander has decided to step down. The school posted the head coaching position ― which is paid a stipend like other varsity coaching jobs ― this Tuesday.

A laborer for an industrial equipment company, Hulslander said one reason he resigned at Kennard-Dale is to give more time and energy to a different project. He's in the process of creating a ministry and outreach program to help kids in southeastern York County educationally, vocationally and spiritually.

The program's name will be "Get a Grip" ― a nod to his weight training background ― with a mission statement of: "Everyone will receive guidance in a manner that produces respect with integrity as an anchor point."

Hulslander said he's laid down the "footwork" for the venture, has people interested in helping him and is now looking for a space to host it.

"At powerlifting, I would always say a lot of life lessons are learned under the bar," Hulslander said. "Through sport, a lot of kids find perseverance, dedication, motivation and an improved self-esteem. I want to take it a step further and create a community that will benefit all the young people and even adults in this area."

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Hulslander has proven capable of generating interest in a program. Even with its long list of championships, the powerlifting team's most impressive aspect might be its participation numbers. After having around 10 members its first year, the team had 74 this past season. Hulslander pointed out that's just over 10% of the school's near 700-person enrollment.

The team also had 20 female members this year after having none a decade ago. Hulslander said the program has about an even split of multi-sport athletes and kids who just participate in powerlifting.

Still, he takes little credit for the program's growth.

"I didn't do it. It's the kids. It's their program," he said. "I don't work for the school. I can't stand in the hallway and recruit and say, 'come compete with coach Niko.' It's a testament to the kids and what they believe in."

But former longtime Kennard-Dale athletic director Gary McChalicher believes Hulslander's presence has been extremely important.

"He is one of the most gifted coaches of young people I've seen, and I really mean that," said McChalicher, who is now a dean of students in the school district. "I've seen him connect and capture the attention of kids of all types. It's not just the athletes. He takes kids who weren't involved in sports or didn't have a positive experience with sports and get them to be so dedicated. We never had any injuries or problems with the team. They always got better. They were always enthusiastic.

"There are coaches who can't do that with more than 15 kids and he was doing it with 80 at a time."

'It's a gift'

Before he wanted to coach, Hulslander was told he had to be ready to do it.

A native of Troy, Pennsylvania in Bradford County, Hulslander was a three-sport athlete who had his college football career at Lock Haven cut short due to injury. He began to try powerlifting ― which consists of reaching your maximum amount on the bench press, deadlift and squat ― and eventually asked Dave Schleich, a well-known coach in the sport based in Pennsylvania, if he could receive training from him.

Schleich's answer caught Hulslander off-guard.

"He asked if I was ready to coach. I was confused," Hulslander said. "He told me: 'Until you're ready to pass on knowledge to someone else, you're not ready to be coached.' He said there would be (techniques) we'd do in the gym that would seem weird and turn some heads. I'd be approached by someone who wanted to understand. He asked: 'Are you going to be the lunkhead who says get away from me, or are you going to pass along the knowledge? Because there are a million lunkheads in the gym, and the way you make an impact through lifting is by helping others become better people.'"

Hulslander said he's carried that conversation with him since.

He went on to become a world-class competitor for USA Powerlifting from 1994 to 2020. He competed all over the country and even in England and South Africa. He won a title at the Junior World Championships in London in 1995, breaking a record by future WWE star Mark Henry in the process.

In 2012, he was running a commercial gym near the South Eastern School District in York County, where his wife worked as a teacher and his three kids attended school. Kennard-Dale powerlifting had won a state championship in its inaugural year, but coaches Joe Hasson and Andy Loucks reached out to Hulslander for training advice. The following year, they asked him to join the staff.

But Hulslander said he never brought up his own success with his lifters. McChalicher agreed that he never heard the coach use his accomplishments as "an advertising tool."

"It wasn't about me," Hulslander said. "It was about seeing the potential in someone else and helping them connect to something that would help them physically and emotionally."

So how did Kennard-Dale generate so much interest in a grueling and under-the-radar sport? Hulslander attributes it to word of mouth and the team's success. But McChalicher said the coach's magnetic personality played a key role.

Anyone who's attended a Kennard-Dale football game has heard Hulslander's booming voice echo through the stadium after a Rams touchdown. But the physically imposing man also speaks thoughtfully and introspectively during conversations.

Those traits helped Hulslander connect with kids of "every clique and unify them into a family," as he put it.

That family includes his own family. His sons, Noah and Gabe, are college football players who were excellent powerlifters. Their best friend, Patrick Maloney, has served as an assistant coach since recovering from a brain injury suffered on the football field in 2019. Hulslander's wife, Dyan, has also helped out with the program.

"It's a gift, man, it's a gift," McChalicher said. "He's such a charismatic guy. You give him a microphone and he's a magician. He's great at recognizing kids and building them up. We built a culture at the school where being strong and physical is cool. He has a large footprint on that and the pride that goes into it."

Growing the sport

Hulslander was named powerlifting Coach of the Year by the state coaches' association in 2018, but the accomplishment he's most proud of is Kennard-Dale hosting the state championships in 2019.

The school has since hosted an invitational that featured more than 100 competitors from schools including Central York, Eastern York, Dover, Red Lion and Spring Grove.

While he's leaving his coaching position, Hulslander is still trying to grow the sport. He's done seminars at various York County schools and hopes to eventually get powerlifting recognized as an official PIAA sport. That would take at least 100 schools starting official programs. This year's state championships featured seven full teams and competitors from four others.

He believes Kennard-Dale's team is in good shape after qualifying 10 kids for the high school national championships this year. But he hopes his athletes focus on the principles he taught them rather than how much weight they can lift.

"Success doesn't have to be a medal around the neck," Hulslander said. "Victory can be against the things you are dealing with day to day. Because everyone has their own baggage. But for six hours a week, you get to come in this room and take control of what seems to be out of control. If you can do it in the weight room you can do it in life."

Matt Allibone is a sports reporter for GameTimePA. He can be reached at 717-881-8221, mallibone@ydr.com or on Twitter at @bad2theallibone. 

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Award-winning Kennard-Dale powerlifting coach steps down