Vancuren brings passion to SP Wichita

*Want to train with Sharp Performance? Find them online at www.sharp-performance.com.

Sharp Performance has put the well-being and success of athletes at the forefront of its mission since former KU football standout Jake Sharp first started the business/passion project in 2013. Since then SP has earned a reputation for helping athletes across the state and Midwest, with operations in Salina, Wichita, and Concordia, and events that take place from Kansas City to Colorado Springs and soon in Oklahoma.

It’s no surprise, then, that SP is continuing to add more talent to its staff, most recently with former Conway Springs multisport standout Clint Vancuren taking a lead role for the brand in Wichita, bringing along his own passion for Kansas athletes.

“I've always loved being around athletics and my original plan was to go into physical therapy,” Vancuren said. “I broke my ankle and tore multiple ligaments my junior year in the playoffs and ended up having to have three surgeries to completely fix it, so that injury got my mind thinking about how I can stay around athletics and help athletes that have a set back.”

After graduating from Conway Springs High School in 2011, Vancuren went on to earn a bachelor's degree from Pittsburg State in Exercise Science, as well as master’s degrees in Health and Human Performance (2016) and Education (2019). 

Vancuren also made important connections in his days as a Gorilla.

“When I was at Pitt State, Matt Nelson was just hired as the head strength coach there and I talked to him about an internship I was needing to complete my degree, and that experience shifted my focus,” Vancuren said. “He let me be in charge of some of our return to play protocols since I had been doing some physical therapy shadowing and so I found I was able to go into the strength and conditioning field and still be involved in some of the rehab and return to play.” 

During and since his time as a student, Vancuren has put together a strong track record starting with his internship as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Pittsburg State from 2015 to 2016, before going on to secure a full-time position as Director of Sports Performance for Kapaun Mt. Carmel in Wichita from 2017 to 2020.
 
Along with his wife Trista, Vancuren moved to Oklahoma City in 2020 for her Pediatric Residency at the University of Oklahoma Children’s Hospital. Vancuren himself took a position as a Sports Performance Coach at Athlete Inc. from May 2020 to 2021. Starting in December of 2020 he also served as a part-time strength and conditioning coach for Oklahoma State. 

After a year at Athlete Inc. Vancuren took over as the Head Strength and Conditioning coach at the University of Central Oklahoma before most recently returning to a full-time position with Oklahoma State in the summer of 2022. A position he will continue in until moving up to Wichita this month.

During the 2015 to 2020 portion of that span, Vancuren often worked alongside Sharp and his team at various combines.

“As far as working with SP, I met Jake about eight years ago when I was at Pitt State," Vancuren said. “SP was still kind of in its infancy and he explained to me what his vision and goals were with Sharp Performance. The family atmosphere and environment that they have created with Sharp Performance is something that I have felt connected to since going up to Salina and meeting with Jake back in 2015.”

Vancuren immediately saw the potential in what Sharp was building and was sure to stay connected.

“That was a big reason why I wanted to stay connected with what he was building at SP and jumped at every opportunity to help with the combines and some of the camps that SP was putting on,” Vancuren said. “The model was truly about helping Kansas kids reach their athletic goals, as well as providing resources to them and their parents to help them throughout their athletic development journey and the recruiting landscape.”

While career priorities for Sharp and Vancuren remained unchanged in the years since their initial conversations, a lot changed in terms of Sharp Performance's scale and Vancuren’s experience.

“Sharp Performance has grown a lot since then and Jake and I have talked about getting a location in Wichita going for a couple years,” Vancuren said. “I've been fortunate to have coached around 30 athletes now between the NFL, MLB, and NBA and have been able to coach side by side with some of the all-time leaders in the strength and conditioning industry.”

Sharp Performance’s increased presence in Sedgwick County provides area athletes more potential for success through the knowledge of Vancuren and the rest of the SP team, as well as the exposure and opportunities SP provides to athletes hoping to take their game to the next level.

“With my wife finishing up her residency we felt like the time was right to expand SP and see if we can take it to another level while getting a Wichita location up and running full speed to serve the Wichita area,” Vancuren said. “I'm going to be leading the sports performance side for SP and primarily house out of the new Wichita location.” 

And as Vancuren returns to Kansas to join the Sharp Performance team, he brings with him no shortage of enthusiasm for his craft or his home state.

“When we moved down to Oklahoma I took the approach of trying to get around as many strength coaches as possible, and was very fortunate to be able to work with some of the most highly regarded coaches in the field,” Vancuren said. “Coming back to Kansas and joining SP is something I'm very excited about. I'm looking forward to bringing some of the experiences and knowledge that I've gained back to the Wichita area, and helping out not only the athletes here in Kansas, but also creating relationships with coaches across the state to help serve them as well.” 

*Want to train with Sharp Performance? Find them online at www.sharp-performance.com.