Johann Smith

I played 13 years of professional soccer on five continents, including the English Premier League with Bolton Wanderers and MLS with Toronto FC, and I've coached for more than 10 years. I coached at Manhattan Soccer Club, worked with the Stanford men's soccer program under Jeremy Gunn, and founded Global Evolution Training in 2015.

I take on a small number of committed players each week in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, and Los Altos. Every session is either 1-on-1 or a small group of two or three, so each player gets real coaching, not drills from a distance.

What I bring that most coaches can't: I've been the player fighting for a first-team spot, adapting to a new country, and performing under pressure in front of big crowds. I teach the technique (first touch, ball striking, 1v1 moves, finishing, crossing) and the decisions behind it, the way it's coached at the professional level.

I'm certified in FRC (Functional Range Conditioning), FRA, NASM personal training, kettlebell, and TRX. Every program builds in mobility and strength work to make players faster, stronger, and more durable and to lower injury risk, which matters most for growing athletes.

Education: B.A. in History and M.A. in Philosophy, Stanford University. I'm also a researcher at Stanford's Hoover Institution. I coach in English and Spanish.

- 13-year professional career (2003 to 2016) in England, the U.S., Sweden, Finland, Croatia, and Australia
- English Premier League: Bolton Wanderers
- Major League Soccer: Toronto FC
- HNK Rijeka (Croatia), Kalmar FF (Sweden), KuPS (Finland), and clubs in Australia
- U.S. Youth National Teams at the U18, U20, and U23 levels
- Played winger, striker, and left back, so I coach attacking and defending from real experience

First session: a full assessment. We talk through the player's goals, position, and level, then I screen their movement and mobility and test their technique under pressure. From that I build a plan for the next 5 to 10 sessions.

Every session after that follows the plan: a movement-prep warm-up built on FRC principles, then focused technical work on the two or three skills that matter most for that player, with high repetitions that build up to game speed, pressure, and decision-making. Small groups add competitive 1v1 and 2v1 work.

We finish with a quick review and a short at-home routine (ball work plus mobility) so progress keeps going between sessions. Parents get a short update on what we worked on and what's next.