Strength Coach Nick Ficker Perseveres Through Hurricane Helene

When Hurricane Helene swept through North Carolina, it left an unanticipated trail of devastation through the city of Asheville. Nick Ficker, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Asheville Christian Academy (ACA), was impacted by the storm both personally and professionally. Trees fell onto his family’s cars, tore through his home, and his beloved weight room at ACA was left submerged in silt and water. Yet, through it all, Ficker remained a beacon of resilience and optimism for his family, students, and the greater Asheville community.

From Soccer Coach to Strength Coach

Ficker’s journey to becoming ACA’s strength and conditioning coach began as the school’s soccer coach. With an education in health and physical education, Ficker candidly admitted during an interview for a PE position that his knowledge of training athletes was limited. However, he embraced the challenge head-on, getting help from legendary Strength Coach Gary Schofield and earning his Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) certification. He would go on to develop a successful program that fostered positive health habits in the students at ACA.

“We do not have a general PE class like you would find at a public high school,” says Coach Ficker. “We’re utilizing strength and conditioning in the hopes that we can teach kids how to live a healthy, active lifestyle, and how to take care of themselves. I had notes hanging up my office from kids saying, ‘Hey coach, thanks for teaching me something that I didn’t know I needed to know. Now I’m in the student Rec center three nights a week and I’m in the best shape of my life because I was forced to take strength and conditioning when I didn’t want to.’”

The Eye of the Storm

When Hurricane Helene made landfall in September 2024, it brought destruction to ACA’s campus and the surrounding area, including Ficker’s own home. During the storm, a tree came crashing through his roof, narrowly missing his wife and children. Despite the chaos, he remained focused and got them to safety.

“I remember, here’s my 12 year old son looking at me, and he said, ‘Dad, what’s next?'” Ficker says, “And I was just like, ‘Bud, It’s just stuff. That’s all It is. The four of us are okay.’ Nobody had a scratch on them.”

The school itself was not spared either. Ficker’s weight room, a space he had designed and equipped from the ground-up, was flooded with water and mud. The damage extended beyond the weight room—classrooms, hallways, and athletic fields were also devastated by the storm.

“I remember thinking at the time, ‘This is a big problem, but it’s a small problem. Because I know what’s going on a hundred yards down the road from the school,'” Ficker says. “That there’s families that are trying to find the rest of their family. That there’s houses that are gone. There’s people that don’t have anything. So that kept everything in perspective the entire time.”

A Community United

Amid the destruction, the Asheville community rallied together. Ficker was quick to help others and there was an outpouring of support from local organizations, neighbors, and colleagues from the National High School Strength Coaches Association (NHSSCA).

“Everybody you talked to knew somebody else who had it worse off,” says Coach Ficker. “That’s been the mentality for the past three weeks, ‘Hey, yeah, my house got hit by a tree, but your house is gone. What do I need to do for you? How can I help you?’ And so we just rallied together and found a way to help each other out.”

ACA’s recovery process has been slow and steady. While repairs to the campus are underway, the school adapted by holding online classes and relocating in-person instruction to local churches. These spaces have become makeshift classrooms, ensuring students can continue their in-person education without interruption.

Meanwhile, the weight room remains unusable, but Ficker continues to find ways to ensure student-athletes maintain their training. Thanks to partnerships with the local Gold’s Gym, students are still able to train and prepare for their sports seasons.

“We’re going to try to keep our programming as consistent as possible. We’re just going to have to do some different variations of the exercises. So I might not have my football guys back squatting, my in-season Olympic kids split squatting with a safety bar, developmental doing goblet squat, off-season doing front squat for volume. We might always be doing front squat because that just works out that day, trying to keep it as simple as possible.”

Teaching Resilience Beyond the Weight Room

Ficker sees the hurricane as a teaching moment. For him, strength training has always been about more than physical fitness—it’s about resilience, adaptability, and facing challenges head-on. This ethos became even more critical as he helps his students navigate the aftermath of the hurricane.

“The road is long and it’s going to be tough, but we’re resilient,” says Coach Ficker. “We’re stronger than we think we are and we’re going to make it. It’s just going to take some time. I think having the resources available now and later down the road as we rebuild and put things back together, that’s going to be the biggest difference maker.”

With ACA students back in class at temporary locations and the community working tirelessly to rebuild, Ficker is optimistic about the future. Plans are in motion to restore the campus by January, and the strength program will continue uninterrupted. Through it all, Ficker remains grounded in his faith and the unwavering support of his community.