Bio

The American International College athletic department announced the hiring of Michael Dance, MS, CSCS as the College's Strength and Conditioning Coordinator on Thursday, January 7, 2021.
 
"I am beyond excited to be joining American International College as the Strength and Conditioning Coordinator," Dance said, noting that "This opportunity was very special to me as I grew up not far from Springfield and have lived in the area my whole life. It is an honor to lead this program that is designed to help our student-athletes achieve success on and off the field."
 
Dance has experience at every level of collegiate athletics. As a student-athlete himself, he was a four-time MASCAC All-Academic selection from 2011-2015 as a member of the Worcester State University football team while serving on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and earning a bachelor's degree in health education. He then earned a master's degree in exercise science from Northeast-10 Conference rival Southern Connecticut State University in 2018.
 
Dance's resume includes internships with the University of Connecticut and Quinnipiac University in 2017 before becoming the graduate assistant for the Southern Connecticut State strength and conditioning program. While with the Owls, he worked primarily with women's lacrosse and field hockey. He then moved on to Bryant University in 2019, where he was assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Bulldogs, where he worked with seven teams, including primary responsibility with women's soccer, volleyball, golf, and women's tennis.
 
The wealth of experience, and the value of a strong strength and conditioning program, was not lost on AIC's head field hockey coach Rhonwen Peters '11, who said of Dance's hiring "I am so excited that AIC has made the commitment to our student-athlete development by adding a full-time strength and conditioning coordinator. This will provide our Yellow Jackets with easier access to support and take our training to the next level. With the number of student-athletes at the College, our administration recognizes the importance of consistency and availability to our teams' growth."