Everyone wants their kid to be fast. "His speed sucks!" "My daughter doesn't know her arms exist!" "Her stride length is terrible!" "My son gets beaten every time!" And the complaints, moans, groans and grunts go on and on. As a youth performance coach to hundreds of soccer players, I'm in...
Back in 2015, I attended the first Long-term Athletic Development Workshop. Ever. This was when the phrase started to gain traction in the youth sports community, and amazing researchers and practioners began to start a movement of letting kids be kids, and escape the conveyor belt...
This year felt like ten days. Of course, not everyone can say it zipped by for them. Some were doing math homework within earshot of their siblings. Some were on conference calls while the cleaning lady was vacuuming. And some were signing into class while their parents were bickering. To...
This is a special one. The Soccer Queens Podcast features its first college strength and conditioning coach. Darien Pyka is a total boss, too. Not only can she squat me times 1,000, she is an empowering coach to young women. I am excited to have her on to...
I respect my colleague Joel Smith at Just Fly Sports a ton. In fact, I've been following his platform for a while now and am a huge fan, so when he asked me to guest blog for his website, I was extremely giddy. Not only is Joel...
Injuries suck. The last thing you want is to be taken from your sport, let alone, watching your teammates work hard and get even fitter as you plop on the sideline in misery. I get it. It's defeating. You want to be out there sprinting, getting stronger, mastering the...
"I can't...
"You're going to be with me for a while." This is the opener I tell every potential online athlete. Of course, I also slip in the, "we're going to discuss life during Zoom check-ins" or "meditation for as many reps as possible is in your program" or...
Lock down exposed a lot. No, not that we clock in at 9 hours of screen time a day. No, not that us doing work with our family within earshot is like nails on a chalkboard. No, not that we hate the news more than we did before. No,...
One thing I love the most about being in a male dominated industry is coming across other female coaches who are on the same mission: to build humans into the strongest versions of themselves mentally and physically. Of course, they're tough to find, but when you...