Krista Steinbeiser

I am a former NCAA Division I soccer player, competitive athlete, licensed soccer coach, Certified Personal Trainer, and sports performance coach with experience developing athletes from young beginners through high school and competitive club levels.

My coaching background includes youth and high school soccer, individual and small-group skills training, sports performance, speed and agility development, and soccer camps. I have coached multiple competitive teams, including leading a Colorado Rapids U9 team to a Spring 2026 league championship and an FC Dallas U10 team to a league championship in 2024. My experience also includes coaching high school men's soccer, U5-U11 club soccer, FC Dallas camps, and private athletes through my LLC, IGNITE Training.

I am also a Certified Personal Trainer and have several years coaching Krav Maga. These different disciplines allow me to look beyond soccer technique alone and develop the complete athlete—someone who can move efficiently, react explosively, generate power, control their body, remain calm under pressure, make confident decisions, and play with authority.

I also bring a strong academic and professional background in chemical engineering, including bachelor's and master's degrees in Chemical Engineering and professional experience working as a process engineer in a Fortune 500 oil and gas refinery. That training developed my ability to analyze complex systems, solve problems under pressure, pay attention to detail, and manage teams, and continually evaluate what is and is not working—these skills I now bring into athlete development and individualized training. I am also an author and have written several books on Amazon which I pass out to some athletes.

I typically work with youth and teenage athletes, tailoring training to each athlete's age, experience, position, strengths, and goals. Sessions may incorporate technical soccer development, first touch, ball mastery, finishing, passing, change of direction, speed, agility, coordination, reaction time, strength, conditioning, and overall athletic development depending on what the athletes need.

As a former NCAA Division I starting center midfielder, and First Team All-Conference,  I also understand the physical and mental demands of competitive athletics. My coaching goes beyond drills. I teach athletes to understand the game, solve problems on the field, make decisions under pressure, and develop confidence, resilience, discipline, and leadership.

I hold a U.S. Soccer coaching license and am a Certified Personal Trainer. By combining my experience as a Division I athlete, coach, trainer, engineer, and business owner, I bring both the science and art of development into my coaching.

My goal is not simply to develop better soccer players.

I want to develop stronger, smarter, more confident athletes who are equipped to perform on and off the field - and athletes who are enthusiastic about their sport.

I competed as an NCAA Division I soccer player, where I played as a starting center midfielder and earned First Team All-Conference honors. I also participated in the Olympic Development Program (ODP), ECNL, and trained at the semi-professional level, giving me experience in highly competitive soccer environments and an understanding of what it takes to develop technically, physically, and mentally as an athlete.

My athletic background extends beyond soccer. I have competed extensively in endurance and performance training and was ranked as the 17th-fastest female runner in the state of Texas during one competitive period, I ran the Boston Marathon, qualified for the New York Marathon, and ran several ultramarathons. I also played basketball in high school and was the starting point guard.

My experience as a Division I center midfielder shaped much of the way I coach today. Playing in the center of the field required tons of ball control, technical skill, vision, not giving up, communication, endurance, tactical awareness, leadership, and the ability to make rapid decisions under pressure.

Having personally experienced the demands of high-level athletics, I understand both the physical preparation and mental resilience required to compete. I now bring those lessons into my work with younger athletes—helping them thrive and develop not only the technical skills needed to compete at higher levels, but also the confidence, discipline, game intelligence, and resilience that translates to game day.

Every session is individualized to the athlete's age, skill level, position, goals, and current needs. I tailer each session to the needs of the athlete or athletes if it is a group or team session, and I believe it is never one mold fits all. I want to understand the athlete's background and goals in the sport and get them to the next level - so expect improvements each week!  I also want athletes to understand not only what they are doing, but why they are doing it and how it transfers to the game. This helps them all level up fast.

A typical session begins with a plyometrics, explosive movements, and dynamic warm-up which helps build the full athlete and injury prevention. I like to incorporate quick feet and reaction time. I believe there is a lot of growth when the micro-movements are sharper.

For soccer athletes, a large portion of the session is spent with the ball at their feet, sometimes 100s of touches per session. Depending on the athlete, we may work on first touch, ball mastery, crossing the ball, dribbling, passing and receiving, turning, getting their head up, finishing, footwork, and also weak-foot development, change of direction, and technical execution at speed.

Every session is specifically tailored to the athlete in front of me. For example, a player who struggles with first touch may spend more time on receiving under pressure, body positioning, turning, and getting their head up before the ball arrives. A striker may focus heavily on finishing, movement off the ball, explosive first steps, shooting technique, and creating space. A midfielder may work on scanning, first touch into space, passing angles, vision, decision-making, change of direction, and playing quickly under pressure. An athlete who needs more overall athleticism may spend additional time on acceleration, plyometrics, coordination, balance, agility, reaction time, and explosive movement.

As the session progresses, I like to move from isolated technique into game-realistic pressure and decision-making. Instead of simply memorizing a drill, athletes are challenged to scan, react, solve problems, make quick decisions, and execute skills while fatigued or under pressure. This helps them take authority in the game. As a former Division I center midfielder, I place a strong emphasis on field awareness, vision, communication, and understanding what is happening before the ball arrives. Most of all it is important to not only work hard but enjoy the sport!

Sports performance may also be incorporated based on the athlete's goals, including strength, power, balance, coordination, core stability and overall athletic development.

I coach actively throughout the session and I am very involved—demonstrating each technique, providing specific feedback, correcting movement patterns on the spot so they can learn the technique quicker and better, encouraging athletes, and progressively increasing the challenge as they improve. I also believe confidence is developed through competence and enjoying the sport, so I create an environment where athletes can make mistakes, learn, compete, and experience incredible progress.

We typically finish by sharing with the family's what improved, identifying one or two areas to continue developing, and giving the athlete practical takeaways they can work on independently. I provide feedback after each session in person and sometimes with an email of drills to do at home.

My goal is for athletes to leave each session more skilled, empowered, more confident, and with a better understanding of the game than when they arrived. Each day is a chance to level up!