Transcript
Speaker: I don't have the energy to put on this front anymore. and You know what? i'm I'm going to be myself. And if they don't like it, okay. And it actually turned out it was the flip of that is when I saw things take off in the other direction. And I wasn't as exhausted because I was just being myself. And obviously not everyone's going like you. That's okay. So that's that was the change. I was exhausted of being fake.
Speaker: Welcome to the Captains and Coaches podcast where explore the art the science of leadership through the lens of athletics and beyond. I'm your host Tex McQuilkin and today's guest is a former Division One libero turned strength and conditioning professional who's proof that athlete isn't a phase that you retire from.
Speaker: We welcome Erica Lowry. She played college volleyball at Texas A&M before transferring to Liberty University and having great success. She found her confidence as a player and her voice as a leader.
Speaker: She's coached at Longwood and now works with volleyball and soccer at South Alabama. And here's the twist. Erica took second place at the Apex Games in Austin and she caught the eye of Team USA Bodsled and spent 10 days on the ice at rookie camp.
Speaker: Then she came back for coaching to start her girl season. This conversation is about staying an athlete while building your coaching voice. Erica Lowry, welcome to the show.
Speaker: Ready, ready, and break. One of the main characters of Bad Boys, his last name's Lowry. Interesting. Okay. Lawrence.
Speaker: And he overpronunciates his name. Mike Lowry. So, okay. Yes. Yes. I've heard of that. I'm sure people have been name dropping that for a while. So yeah when we first met and we're on, when we first met Zach Zillner, shout out for introducing us right before the Coach Him Up conference.
Speaker: He introduced Erica Lowry. And my first thought went to yeah bad boys for life, Mike Lowry. And then name dropped a lot of your accomplishments. And I was like, Oh, awesome.
Speaker: So I want to start just like any good story. We're going to start in the present and then jump back to the past and work our way through and just jump around a lot. So yeah you are a strength and conditioning coach.
Speaker: but you have not given up on athlete and you've accomplished so much already, including second place in the apex games, which then opened up an opportunity that I want to start with, which you just came back from. So Erica, welcome to the show.
Speaker: Let's hit the ground running. That's a, that's a workout punt.
Speaker: And okay, take us to the, I mean, the apex Austin that led to what opportunities have this opened up and putting your training out into the universe? Yeah. So I think whenever the first apex came about, I remember hearing it on their podcast, just kind of speaking about it. And, you know, I've,
Speaker: Playing volleyball, I've known I had these athletic qualities that made me better at my sport, but also just kind of random weird. I've always been able to jump for some reason. and so hearing about a competition that was almost, you know, a combine immediately sparked my interest. However, when the first one came out, I was still...
Speaker: I just, it wasn't a right good time, did not have the money to even make it down Austin. So I skipped out, had major FOMO and I was like, okay, I am going to compete in the next one.
Speaker: So I trained for the second Austin apex probably for about six months. And i had already been training like that before, but it was something of, it just lit my fire of having that back of like, okay, I'm training for something now, not just training to train.
Speaker: which I still love to do. And so despite many injuries and pulling hamstrings and pulling quads, because unfortunately my volleyball background, um the the whole sprinting thing, that that wasn't something that I, my body was used to. So that was definitely a hurdle, but trained for it somehow was healthy when I showed up on competition day.
Speaker: And I honestly had very low expectations. I simply was just so excited to compete in something again, even though it had only been a year and a half since I had been done playing college volleyball.
Speaker: So the whole experience was amazing. um i did I did well. And did I want to get first? Yeah, absolutely. Angela, absolute stud. So if I'm going to get second place to anyone,
Speaker: it It should be her. But definitely my first thought was, all right, going to come back again and I'm going win, hopefully. So there are there are a lot of people coming out of the coming out of the woods, a lot of freak female athletes, so you never know.
Speaker: So after the Apex event, actually during it, I met Emily Renna. So she is on the USA Bobsled team. And I remember I watched her do her fast 40 and immediately I went up to her and I was like, why are you so fast? What do you do?
Speaker: you know, I want to sprint like you. And she's like, I'm on the USA Bobsled team. And A couple months prior to Apex, I had someone reach out to me via Instagram and she's also on the team, but I think she also kind of does recruiting for the bobsled team.
Speaker: And she just asked me, hey, have you ever heard of bobsled? I'm watching your content. You seem athletic and you could do it. have you ever considered it? And, you know, no, I have, I'm from Texas. I don't know anything about winter ice sports.
