That was apparent recently when Lindsey Tresler, demonstrating the family trait of quickness, raced through a maze of orange cones.

"She's pretty good," former University of Hawai'i football player Mike Tresler said of his daughter, "for a 5-year-old."

Lindsey was participating in a Speed and Quickness clinic. The minimum age is 7, but she earned an exemption through her father's friendship with Rich Miano, the clinic's co-founder.

While his daughter learned proper running techniques, Tresler said, "the main thing was she had so much fun. She thoroughly enjoyed it. Learning can be fun."

Miano said: "She has a lot of potential. We hope we can teach her to be as fast as her father."

Tresler was a hard-hitting defensive rover for the Warriors in the late 1980s. His daughter is prepared to follow in his cleat-steps. She is enrolled in a flag-football league.

"Hopefully, she'll be a running back or quarterback," said Tresler, now director of finance for Kaua'i County. "She plays soccer, too."

EXPERIENCED TEACHERS

Miano said the clinics are designed to improve strength, quickness and endurance. The clinics are held weekends on the UH-Manoa campus. For $10, participants receive juice coupons, refreshments and 90 minutes of innovative training tips.

Miano and co-founder Mel deLaura employ techniques collected through their work in professional sports. Miano played 11 seasons in the National Football League, and deLaura used to train several pro basketball players.

"We use whatever we picked up over the years," deLaura said. "We're constantly adding stuff."

The syllabus calls one drill "resistance training." In practice, it involves attaching a parachute to a runner.

"The kids love the parachutes," deLaura said. "They're having a blast when they use them. They're having so much fun they don't realize how hard they're working."

DeLaura also has about a dozen power-jumping drills involving a wooden box.

DeLaura, who played football for UH in the early 1970s, became involved as a trainer when he assisted Kermit Washington's basketball comeback 20 years ago. That led to jobs helping Portland Trail Blazers Jerome Kersey, Terry Porter and Kevin Duckworth.

Duckworth, to be sure, is not synonymous with fitness, and serving as Duckworth's conditioning trainer is akin to being William Hung's voice coach. But asked about the 7-foot Duckworth, deLaura offers a vaudevillian response: You should have seen him before he started working out.

"Duckworth was making $250,000 a year, and he weighed over 300 before he came to us," deLaura said. "We made him run and do all of the drills. He showed up every day and did what he was supposed to do. He lost 20 pounds, but added muscle. After that offseason, he signed a $2 million contract. It was directly related to him getting in shape. He was dedicated."

DeLaura said he recently saw Duckworth, who is retired and clearly off the weight-training program.

"Now he's 400 pounds," deLaura said. "He's huge ... but he's rich."

Miano, who has a body by Marvel Comics, credits his build to former New York Jets teammate Danny Odegaard. Miano said Odegaard performed a series of exercises in which the muscles are stretched and then quickly contracted, such as clapping between push-ups or jumping on and off boxes. Today, the exercises are known as plyometrics.

GETTING BACK IN SHAPE

Gary Scheuring, 43, brought his two sons to the clinics two years ago. Scheuring , who plays ice hockey, decided to participate in the workouts.

"After a couple of sessions, they ended up dropping out," Scheuring said. "I ended up going myself."

He hasn't missed a session since.

Scheuring said the drills have improved his foot speed and lower-body strength, giving him the burst to skate past younger defenders.

The drills "are fantastic for agility, movement and muscle memory," said Scheuring, general manager of Cutter Ala Moana. "I don't mind being the oldest guy in the (clinic). I love to compete. I'm trying to compare myself against high school and college kids to see how I measure up. The whole thing helps me so I can go back to playing hockey."

Kahili Cheng, a junior at Kalaheo High School, had earned a reputation as a no-pause soccer forward. But after her first Speed and Quickness clinic, "I fell asleep right when I came home," she recalled. "It was really tiring."

By the second session, she said, "I was really welcoming it."

She said the most useful drill was the ladder exercise, in which she hop-scotched through a series of roped squares. "It builds muscles," she said. "I was really a sprinter. Now I can run long distances without complaining."

R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane of 'Aiea said he improved his flexibility just from the clinic's warmups.

"Stretching alone takes maybe half an hour," he said. "Actually, what we do during warm-ups is a workout itself."

The effort has paid off. Kiesel-Kauhane, an All-State football player at 'Aiea High School, will play for the Warriors this fall.