Building More Than Speed: How Flanagan Speed & Performance Is Creating a Culture of Athletic Development
By: SportzWire | SportzWire | July 10, 2026 | Photo courtesy Madelyn Bevan
Just a few months after opening its doors, Flanagan Speed & Performance has quickly become one of the area’s fastest-growing destinations for athletes looking to improve their performance.
Located inside Resilient Athletics in the Wilkes-Barre/Pittston area, Flanagan Speed & Performance is led by Matthew Flanagan, CSCS, who also serves as the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach at Misericordia University. With more than two decades of experience working with youth, high school, collegiate, and professional athletes, Flanagan has brought a college-style training environment to local athletes who want more than just another workout.
“We’re not just trying to make athletes tired,” Flanagan said. “Everything has a purpose. Every sprint, every jump, every lift, every conditioning session is designed to help an athlete move better, become more explosive, stay healthy, and perform when it matters most.”
That philosophy can be seen in every session.
Athletes train with individualized programming built around their sport, position, training age, and goals. Football players focus on acceleration, change of direction, and power. Basketball players develop reactive speed and vertical explosiveness. Soccer players improve first-step quickness, repeat sprint ability, and movement efficiency. Baseball players work on rotational power, force production, and durability. Every athlete follows a structured progression rather than a one-size-fits-all workout.
The programming combines evidence-based strength and conditioning with modern performance methods, including sprint mechanics, resisted and assisted sprinting, medicine ball training, plyometrics, isometric strength, force development, deceleration training, and high-performance conditioning. Sessions are intentionally designed to improve athletic performance while managing fatigue and reducing unnecessary wear and tear.
While the programming stands out, many athletes point to something else that keeps them coming back: the environment.
Training groups regularly feature athletes from different schools, sports, and competitive levels pushing one another through challenging workouts. Competition is encouraged, but so is accountability.
“It’s not about beating the person next to you,” Flanagan explained. “It’s about helping each other raise the standard. Iron sharpens iron. When athletes surround themselves with people who are willing to work, everybody improves.”
That culture has helped create an atmosphere where athletes celebrate each other’s success, regardless of what school they represent.
In addition to working with competitive athletes, Flanagan Speed & Performance has expanded its adult performance and fitness programs, offering strength training, conditioning, and mobility sessions designed to help adults build strength, improve movement quality, and stay active for the long term.
The business has also partnered with the University of Scranton as a field experience site for aspiring strength and conditioning coaches, giving students the opportunity to gain practical coaching experience while learning the profession firsthand.
As summer continues, the schedule remains packed with individual training, small-group sessions, youth camps, and athletes preparing for upcoming high school, college, and professional seasons.
Despite the early success, Flanagan believes the business is still in its infancy.
“We’ve built a great foundation, but this is just the beginning,” he said. “Our goal is to continue providing athletes with an environment where they can grow—not only as competitors, but as people. If they leave here stronger, faster, more confident, and more disciplined than when they walked in, we’ve done our job.”
For Flanagan Speed & Performance, success isn’t measured only by faster sprint times or bigger lifts. It’s measured by the culture being built every day, one athlete, one session, and one opportunity at a time.
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