When I left university with a Sports Science degree under my belt I thought I was trained and ready to pursue my dreams of working in elite sport. Very quickly, those dreams met reality as I realised I was completely unprepared to coach elite athletes and work in a high performance environment. 

There was a huge gap between my knowledge and capabilities upon graduating and those required to work at the top end of elite sports.

Since then, I’ve been very fortunate to spend over 10 years working with some of the world’s best athletes. But I know that many others are not that fortunate. Now, it seems record numbers are leaving our profession, confused and frustrated by their lack of progress.

I was only able to reach the elite level of Strength and Conditioning for two reasons:

Firstly, mentoring. I’ve been lucky enough to have been supported and challenged by some experienced and credible mentors. I’ve always tried to ‘pay that forward’, I personally mentor dozens of practitioners, many of whom have gone on to achieve incredible things in their own careers. 

Secondly, through learning and developing. Whilst working at the highest levels of British Sport, I’ve been lucky enough to access high quality learning and development opportunities. I was able to access these after getting my foot in the door of the British Olympic system. What really helped was the combination of developing technical and non-technical knowledge, as well as the opportunity to apply that to problems that were real and meaningful for me.

Very few people in our sector have access to that level of learning and development, and the gap between those who do and those who don’t is increasing. 

I believe passionately that none of us can ‘make it’  alone and each of us needs help and guidance along the way. I also believe that everyone should have access to a strong level of help and support, not just the exclusive few. Education providers in Strength & Conditioning have to improve and do better than simply turning out mediocre content, without the context of practical application. 

That’s what inspired me to join forces with Alex to launch Strength and Conditioning Academy. We are developing outstanding content and helping people to apply that in their own context, to solve problems that really matter to them. We are making the highest level of learning and development opportunities accessible, opportunities that until now have only been available to the exclusive few.

I really hope that you’ll join us on your development journey. We’ve helped hundreds of people working at all levels of sport. We know we make a difference and would love to help you too.