I am going to be very honest, I hate sales.  I hate the “selling” that comes with training in the general sector.  Everyone that is a competitor is out to beat his or her chest louder than the next guy.   Add to that the testosterone driven culture of our profession, and soon enough all of us will end up in a zoo and the Gorillas will be looking and pointing at us.  I am not going to be winning any sales man of the year awards any time soon.  I still cringe when I tell my clients my prices.  But one of the, put is best, “you provide quality work, and you want to get paid.  You feel you are worth what you charge… then don’t feel bad.”

But not always are we selling our services.  So here is a fire sale that will cost you or a person you know nothing.  I want to educate coaches.  Who?  Well, lets start with hockey (but I do want to move back into swimming and cross country ski as well).  Now I am going to begin here, but really, I want to go to the coaches, the organizations and educate them on training.   All it will cost them is their time and having to listen to me for an hour or so.  Look, here is the deal.  Coaches, for the most of them do a great job, and I appreciate each person who volunteers their time to coach.  I played hockey for a better part of 17 years, but I would be a terrible coach.  But I know training, and physiological adaptation and the Long Term Athlete Development Model.  And too often do I hear coaches tell me two different stories.  One, that their athletes have such a busy schedule, that they do not have time for training (well, training is not always about cardio and weights) or two, they are already sending their athletes to a trainer.  Look, there are a lot of groups doing hockey specific training, but few are doing an adequate job (I should be saying good, but lets face it, some of the stuff I hear is down right negligent).  Coaches, training is not about Dudley Bangup making kids do 50 yards of inchworms or making the kids puke.  Making someone puke does not make a quality workout.  Training is not about Peter Hardwood making his athletes do low bar back squat while telling the masses that all you learnt in a textbook is incorrect.  And training is not Steve Wish doing the newest exercise he dreamed up while watching a documentary on Cirque du Soleil.

Training is about understanding adolescent development and periodization, about bringing a sense of belonging for a kid, for educating them on proper training, and about building a life long athlete that will take the skill they learn and apply them to setting long after they have hung up their competitive skates and laced up the beer league ones.  Training is to be fun, as it is the first part of FUNdamentals.  That is my sales pitch… a free seminar to anyone willing to listen.  Does it have to be hockey, No!  I will talk to any coaches in any sport who are interested.  I will volunteer my time as they volunteer theirs.  Please feel free to share this with family, friends, or a coach you know.  Give them my email (jefosadec@gmail.com) as I would be glad to answer any questions they may have.