Brett R.

I have been coaching youth athletes for 10 years now. I coached youth football for 2 years when my career was getting of the ground with the Silver Spring Saints program in Maryland. I took a break and then had my son years later. My son now is 13 and I've been coaching him and friends in basketball and football since he was 5; it's been fun to see their growth! I'm comfortable with all ages 5-17. For football, I coached flag football for 3 years and then moved to tackle football. I've coached for 5 years within the Olney Boys and Girls Club in Olney, MD and the Olney Terps programs. I coach recreational/'house' basketball with OBGC for the last 6 years as well as coached 2 different AAU programs, Olney Elite and MD Supreme. I love coaching and developing youth players because when you have a solid foundation, you can go on to do great things as you continue maturing and focusing on your sport.

I played football from sophomore year at Good Counsel HS in Maryland through my 4 years at McDaniel College. I started both ways (OL/DL) on JV, my sophomore year, and then started both ways on Varsity my junior and senior years. I was then recruited to Western Maryland at the time and they changed their name to McDaniel that summer. I played all 4 years there being the only freshman D lineman to start anywhere and it was on field goal block. I then became a D line starter my sophomore year through the end of my career there. I set the school record for sacks in a game at 4.5 and held that for roughly 12 years before someone beat it. I was 1st team All Conference as a junior and was on the same track as a senior until I tore my ACL in the 4th game, we were 4-0 at the time. I have played basketball my whole life growing up through college (intramurals) through today (roughly 35+ years of experience). That was through CYO at the time as AAU wasn't that big when I was growing up.

I run sessions and pick specific drills/techniques based on where the athlete is in their journey. For example, an athlete trying to learn a good football stance for the first time/no experience, will go through different drills than someone who has been playing the last couple years. For athletes who have been playing, I'm going to review their current skills/understanding to make sure they were taught the right way and work accordingly from there. I like to keep them active as I feel that's the best way to learn (by actually doing the work) as opposed to long talking sessions. Of course, there will be explanations and instructions but I try to keep them engaged the whole time. We know most kids don't have a long attention span if they are simply listening to someone talk so making sure it's interactive and engaging is my goal. I also make sure to ask the parents what they think the athlete needs to focus on (if they have an opinion). If they don't because they don't know where to begin, I'll ask them and their athlete different questions to figure out their ultimate goal. Once I have a better view of that, I can then figure out the best way to proceed in helping the athlete develop.