Many professional athletes are thought by others to live their day-to-day lives completely dedicated to training for their sport without room in their schedule for much else. Riccardo Magni, a 40-year-old teacher at Pioneer Valley High School and professor at Hancock College, strives to find balance between his athletic career and family life.
“I compete in strongman, track and field, powerlifting, and high grip competitions,” he said. “Strongman is my favorite. It focuses mostly on grip, and I love them.”
Magni has had the opportunity to train with professionals from high places and with skill levels to help him advance in his own abilities.
“I’ve been blessed enough to be exposed to some of the best people in the world,” he said. “I’ve been able to compete against more than 30 Olympians and world record holders in competitions.”
While Magni is deeply passionate about his love of training and competing, he’s a dedicated teacher and coach as well. He even earned the “Teacher of the Year” award in 2013 and received a teaching award from the White House in 2012.
“I’m entering my ninth year teaching, and I’m also a professor at Hancock,” Magni said. “I’ve also coached track and field at Pioneer Valley, and I currently coach club soccer. One of my favorite things is when there are times when we can have a bad game, but if a few individuals want to improve on a skill, it’s a good feeling.”
Family is also an important aspect of Magni’s life.
“It’s important to set goals in life,” he said. “I’ve made it to a point that I can still do all of my lifts, I just have to responsibly make the time. I train in my garage. To be a drug-free guy who has a good job, family, and still does yard work and to still be able to train and compete is a big deal.”
Even with his accomplishments, Magni remains humble.
“I’m at the bottom of the best group of guys,” he said. “I just turned 40, and I’m still able to do what I love.”
This article appears in Jul 24-31, 2014.