December 10th, 2021 | Josh Adelman
Congratulations to the newest class of Certified Soldiers To Sidelines Sports Performance Coaches. The 6-day certification was long and eventful, culminating in over 40 new soldier coaches. The week started with STS core content of Inspiration and Motivation and then progressed into the tactics and strategies of sports performance backed by exercise science.
Soldiers To Sidelines sends a very special thank you to our tremendous guest presenters. Martin Rooney who authored several coaching books including Coach to Coach and High Ten delivered an energetic inspirational opening keynote. Martin’s intro encouraged us all to “keep on punching!” His resounding words gave us strength as we dove deep into exercise science.
Soldiers To Sidelines Sports Performance Director, Johannah Zabal, took the coaching baton from Martin and guided the class the entire week in their journey to understand the why, what, and how of sports performance from several perspectives. Her tutelage culminated with the class creating a yearlong training program for a specific sport.
Along the way, we learned from a few very special guest coaches. Ben Freakly, Former Director of Mental Skills for MLB Toronto Blue Jays and VP of Health and Performance at the University of Health and Performance presented on the Psychology of Coaching. Ultimately, he proved that mental skills can and should be a part of every Sports Performance Coach’s skill set. Carla Christe, professor, and administrator at the US Naval Academy delivered an eye-opening and resourceful presentation on key aspects of sports nutrition. Vernon Griffith CSCS, CEO of The Initiative, showed us a new perspective on mobility training how we can creatively incorporate it into our everyday coaching practice.
To end the week, we heard from keynote speaker, John Turnbull author of Zero Percent Chance who survived death 4 times after being injured by a suicide bomber in Syria. He embodied Martin’s message to never give up. He showed us that Sports Performance training and coaching can save someone’s life when faced with severe injury. It’s not just the science and tactics that have an impact, but it’s also the grit we can build within our athletes and that makes all the difference.
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