Coach Bonis has extensive experience with both hockey and athletic conditioning. He played both at Proctor Academy and in the Eastern Junior Hockey League (EJHL). He is a USA certified swim coach, lifeguard, lifeguard instructor and is the Connecticut Trainer for Heroes of Tomorrow, run by former Navy Seal Stewart Smith.
Coach Bonis was a competitive cyclist and now competes as an open water swimmer, conquering the 2018 Lake Champlain Open Water Race and the 2019 Peaks to Portland open water swim. Whether it is climbing the tallest peak in the Rocky Mountains, swimming across the largest lake in New England, clinging to a rock face, or pushing impressive weight in various directions, Coach Bonis has spent the better part of his life connecting with people through fitness.
Coach Bonis has a Bachelor of Science degree in Community Health and has taught anatomy, physiology and philosophy. He has been mentoring student-athletes both inside and outside the weight room at South Kent School since 2005. The classes he has taught, as well as the training programs he has designed, always take the mind and body connection into account. An excellent motivator, Coach Bonis knows that it takes self-reliance to accomplish anything, “Working out is not always the hardest thing, it’s sometimes just getting to the gym that is the most challenging part.”