Finding  a coach is easily the most important aspect of your post collegiate career. Your coach is your life line to the pro world and making a team. Some athletes stick with their college coaches after graduation, while others hop around from coach to coach in hopes of finding the perfect match.

After college I started working a normal 9 -5… It quickly drove me crazy. I was working in an environment that didn’t match my financial aspirations nor utilize any of the skills I had acquired during my years at Davis. Since I luckily graduated during the recession :/  I was applying for the same jobs that professionals with 30 years experience were also applying.

I kept getting, “Sirena, you have a wonderful resume and awesome experience, but unfortunately it’s not enough”. No matter how nice of a no I received, I grew very tired of hearing it. Especially after doing everything I was suppose to in undergrad to be in the best position to work in my field of study post grad. (Internships, understudy, volunteer work etc.)

That’s when I decided, if I’m not going to make any money doing something I hated, I might as well make no money doing something I loved.

That’s what made me refocus on my love of track and field. This was the one thing where I could determine my fate and no one but me could control the outcome of my success. I would be the one to define my worth and the number of hours I am willing to put in and the sacrifices I am willing to make.

This is what pushed me to start looking for the right coach to help me pursue my goals.

1. What level of success have you achieved with your college coach ? Do they have enough time to still dedicate to you?

I love my college coaches to death! They helped mold me into the individual I am today and I can say I am lucky to have trained under such an influential program.

I contacted my college coaches and asked if they new of any coaches or clubs I could train with in the area I was living in. They connected me with a club who I had an awesome time training with!  I didn’t like the location I was living in so I moved back to Davis to train with our high jumps coach who is an amazing individual and knowledgeable in all subject matters involving track and field. At the time my hurdles coach moved and my head coach retired. That’s why I chose to work with our Jumps coach.

I trained under him for a year and then I met the coaches I have today. I was getting ready to stop running because I wasn’t getting the results I wanted, not due to training but due to me switching events for tactical reason that didn’t end up working. haha. They talked me into training with them for two weeks to see how it would work. In two weeks time they had me at my pr out of college. I would say that’s a great trial run for from an athlete standpoint.

2. Is This coach a good one or Just blowing Steam?

Before I decided to work with the coaches I have now I did my research and asked around (coach if you read this yes I googled you and all the above). My college coach whom I highly adore and trust had nothing but positive things to say about them so that’s when I made the decision that I would work with them. Along with their track record.

My advice? Google who is trying to recruit you, ask around and talk with them about your goals and what your looking for.

Before I moved out to where I am now I told them that if I did this they needed to be just as dedicated as I was. That I was putting 110% of my time into this and nothing less. I needed them to understand that though the times I am running now are not olympic caliber I am willing to invest 4 years of my life towards making a team if they had enough faith that they could get me to the trials. They agreed and here we are today.

3. Is this coach back home or out in TimBuktu?

One of the reasons I also made the move was because I had family in the area my current coaches were coaching in. Having a support system near by was crucial to me. Not having that in Davis was a little daunting and  most of my friends had graduated already and moved away. Knowing that I would be moving to an area where I had a support system was another defining factor for switching coaching and environments.

Things to Think about:

• Do I have a support system?
• Am I able to survive without my support system?
• Am I isolated in a camp? or Do I need to be in active environment?
• Do I need to be isolated and not distracted by family or friends to achieve my goal? (recognizing that your family/friends are distractions is ok. Be selfish about your time, goals and who your surround yourself with)

Are you a post collegiate athlete and have Tips to Add? Drop a Comment Below!!

Inspiration behind this post is Shaina! 🙂 Good luck with your post collegiate career!

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