By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Bryan Zollinger is excited to be back in Hays after nearly 30 years and “bring his coaching career full circle.”
The 51-year-old got his start coaching 28 years ago as an assistant to Rick Keltner, the Hays High School boys basketball head coach.
Zollinger went on to Atwood High School where he was the head basketball coach and assistant football coach to Dan Lankas during a portion of Lankas’ 17 winning seasons with the Atwood Buffaloes. Later, Zollinger moved to the junior college ranks as both an assistant and head basketball coach. The last 10 of those years were at Seward County Community College in Liberal where Zollinger coached the SCCC Saints to five Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division championships and two regional championships. During that time Zollinger coached six All-Americans and won nine Coach of the Year awards.
“After 23 seasons in the trenches of college coaching and becoming a father, I felt it was time to make some changes that were more conducive to raising my daughter,” Zollinger said. “It was creating a lot of stress in my life. I was torn between what I needed to do as a college coach and being home with my daughter. I didn’t think I was doing the right thing as a coach or as a single dad. Ultimately, I felt the right thing to do was choose family.”
Thus, the recent move back to Hays where his parents Joe and Euleta Zollinger and his sister Amy Wasinger live, and the decision to start a small local business.
His five-year-old daughter is in kindergarten at O’Loughlin Elementary School where Wasinger teaches third grade. “We moved up here from Liberal, the only home she’s known, to be around mom and dad and my sister and her family. It’s been wonderful,” he said with a smile. “I felt this was the best place to raise my daughter and to try to put down some roots and build something for my daughter’s future.”
Zollinger recently opened Synergy Supplements, 1702 Vine, which offers nutritional supplements of all kinds for all goals.
“My interest in starting this business was born out of my love for helping people reach their goals in sports,” he explained. “I’ve been studying exercise and nutritional supplementation for most of my adult life and this seemed like the best way to continue to pursue that passion, albeit in a somewhat different fashion.”
Zollinger’s interest in nutritional supplements began when he was a high school athlete to stay healthy and help improve his performance on the court. Since then, he says, “it grew into a passion. Whether people want to lose weight, get stronger, address a certain health concern or perform better in competition, we can help.”
A selection of bodybuilding products is also available at Synergy Supplements and Zollinger is offering essential oils at the request of customers. “I’m learning it’s a very popular thing.”
“The biggest portion of our store is aimed at general wellness, the health aspect,” Zollinger said. “Weight management, controlling cholesterol, men’s health, women’s health, all types of vitamins and minerals, antioxidants and different things to just keep you healthy.” If you can’t find what you want, Zollinger will order it from his distributors.
Product lines include Life Extension, Doctor’s Best, NOW, Bio Nutrition, Health from the Sun, Nature’s Alchemy, Mushroom Wisdom, Plus CBD, Nature’s Way, Terry Naturally, Optimum Nutrition, and BSN. According to Zollinger, most of the products are derived from foods and natural plants. Old ‘”folk remedies” are making a comeback, he says. “Cod liver oil is popular again.”
One of his most popular supplements is Curamin, an all natural, non-addictive supplement used to relieve pain, one of the best-selling products in the industry.
Zollinger encourages people to discuss their health history with him, including medical prescriptions and other supplements they take, in order to customize the supplements to each individual and to avoid interactions.
As a baby boomer himself, Zollinger is hyper-aware of the body’s changes as we age. “Women going through menopause, men with prostate problems, the immune system gets a little bit weaker and we can’t fight infections as well as when we were younger. There can be bladder problems and also problems with the thyroid. Sometimes it gets out of whack and that affects all the hormones in your body.”
Everybody has a flagging energy level occasionally. Zollinger says you don’t have to consume high doses of caffeine to become more alert. “There are things available now that increase your body’s natural energy production in different ways that don’t make you jittery or high-strung.”
There are also natural sleep remedies using milk peptides that are “much milder than prescription sleep aides and don’t give you that hangover effect the next morning.” he said. “They’ve isolated these compounds that you can take 20 to 30 minutes before you go to sleep. You get a better night’s sleep and don’t wake up feeling groggy.”
Most people spend money on products to make themselves look good on the outside. Zollinger is more concerned about the inside. He firmly believes vitamin and mineral supplements are an “investment in your health and your body,” he said. “If you’re not healthy and can’t enjoy your life, that affects everything else.”
After high school, Zollinger played college basketball at SCCC and Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa. While attending Fort Hays State University in the late 1980s to finish his teaching certification, he played throughout Kansas on traveling teams.
And, Zollinger is still coaching. “It was also a blessing that when I got back to Hays I was contacted by Rick Keltner who let me know he had an opening on his staff if I was interested. I’m excited to be a part of this community again, and hopefully, to help HHS and Coach Keltner build on their tradition.”
Synergy Supplements is open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. More information is available at www.synergysupplementsks.com and on Facebook or by calling 620-482-0536.