In this episode of the Athletic Performance Podcast, Coach Ryan Patrick sits down with Sara MacKenzie, Director of Strength & Conditioning at Cal Poly.

Sara shares her journey from a $0/hour intern at Arizona State to running a full department at Cal Poly, the challenges of coaching 500+ athletes solo, and how parenting reshaped her coaching philosophy.

We cover everything from building systems under resource constraints to balancing toughness and empathy in the weight room — and why durability, not numbers, is the ultimate metric of success.

📌 What You’ll Learn

• How Sara broke into strength & conditioning when few women had a seat at the table
• Why her Arizona State internship became the turning point in her career
• The systems she uses to manage programming for hundreds of athletes
• How COVID forced Cal Poly into a “wedding tent weight room”
• Balancing parenthood, leadership, and athlete development without burning out
• Why Sara chose legacy and community over chasing jobs across the country

🔗 Links & Resources

• Cal Poly Athletics
• Follow me: Ryan Patrick on IG