Speaker: um So I kind of put that in the back of my head, but then after meeting meeting Emily, i like, shoot, I'll submit a virtual combine. And so after the apex event, I took the stats from the event. So 10 yards split 40 vertical jump, broad jump, things like that submitted it.
Speaker: And then I kind of forgot about it. And then, I believe it was end of May that I got the email of, hey, you're selected. We want to invite you out to rookie camp.
Speaker: You just pay to get here and then everything else is on us. And the dates, there were two camps. So the date for the first camp just so happened to be in a perfect time frame before my volleyball girls got back that I could do it.
Speaker: And so i was like, all right, side quest of the year of the other many that I've done, like, let's just do it. I was just excited for the experience. And then that was the end of June.
Speaker: It was a 10 day camp and i had no idea what to expect. I had definitely talked, gotten some insider scoop from people who had done it, but I still sprinting and pushing a sled on ice. I didn't.
Speaker: I didn't know what to expect. um It was a lot more technical than I thought. the The sled, you have to get the right hit and the angles and all the things. So it's definitely humbling learning because I think I tend to, usually not with everything, I tend to pick certain things up Easily. And so day one of doing it, I remember our whole group, you know, everyone's so frustrated because they're like, why can't we do this right? And we're like, oh yeah, it's day one. We've never pushed a sled.
Speaker: um Anyway, great experience. I met some awesome athletes that were there. i mean, other high level athletes, a lot of track background people. Um, it was just really cool to be able to hang out with them. we we got to speak with and hang out with other members that are on the bobsled and skeleton team for USA. So that was also cool. Um, and then just getting to learn that new skill and training and going from the outdoor, um, track to on the ice all the way to time trials. And it was so cool. So fun.
Speaker: i did, I did well, I hit the, the C standard, um, for what it's called. So that was, that was cool. And then I came back to reality and now I'm here coaching again. So honestly, it was a summer of being the athlete and competing and missed it, loved it. But then also I was like, okay, now I want to coach again. I need, I need that too. I want both.
Speaker: um That's not to say though, I, I am training for another apex. I'm going to the apex Boston. So right now we're doing both. We're training, we're coaching all the things. So,
Speaker: Awesome. And what did you learn about environment when you went to the bobsled event? What did they do special unique things that you're almost going to, oh, I'm going to steal that for this upcoming season.
Speaker: I think one thing that stood out to me is there some of their athletes live there in Lake Placid. And you know it's it's monotonous. you know You're doing the same thing day in, day out. You're training and you're fueling and you're sleeping. And there's there's not a ton to do. You're not always entertained. But I think just how disciplined they were of just the grind of it. It was impressive.
Speaker: And obviously these are high level athletes that they want to compete in the Olympics. And so they're willing to keep their head down and do the work for four years to get there. So I think that was the big thing that stood out of, they just do the simple things really well. They're very consistent and they're great people too. I think that that was something that stood out as well. So that's something I'll take from Did the the leaders at the event, did they do anything special to get y'all as a team together quicker so that you could make the most of the week?
Speaker: We had some, not team bonding, but some experiences. You know, we went to the Olympic Training Center. I'm trying to think. We had a couple activities, but honestly, our group pretty quickly got very close because we're eating every meal together and we're training together.
Speaker: i would say of the 10-day camp, the first two, three days, everyone was kind of feeling each other out. And then we became like family after that. And so it was definitely hard leaving because it kind of felt like a 10 day fun adult summer camp and we all got very close. So those are definitely people that I will keep in contact with for sure.
Speaker: Yeah. Any other in the the strength and conditioning world? No, a lot were either somewhere current, track athletes and some professional, ah but there were no other coaches. So it was either like previous college athletes, um but most of them just worked regular jobs and wanted to just do something competitive again. And so it was cool. You know, there's some people that are like, yeah, I do sales on a daily basis, but I'm flying out here or you know, rippa rip a sprint with a bobsled.
Speaker: So. Man. Well, ah that's awesome. You have that momentum to now go into season. So you are a volleyball player through and through, and you're entering into this training camp phase. What is it like for this team? Are you all going away? Or is it you get the whole campus to yourselves anyway?
Speaker: We can just stay here and have our own true training camp. So for volleyball, we, they work summer camps. Um, and so during that period, it was about two and a half weeks that I actually did get to train them. It was optional.
