This article discusses the influence of lower-body power on soccer performance in collegiate female soccer players. It also covers testing for muscular power qualities, different training modalities to use, and sample training programs as examples.

How do you build a sustainable high-performance culture despite yearly assistant coach rotations and demanding schedules? Alice Read, Assistant Athletic Director for Sport Performance at Vassar College, shares expertise from managing 29 teams and 600 student-athletes while continuously "riding the rollercoaster" of Division III scheduling. Read explores strategies for maintaining program continuity, including matching assistant coaches to sports based on strengths and growth areas. She emphasizes advocating for daily staff lifts to test and refine programs firsthand. In a full-circle moment, Read, once an NSCA Foundation Assistantship Recipient, now serves on the committee awarding these opportunities, demonstrating the value of early professional involvement. She also discusses collaborative problem solving within the Liberty League Strength and Conditioning Committee and explains how the College Coaches Professional Development Group (PDG) provided boots-on-the-ground guidance for the 2024 NSCA Strategic Plan. Tune in for actionable insights on mentorship, collaboration, and longevity in collegiate strength and conditioning. Connect with Alice via email at aread@vassar.edu and on Instagram: @ajpr3 and @vassar_strong | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs

Josiah Igono, Director of Peak Performance for the Texas Rangers Major League Baseball (MLB) team, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about what defines performance. Topics under discussion include the importance of coaching mental skills, diversifying your skillsets as a coach, and leaving a legacy. Find Dr. Igono on Instagram: @josiahigono or Twitter: @JosiahIgono | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

Learn about pursuing strength and conditioning roles from father and son, Joe Kenn and Peter Kenn. Joe “Big House” Kenn brings perspectives on program leadership from over 35 years in the strength and conditioning profession. Joe’s son Peter, a recent graduate in the field and Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at United States Military Academy West Point, shares his story of learning the profession from a young age with his dad coaching in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and National Football League (NFL). Tune in to hear dinner table conversation, as Joe and Peter connect with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, in an episode that bridges coaching generations. Find Joe on Instagram: @bighousepower or Twitter: @bighousepower | Find Peter on Instagram: @peterkenn1 or Twitter: @peterkenn1 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

From the 2021 NSCA’s Coaches Conference, Matthew Ibrahim, Co-Owner, Director of Strength and Conditioning, and Internship Coordinator at TD Athletes Edge, discusses how to help athletes develop the skills necessary to build the brakes in the athletic development process. Other topics covered include how to create a better understanding of the transfer from training in the weight room to sport performance.

From the 2021 NSCA Coaches Conference, Dan Dalrymple, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for New Orleans Saints National Football League (NFL) team since 2006, shares wisdom from his experience in the field. This includes the realities of coaching in the NFL and how he used the setbacks of the pandemic to drive positive change and opportunities.

From the 2019 NSCA’s Coaches Conference, Andrew Paul, Senior Athletic Performance Coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the National Basketball Association (NBA), discusses the importance of the emerging role of the dual-credentialed physical therapist/strength and conditioning specialist and identifies communication strategies to help facilitate good relationships and player transitions between the medical and performance teams.

Former Lead Strength and Conditioning Coach for Edinburgh Rugby, Ashley Jones, discusses ways to simplify a complex world of programming. Jones lays a foundation of how to construct training programs that relate to the current training environment and how to develop a taxonomy of exercise variations and training methods to assist coaches with the “why,” “when,” and “how” of programming.

Learn how to use sprinting as a means of screening athletes for power, strength, range of motion, and coordination. In this session from the NSCA’s 2018 National Conference, Derek Hansen also identifies appropriate sprinting and running mechanics for optimizing performance and minimizing injury, and outlines a process for using sprinting as a return-to-play modality for soft-tissue and joint injuries.