Hidden Gym Sponsors Docuseries: Inside the Red Kingdom

As the Allen Americans move in to using Hidden Gym facilities as their official training centers, the interest in the already-popular team continues to grow. At Hidden Gym, we’re pumped to sponsor a new docuseries on the team as they move through training camp into what we all hope is another championship season.

Everyone gets to watch the games; but now you can see behind the scenes too.

Quality Worthy of a Championship Team

The docuseries uses high-quality video and audio, a content-rich format, and great highlight reels, all with a friendly, inviting tone that takes the viewer right into the world of the team. It blends the technology with a talent for filmmaking – just like the Americans blend technology and talent as they reach for that next big trophy.

It gives us a private look into the work, training, coaching and grit that goes into forging a championship hockey team, including personal views of coaching staff and players.

Episode 1

The first episode, Inside the Red Kingdom – Training Camp, introduces us to some key staff members and features a look into the off-season, and the first pre-season game.

The Team

We get to hear from key staff members, including new owner Miles Jack, Coach Chad Costello, Assistant Coach Aaron Gens, and Head Athletic Trainer Jordan Dutton.

Miles Jack, formerly of the NFL, is a proud new majority owner of the team, along with his mother LaSonjia. We get to not only hear encouraging words from Miles Jack, but the anticipation in his voice and look are obvious, as are his wider-reaching goals to make the Americans club a hub of community-building in the Allen area.

Head Coach and GM Chad “Costy” Costello features throughout the episode. According to Jordan Dutton, Costello was a dedicated and competitive player, who brings that same drive to his coaching duties. We see Costy on the ice, interacting with his players, and keeping that competitive drive high, as they gear up for the coming battles.

We also hear from Assistant Coach Aaron Gens, who was a defenseman for the team from 2014-16, but his career as a player was cut short due to a spinal cord injury during a game in 2016. He’s still on the ice though, supporting the game he loves. He knows what it feels like to win a championship… two of them in fact, and he’s ready to share that feeling with the 2023-24 team.

Jordan Dutton is there too, Head Athletic Trainer to the Americans. He is a Board of Certification Certified Athletic Trainer out of the University of North Texas and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. His expertise, along with Hidden Gym’s specialty trainers and coaches to support him, will hone the players into shape for the 72 regular season games and – oh yeah! – the playoffs after that.

Along with the coaching staff we get a few words from a few players.

The Challenges

We learn that one of the main challenges, at the ECHL level, is the high turnover of players. This isn’t anything particular to the Allen team; it’s a fact of the league. Players get contracts to play in the Europe League or the American League, taking the training and experience they’ve gained up with them.

The Americans are saying goodbye to their assistant captain, Jack Combs (#21), as he retires from pro hockey. With 95 points last season and, according to Costello, his “calming influence” on the team as a whole, his loss will be felt. Likewise for Hank Crone, the MVP who just signed a deal with the American League’s Chicago Wolves. Costello and the whole team are happy for him – but his absence from the team will need to be filled.

The final challenge to face is the heartbreaking loss to the Idaho Steelheads last year. The Steelheads beat them out in the second round, ending last year’s run for a fifth championship.

The Solutions

Hockey – any elite athletics – require constant adaptation and determination. We see Costello and Gens lift new players toward greater heights, discuss incoming players, and make the tough changes that could make the difference between victory and defeat.

The team hasn’t been gutted, despite the loss of some key players; there is still a good base of returning players that should keep the momentum going and uphold what they call “Championship Culture.”

The episode puts a strong emphasis on Championship Culture, that mental state and set of routines and habits that pull an athlete upward, like a magnet, to those medals and trophies. It’s a culture shared by Hidden Gem, and the partnership between the team and the gym is no accident.

The Off-Season & First Pre-Season Game

The Americans had one of the best off-seasons in the league, with fast-paced, high-action hockey expected and delivered.

Their first pre-season game, a hard-hitting battle against the Tulsa Oilers in Fort Worth, resulted in a loss for The Americans, but their spirits are not broken. The difference between champions and the nameless is often a matter of determination, mental toughness to press on despite a setback.

And the team is ready.

Regroup

After the disappointment in Fort Worth, the team regroups at the Hidden Gym. Owner Greg McCoy welcomes them and introduces some of the coaches and staff who will help to build, maintain, and channel the teams’ determination and drive toward another championship season.

“We are a work-hard gym,” says McCoy, “Whether you’re working hard to lose ten pounds, or you’re working hard because you’re in the Mr. Olympia contest… we want to be home to that.” And they are. Boxing, power lifting, cross-fit, and of course hockey. Anyone trying to better themselves, who is really serious about it, fits the culture at Hidden Gym.

To back up that claim, you need only look at the fact that the gym is investing in training coaches in sports psychology too – but that’s another story.

Ready to take your fitness game to the next level? If you live in Allen, Dallas, or Plano, make sure to get your free day pass to join Hidden Gym! Become a part of the most motivating place in the DFW area that will help you live a healthier life!

Check out our upcoming events and stay tuned for the next experiences that will challenge you to learn and grow!

Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMWtMWwfet4&t=22s