A 27-year-old Bermudian has been hired to work with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.Matthew J Herring will work with renowned strength and conditioning specialist Anthony Falsone to improve the team’s general fitness.He flies to Texas tomorrow for the full-time job.“I’ve worked really hard to get this. I’m on cloud nine right now,” he told The Royal Gazette. “We’ll be using the latest and greatest technology to find out as much as we can about every athlete and how we can improve them athletically, while reducing their risk of injury.”The Saltus Grammar School graduate, who has a Master’s degree in strength and conditioning from the University of Edinburgh, spent two years as assistant strength and conditioning coach for the University of California, Santa Barbara.He returned to Bermuda last March and started his own company, Rhino Training; at the same time he worked as a volunteer with college basketball players at a California gym. Those efforts landed him his job with the Spurs.“Once I went over and had experienced the States, I realised those were the athletes I wanted to be around,” he said.He said he gladly accepted the “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” offered by the Spurs’ management team a couple weeks ago.“It’s going to be pivotal, it’s going to be great,” he said.“They get so many little knocks in each game but reducing those risks will help us tremendously to reach that championship.”Mr Herring said he especially admired the Spurs’ work ethic. The team is currently second in the NBA.“Their mentality is parallel to mine, it’s going to be a great match,” he said. “They have the most tremendous winning culture. Everything they do is to perform at the highest level to win.“They hold themselves and each other accountable over there, and it’s a perfect environment for success.”The Warwick resident said his parents Kip and Sheila and his siblings Jonathan and Fiona had “always been supportive, and always been there for me”.“Now they’re already seeing which games they want to get tickets for,” he laughed.His advice to young people is to work hard in order to achieve.“Be prepared to experience failure,” he said. “One thing I’ve learned is that failure isn’t a dead end; it’s merely an assessment of how much you want something. If you experience failure, it’s a test.“If you really want to reach your goals, keep going. You’re going to lose many battles before winning the war.”