Your Coach of the Year Candidates

Miles is the only Youth Fitness Specialist in the Central Kentucky area, and the system he uses has been developed specifically for youth. He also is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, is a Precision Nutrition Coach, and has a Masters in Kinesiology/Health Promotion.

Shane coaches young people from a wide variety of sports. He is very diligent in improving their fundamental movement skills and physical literacy as these aspects have a direct bearing on all movement capacities and sporting attributes. This year, Shane has launched an initiative which could change the face of youth health and fitness in Ireland; due to the absence of qualified PE teaches in Primary Schools in Ireland, Shane is volunteering his time to develop the physical literacy and general fitness of age U-10 children in a local school. It is his hope that it will inspire other qualified coaches to do similar work. Shane has also become a regular presenter at the Physical Education Association of Ireland (PEAI) annual conference.

In 2012, Shane authored the highly acclaimed book Training and Optimal Health for Sports, which is available on both Amazon and the dedicated site www.trainingandoptimalhealth.com. In the book, he shares twenty years of experience, training and competing at the highest levels of his sport, as well as the secrets of his longevity, not having retired from competition until 38, a double World Champion that year. Shane’s dedication and skills have recently come to the attention of not only the IYCA but also the NSCA, who have invited him to present at a symposium in 2016.

Matt’s mission only grew stronger as he continued to attend events and seminars. In 2007, he attended the Perform Better conference with the hope of learning the best strength and conditioning methods for young athletes. There he met a plethora of life-changing coaches like Alwyn Cosgrove, Todd Durkin, Mike Boyle, and so many others. One presenter in particular really resonated with Matt—Brian Grasso, IYCA founder. Matt was beyond excited to meet a person like Brian who had the same vision for youth fitness. Brian invited him to attend the upcoming IYCA conference in Kentucky, and it was at this IYCA conference that Matt’s life changed forever. At the IYCA conference, Matt met two coaches from his home state of MA, Dave Gleason and Dave Jack. Both of these coaches helped shape Matt’s vision of how he could make the biggest impact on youth athletic development in his local area, and they continue to mentor him to this day.

Matt is always enrolling in higher education so he can provide the best youth fitness program in his area. Matt achieved his masters in Physical Education from Emporia State University, he holds a Functional Movement Screen Level 1 certification, and he has earned both the Youth Fitness Specialist Level 1 and Youth Speed & Agility Specialist Level 1 certifications from the IYCA.

In 2010, in a police station basement gymnasium, Matt started Athletic Revolution Metro West. It wasn’t the most glamorous space, but it allowed Matt to grow the program, continue his education, and search for a facility to call home. In 2013, he opened the doors to his first facility, and in only one year, tripled his athlete member base.

Prior to CORE, Shawn was a member of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s Division III baseball team from 2004-2008. After graduation, he worked as an assistant baseball coach, admissions counselor, adjunct faculty member, and strength coach at Pitt-Bradford. In addition to working at CORE Athletics, Shawn is an instructor in Leadership Development at American Public University online. He is a certified IYCA Youth Fitness Specialist and believes that, in a small way, we are all changing the game.

Corey discovered his passion for sports performance while rehabbing in Salt Lake City at The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (TOSH) a serious knee injury that he sustained during his professional football career. During that time, he was granted the opportunity to work at The Institute for Sports Science and Medicine (ISSM) as a performance coach. He acquired extensive insight and knowledge while under the direction of some of the country’s leading exercise physiologists and biomechanists, gaining vast experience training all levels of athletes from amateur to the most elite, including Olympic and professional athletes. After returning to football, he continued his education while working at numerous sport performance facilities around the nation during the off-season. He later became one of the most successful performance coaches on the PGA Tour and opened CTSP in 2007.

With his advanced education, professional experience, and extensive background as a competitive athlete, he is committed to providing athletes of all ages, sports, and abilities the opportunity to maximize their potential. He has spent several years developing and managing specialized programs for thousands of athletes and works daily to keep abreast on the most current research and information in the field of exercise science and sport performance.

He is a powerful motivator, strong leader, and passionate performance coach who thrives on helping others achieve their goals, and he is dedicated to providing a positive environment for athletes of all ages to maximize performance through total mind and body development.

