TrainMyGame Pod

@kieranmcardle6 plays on the offensive side of the ball outdoor for the PLL Waterdogs and indoor for the NY Riptide, on top of being a former member of the USA indoor team as well.  Kieran is a P.E. teacher in NYC, and started his own club program, Long Island Rush Lacrosse, after graduating from St. John's in 2014.  Kieran left the Red Storm program as a 3-time USILA All-American, 2-time BIG EAST OPOY, and is still the all-time leader in points, goals, and assists for the Johnnies.

Kieran is a class act and has had an extremely successful career, yet is still chasing his first championship while playing lacrosse, one of the few things he touched on that still keeps him going today.  Along with that, we also heard from Kieran about his roots in the sport of lacrosse, what he enjoys about growing the game, what he's been doing through quarantine to stay sharp, and a lot more about what has or hasn't worked well for him in his career.  

We hit on a couple different questions that we got asked through Instagram for Kieran, so take a listen to hear if we touched on yours, and please reach out on social if there's anything you want to hear more about from future guests!  Enjoy!

Sydney (@sydneypirreca) is an assistant coach at Syracuse University, WPLL Pride Midfielder, and graduated from Florida in 2019.  Sydney is from, and attended HS at Mount Sinai in NY, prior to becoming the sixth UF all-time scorer with 215 career points.  

"If you have that [bad] body language where you look defeated, upset, teams capitalize on that...but on the other side of things, It's an opportunity to catch yourself and make changes... I preach [to kids I coach] affirmations... In my head i'm always hyping myself up, even If I'm playing like S#*!..." 

Great conversation with Sydney about how she has become one of the best women's lacrosse players in the world after picking up a stick late and being a gymnast her whole life, she was "terrible" when she first started.  Sydney relied on her athleticism and hard work to find success in the sport.  A lot of great tips and insights from Sydney, after seeing where the conversation went, she highlighted how she didn't even realize how invested she is in the mental side of the game.  

Hope you all enjoy!

Sam (@sam_apuzzo) is a graduate assistant coach at Boston College studying sports administration, was a record breaker and Tewaaraton winning 2019 graduate from BC, a member of the WPLL Fight, and Team USA.  Sam helped build a young up and coming BC program to 3 Final Four appearances, picking up All-American honors and ACC attacker of the year twice along the way.  

"I [used to] put a lot of stress on myself with recruiting and playing... I 'd beat myself up about every game I didn't have a goal or point... as I'm getting older I realize that's not what lacrosse is about, it's a team sport... I  don't have to be a certain person or fit a [certain] mold to be considered a "good lacrosse player" Sam is originally from West Babylon NY where she attended West Babylon HS before heading to BC.  We had a great conversation with Sam about how she eventually experienced so much success in college and turned into one of the best players in the world.  She has learned a lot about what it takes to be great, including battling through a torn ACL her freshman year, and learning to see the field from all different types of perspectives.  

Really enjoyed hearing Sam share a lot of knowledge and growth with us... hope you all enjoy!

Mitch Ford is a former NABC All-American basketball player from Nazareth College, the third player in school history to be recognized as such after averaging over 22 points and 11 rebounds per game his senior season.  Mitch passed up opportunities to play division 1 football after high school to follow his true passion and love, the sport of basketball. Great conversation about things he picked up about building success along his journey thus far, making himself a better player and person, what he's taken away from some of the best in his sport, and highlighted a lot of ideas that are valuable outside of just basketball.  

"Appreciating who you are is huge for personal growth... if you really love yourself and are content with what you're doing, who you are and where you want to go, everything is going to get easier."@_mford9_ is currently grinding in pursuit of his dreams of being involved in the NBA and training/coaching (or whatever best opportunity presents itself to get closer)... Mitch currently works as the director of operations for the UB women's basketball team, spent '18-'19 in player development with the Dallas Mavericks, worked in sales for the Hornets, and has done a lot of independent coaching and development with kids along the way.  He's always looking to grow his network and connect with new people, so hit him up on Linkedin and say what's up.  Great conversation with a greater guy, look forward to seeing what the future brings for Mitch.

Connect With Mitch:

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @mford41

LinkedIn: Mitch Ford

IG: @_mford9_

We are back with part 2 of our interview with MLS Real Salt Lake head strength and conditioning coach Ryan Cotter.  In this second segment we focused more on consistent nutrition to help increase peak performance.  These are some huge pieces that usually take athletes a lot longer to get a grasp of than one may expect.  Enjoy!

Topics Covered

0:19-7:39 Top 5 Keys of Diet

7:40-10:00 Deeper Calorie Talk

10:01-11:20 General Importance of Carbs

11:21-16:00 Diet Consistence Importance

16:01-21:18 Ryan's Personal Nutrition and Thoughts for Kids

21:19-24:20 Timing/Fasting Input

24:21-31:20 Peak Performance Training Times

31:21-33:57 Favorite Book

33:58-35:40 Beneficial New Habit: Bullet-Journaling

35:41-38:10 Things Ryan Wants to Work On in Future

38:11-40:05 Favorite Strength and Conditioning Content (book/pod)

40:06-44:57 Billboard and Conclusion

Ryan Cotter is the head strength and conditioning coach for MLS team Real Salt Lake and has a plethora of NCAA experience as well. We originally were introduced to Ryan during his time as a UMD strength coach for men's lacrosse, soccer and gymnastics... but also has had experience working with football, baseball, softball, golf, basketball and more at places like the University of Georgia, Northern Arizona, and Utah.

Great conversation about how he got into the industry, educated himself, and what he thinks leads to peak performance for all athletes. Can't thank Ryan enough for the time, and part 2 will be released in the next week, where we cover different elements of peak performance like nutrition.

