MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) –

With the cancellation of several sports at the high school, collegiate, and professional level over the past few months, local athletes have turned to training in lieu of playing. One gym, AdvantEdge, in Marquette, boasts a wide roster of players, getting ready for their respective sports during the pandemic.

“Pretty much everything from fourth grade all the way up to the professional ranks,” said owner Dustin Brancheau.

Their biggest group of athletes is their football players, from youth teams, high schools, NMU and Finlandia; the gym was there for them when their seasons got canceled.

“They’re a very resilient bunch of kids, and as soon as that happened, they said, we want to get better, we want to continue to train,” said Brancheau. “Whenever our season is, we’ll be ready for it. we took that kind of mentality and rallied around it.”

One player has shown the success of the gym. AdvantEdge helped make Alex Briones a high school state title winner, a successful Division 1 college player at Central Michigan University, and now, a professional hopeful.

“It’s improved me a lot,” said Briones. “If there was no AdvantEdge, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

Briones has stuck with AdvantEdge, and believes that guidance will get him to the next step.

“I want to play this game until I’m 35, I’ve played since elementary school, and I believe that I have the tangibles to play professionally,” said Briones. “So I’m excited about the future, and I’m excited to get there with AdvantEdge.”

But AdvantEdge isn’t just for athletes currently competing.

“We have a blue collar program as well where we train anyone that wants to continue to train like an athlete, even if they’re working 9 to 5,” said Brancheau.

Brancheau says, there’s no need to worry about safety. The gym follows guidelines with temperatures, cleaning, and mask wearing.

“During a workout, if it feels like it’s constricting their breathing or anything like that, they’re able to pull their mask down and get a quick breath, get a quick drink of water,” said Brancheau. “We have three overhead doors that they can walk outside, we have airflow, it’s kind of like they’re working outside, but there’s a roof.”

To learn more about AdvantEdge, click here.

Copyright 2020 WLUC. All rights reserved.