12 Jun Why I Train Youth Female Athletes Speed, Strength, Agility, and ACL Reduction
A lot of strength and conditioning coaches would say they found their niche.
I think my niche found me.
And I’m grateful it did.
You see, when I started personal training back in 2012, I worked with all walks of life – from the 70-year-old woman who wanted to resolve her knee pain once and for all, to the youth female athlete who wanted to get strong and no longer endure endless overuse injuries.
But the clients that kept gravitating toward me over and over again were young female athletes. Their parents wanted me to help with their strength, speed, and confidence.
During this time, a big problem was emerging: the professionalization of youth sports into a year-round competitive model with no off-season from practices, games, and tournaments. This left little time for motor skill and athletic development through free play. Girls weren’t getting in the gym either, and their muscles, bones and joints were not keeping up with the increasing sport demands.
And as this was happening, more girls were getting hurt. Overuse injuries like stress fractures, hip and hamstring strains, quad pulls, groin issues, and more. And worst of all, pediatric ACL injuries were starting to rise.
Parents came to me to help their daughter become resilient to all of this nonsense. And I told people at the time, that these injuries are not a female problem…they’re a LOAD problem.
Of course, I stood out like a sore thumb because everyone was blaming female wide hips, mechanics, and their hormones.
I said the opposite.
I told girls not to be victims of their gender and to control what they can.
And what can they control?
Getting insanely strong.
My Niche
The most common group I saw (and still see now) were girls aged 11-14 who were right in the middle of their growth spurts.
I also see a lot of high school girls who want to play at the college level and be robust enough to not just handle the college game, but to thrive and go in as a starting freshmen.
I love working with youth female athletes (preteen and teen) because my mission is to show them how incredibly capable they are. I’ve found that a lot of them underestimate themselves.
I’ve found that a lot of them reach for the 10lb dumbbells on day one.
I’ve that a lot of them don’t believe in their upper body strength potential, and panic at the thought of pull-ups.
But I always tell my girls, you can do it.
You can go heavier.
You can get your first pull-up one day.
You can dead lift over 1.5x your body weight.
This is my niche.
There’s nothing like coaching youth female athletes and leaving a lasting impact on their lives.
My niche chose me first, but now? I continue to choose my niche.
I’m so grateful I get to push youth female athletes to be their best. I’m blessed to show them how strong they can become with consistency and discipline.
Work with Erica in Tampa and Land O’ Lakes Florida for speed, agility, and strength training for your youth female athlete, OR late stage ACL rehab (must be at minimum 2-3 months into physical therapy and post-surgery to be considered): BOOK ASSESSMENT HERE
Interested in REMOTE TRAINING for Female Athletes? BOOK A CONSULT HERE
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