Credentials:

• BA, USAW, TPI Level2, TPI JR Level2, YSAS
• Currently training active NFL players, Professional MMA Fighters, numerous collegiate athletes, and mentoring and coaching competitive high school athletes to achieve greatness
• International Youth Conditioning Association (IYCA) Coach of Distinction, October 2014
• 2014 Head Performance Coach of The College Gridiron Showcase in Arlington, Texas
• IYCA Youth Speed and Agility Specialist (YSAS)
• Logged the most wins as a performance coach on the PGA tour in 2008
• USA Weightlifting Certified Sport Performance coach
• TPI Certified Golf Performance Coach
• Presenter at the World Golf Fitness Summit
• Presenter for the International Youth Conditioning Association
• Author, The Performance Edge: A Guide to Better Golf
• Trained under the World Class scientists and trainers at the Institute for Sports, Science and Medicine (TOSH, The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital) in Salt Lake City, gained vast first-hand knowledge training elite Olympic and Professional athletes

Coach Josh currently is responsible for the programming and delivery of Athletic Revolution’s world-class curriculum for ages 6-18, execution of functional movement evaluations, and implementation of youth nutrition programs for all ages. He also assists with business marketing plans, leads metabolic conditioning large group adult classes, and creates and delivers Moms Gone Strong and Man-up adult small group strength training classes.

Josh is dedicating his time and effort towards developing his skills and knowledge as a youth coach and fitness specialist. His goal is to better himself in order to better others as he strives to have a positive impression on the youth population and surrounding communities. His current mission is to continue to put in the time and effort towards developing his skills in order to continue to positively influence the youth community physically, mentally, and emotionally.

As an invited speaker and writer, Josh has covered topics from Long-Term Athletic Development, pre-exercise screening, program design, and appropriate exercise progression and technique.

Josh also works as a High School Strength and Conditioning coach and as a consultant to high school and sports clubs.

Through Juan’s readings, I learned of Brian Grasso and the IYCA in 2007. Brian really spoke to me about his passion and how he wanted to change the face of the industry when it came to training young athletes. He had himself been unique, and so were his philosophies and his vision for the IYCA. His approach not only made sense, but it was also backed up by scientific evidence and his own experience in the trenches.

2007 was the time when the year-round athlete and the deterioration of P.E. was first starting to take hold and injury rates and burnout among young athletes were quickly becoming an epidemic. This reminded me of the frustrations I went through in high school and college as I felt I was definitely overtrained, injured, and not really seen much as a person and more as just an athlete. I felt my effort and dedication were never appreciated and my mind was never cultivated and prepared for what lay ahead in my future. I felt I was always broken down and never built up; this had a huge impact on my confidence moving forward in college, my life, and my current career.

In this context, the IYCA’s message to me was more about proper training; it was always about putting the person before the athlete. It was building confidence and relationships not only in preparation for sport but in life as well. I could see the IYCA was really about the growth of the person as much as the athlete, and that’s really what got me so passionate about the IYCA and its principal philosophies—preparing the athlete for sport and the person for life. Their mentorship mentality really spoke to me and helped me help hundreds of young athletes not only perform better but also realize that there are coaches who care about them as people and mentor them to be prepared for the mental and physical side of what sports and life would later demand.  Without the IYCA training and psychological philosophies and the mentorship I received from the IYCA, I would have missed the bigger picture when it came to developing young athletes, and that’s to prepare them for the game of life.

I’ve now owned my own business since 2009 to present, and the tools that the IYCA gave me on the business side of things have been very helpful. I was part of the first IYCA mentorship group and had some great mentors who helped me build relationships with coaches and parents and establish myself as one of the go-to performance centers for young athletes in my area.
Many athletes have shared with me powerful testimonials. Looking back on their words, I can see just how much the IYCA really impacted me as a coach and more importantly as a person. Without the IYCA and its philosophies of coaching the person, not just the athlete, I would never have been able to give these particular athletes and all the others I worked with what they need to succeed in sport and most importantly college and life. I am proud, am humbled, and give the IYCA much of the credit for giving me the tools to have such a positive impact on all my athletes’ lives.