NSCA’s Coaching Podcast, Season 6 Episode 4: Bret Kelly

Learn from a coach who took his career from working with Winter Olympic and professional sport athletes to success in the private sector. In this episode, Bret Kelly of Exos and formerly United States Ski and Snowboard, shares about his journey and the need for coaches to remain versatile in growing their professional skills in the field. Tune in as Kelly connects with Eric McMahon, the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, on seeking out opportunities to work in niche Olympic sports, the growing uses of performance technology, and the value of building a strong support staff. 

Find Bret on Instagram: @bk_strengthcoach and on Twitter: @bret_kelly_ | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

Show Notes

“Offer your services. You're not going to get paid right away. I think that's something that people need to understand. And I looked at it as just more schooling really, because I learned a lot more in my internships probably than I did during my master's program because it was so hands-on. And I'm not paying that tuition.” 10:08

“You know different ways of training. You know different cultures I guess. Like, the ski culture is very different from the football culture. So as a coach, you don't necessarily know who you're going to be working with. So being that chameleon, being able to bounce back and forth and work with different groups I think is definitely beneficial.” 14:52

“It comes back to building those relationships. If you are building those relationships and they trust you, then they're going to come in and work with you as well just like your athletes would. So it's weird at first, but I think once you kind of wrap your head around it, it's very beneficial.” 20:39

“I would say one of my biggest things I got from working with the ski team was to really dive in deep with their exercise physiologist there.” 26:01