Topics covered:

0:56-8:44 Background

8:45-15:31 Early education in strength training

15:32-17:56 Implementing specific nuance in training athletes

17:57-23:41 Addition by subtraction for efficient training

24:42-31:12 Muscle injury prevention

31:13-34:43 Joint and Ligament injury prevention

34:44-44:28 Ideal physical inputs for young athletes

44:29-52:09 Individual athlete tailoring in team environment

52:10-57:56 Most important 10% of training

57:57-59:10 Key 10% of non-sport specific training

59:11-1:03:41 "Play faster for longer"

1:03:42-1:10:06 Opinion on multi-sport athletes (TMG Hot Take)

1:10:07-1:10:56 One sport injury susceptibility

Part 2 coming soon...

Jamie is heading into his (2nd) senior campaign at Syracuse University after being granted the opportunity of an extra year of eligibility following the 2020 Coid-19 season being cut short.  Jamie has made an impact for the Orange since his freshman year, and is currently sitting in 3rd with 99 points for Syracuse midfielders in the past decade.  Jamie has been a two time HM All-America, and was leading midfielders nationally with 3.4 goals per game before this season concluding, and was named a 2020 first team All-American. 

"Pursuit of something that you want, the day to day grind, is where you'll be happiest, not at the actual end achievement..." @jamietrimboli is from Rochester NY where he attended Victor high school and also played football.  Great conversation with one of the best recent midfielders to come out of upstate NY about what he has learned is important to focus on, his journey to, and experience at SU, habits and routines picked up along the way, and a lot more that has helped him find success.  High class guy, with a lot of value and insight for other athletes to hear, hope you all enjoy what Jamie has found on his personal athletic journey.  

Enjoy! And please let us know something you wish we would have asked in the comments!

TD (@td_ierlan) is a faceoff specialist from Yale University heading into his (2nd) senior season as a 5th year, being granted one extra year of eligibility due to peculiar COVID circumstances he highlights in this interview.  TD was the first overall pick in the MLL draft prior to deciding on his return to college, and is a 3-time (2x first team) All-American and Tewaaraton finalist so far in his career.  TD has countless NCAA records, including faceoffs and groundballs won in both a career, and season.  

Billboard Quote: "Embrace the suck... and a close second, if the environment around you doesn't change, change the environment." 

TD is from Victor NY where he was an okay faceoff guy in high school (multiple FO related state records in NY) , and a stud wrestler and football player.  Great conversation with TD about how he got into facing off, chips on his shoulder from getting doubted and overlooked his whole life, and what has made him so successful as an athlete.  Lotta great information in this one, hope you all enjoy! 

(PS Apologize for the tough audio first 1:09... CK naturally forgot to start recording immediately)

Please rate, subscribe, or leave a comment on something you wish we would have asked!

Shannon (@shanbreezy) is a co-owner of a gym in Rochester, NY called Pursuit Performance (@pursuitroc) where he works with lots of athletes in multiple sports and age levels. With a background in college football, Shannon has actually found his niche, and majority of athletes, being women's lacrosse players.  He also has uniquely separated himself as a trainer by focusing on footwork and movement, on top of just weights. "The more I  watched the more I  bridged the gap 'this is just like football, basketball' so I  can take my knowledge with that, and implement the movement part of it (to girls lacrosse) and it's really taken off the last 3-4 years" Great  conversation with Shannon about hard work, getting into the lacrosse world, following your passions in life, what has made him and his athletes successful, things he's learned along the way, and a lot more.  Check out his IG for some great training content @shanbreezy !

Thank you again Shannon, and looking forward to getting some more of the content up from his work with Connor before shooting this pod.  Enjoy!

Marie (@mariemccool4) is a midfielder for the WPLL Brave, Team USA, and graduated from UNC in 2018 as "perhaps the most decorated player in UNC women's lacrosse history".  "Champions are made when no one is watching, don't always do things just to impress others, if you're going to get better at things, whether it's lacrosse, sports, work, it's about when no one's watching you... what're you doing in that extra time to focus on yourself." Marie is from Moorestown NJ where she attended HS before leaving UNC as a 2x Tewaaraton Award finalist, 3x 1st team All-American, and 2018 midfielder of the year (ILWomen).  Marie currently works a full time job at Quest Diagnostics, while studying nutrition, training for lacrosse, and working for the WPLL, where she has been doing virtual clinics and will begin directing their girls academies.  

Great conversation with Marie about her ups and downs as an athlete, and what has helped to make her so successful leading up to where she is now, one of the best players in the world.  

Content Summary:

 1:03-17:13 Marie intro, and nutrition talk (including Marie's habits and how stress can effect Covid). 

17:14-22:35 Strength Training history and input. 

22:36-30:06 Advice for younger self, playing other sports (soccer) and Marie's recruiting experience. 

30:07-37:28 Imposter syndrome at/before UNC, progression as a player, and Marie's past mental struggles. 

37:29-41:22 Goals, hitting complacency, and overcoming it. 

41:23-46:02 How sports carry over into day to day life, leadership takeaways from USA (youngest on team at 20 in '17) and being a great teammate. 

46:03-51:57 future of women's lacrosse, the Olympics, getting it there, and the Olympic process. 

51:58-57:03 Mentors, advice on getting comfortable being uncomfortable 

57:04-60:50 Stress of not knowing the next time for sure will step on a lacrosse field again, dealing with stress, and things that bring Marie joy. 

50:51-64:35 Positive Covid takeaway, and conclusion/what Marie would put on  a billboard for billions of people to see every day.