Austin Richardson

Responsibilities

During my internship, I had multiple responsibilities, the biggest one was giving coaching cues if I saw an athlete not have a proper form, I would correct it. I also set up and broke down equipment for lifts, which was an everyday thing and a lot of hard work, you are lifting heavy stuff every day. We also set up and broke down equipment in the indoor field or outdoor fields when they did fieldwork from bands to sleds to run rockets.

Accomplishments

Mine was helping athletes accomplish goals by hitting a new personal record with a new max weight. Also, learning from the coaches and getting help programming a program for myself that will help me get bigger. Finally, finishing the Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning book to prepare me for my CSCS certification exam.

Learning experience

Every athlete is coached differently, you might coach an athlete one way but if you do that to another athlete they won't respond well. Learning how to coach every athlete makes everything easier. Also, just checking up on athletes can make their day, saying hi or just asking how are you doing, can change their day.

What advice would you give?

Ask a lot of questions when at your internship, this is a time to ask professionals in this field. Be humble and honest, admit when you don't know something. They won't look down on you, they will explain everything in detail to help you learn. Finally, just show up ready to work with a smile on your face and make relationships along the way.