Speaker: Um, so it was nice. I kind of got them in the weight room. We're doing some things to prepare them. They're doing open gyms. on their feet a ton working camps. And so now they went home, then they will report on July 31st. And then we will start going, I believe it's August 1st through the 28th.
Speaker: 28th is our first game. And so we have about three-ish, four weeks to get them prepared to play. So it's it's a lot really fast. You know, we're not like a basketball or a football that has this long time to accumulate. It's kind of like, okay, how how do we start and help them be prepared for the demands? They're about to have to play three games in a weekend.
Speaker: And so, you know, me and the sports staff, we're trying to we have kind of come up with a plan of whenever they get back, We're not going to hit them a hundred percent because we want them to be able to survive the season. But in practices in the weight room, we're trying to slowly accumulate that volume so that when they do start playing, their bodies will not fall apart for an out. Obviously it's a long season, so it's, it's a grind, but just excited to get, i mean, those three, four weeks, they are a grind preseason is a lot, you know?
Speaker: You have double days, you're lifting, practicing. It's just, it's a lot, but I think they're all very excited for it and the culture and the standards within the team are really high. So I'm very excited to see when we do start playing, I'm excited to see what they can do on the court.
Speaker: Yeah. And in your role as strength and conditioning coach, do you ever hop in there and just show them how it's done from your old days? okay i've um I've served with them a little bit, but um haven't hopped in. They do run an interesting system that is actually kind of different than other teams I've been a part of. And so the coach was like, hey I'm going be honest. If we did put you in there, you'd probably be a liability because you don't understand our defensive system. So it's it's it it's really cool, actually. um And honestly, I'm like, you know what? My time has passed. I'll play grass volleyball. I'll play rec um stuff. But if I do anything, I mean, I'll pepper and play short court or do something on the side. But ah yeah, haven't haven't gotten to fully play with them and don't know if I want to, but maybe one day.
Speaker: Yeah, no, that's fun. And then does having a, I mean, clout experience, you're your own record holder at your own school, like carry over to getting building buy-in into the weight room.
Speaker: Cause your journey didn't start as a weight room warrior, but that allowed you to have a lot of success as a collegiate athlete. Yes, it's definitely helped in terms of the proximity to them. So i am younger. And so it can either be a detriment of, you know, there's a fine line between being close to your athletes and then like stepping over that, that line of relationship. But I think for me, I use the proximity to my advantage because I went through exactly what they're going through um at the exact same level. And so it helps me to speak their language and,
Speaker: I like, I get it. And so whether it's in the off season, when it's kind of, it's getting monotonous, we're not playing teams and games, we're just training and training and training to build up for August. And so I get it. So I've been able to talk with them different conversations about whether it's training, you know, in the weight room, or just kind of like, on the court, like, what do they want to do as a team and kind of their culture and who who the leaders are going to be because that shows in the weight room that comes out on the court. And so it's it's been it's been cool. And I think the trust has continued to be built because I did get there in January. So it takes time. But I definitely think me having that experience has helped them to know, okay, she gets it. She did it. You know, I'm not just talking out of my butt. What I think it's like, I know what it's like. So it's definitely helped.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, i love it here. That's why I asked about if you're stepping in there to show them so that way you can accelerate that buy in. But it's almost better to now lean into your strengths. Again, pun intended so like, hey, we're the same size or they're bigger, but I'm still lifting this and moving this quicker. Yeah. ah Yeah, I do want to spend time and environment because you have a unique experience that that I didn't have where you you transferred schools.
Speaker: So that I mean, there's so much pressure for an athlete to stay or to go. How did you feel ah to to make that big decision to make a move for yourself and your player?
Speaker: Because a lot of the pressure that would get put on a kid is they're not working hard enough or they're not giving this place a chance. But sometimes it's a wrong environment for them.
Speaker: So I'd love to take a moment to take you take it back into your shoes as an athlete, and then eventually lead to some great questions on how you aim to cultivate an environment for your athletes current day.
Speaker: Man, how long do you have? So so whenever I committed to Texas A&M is where I started, I committed there pretty young. This was before the NCAA rules for recruiting came out. So I committed to there when I was about 15 and I'm from Houston. A&M was a dream school for me.
Speaker: um The coaching staff was great. And so I committed on the spot and i believe it was my junior year of high school that there was a coaching change. And so you know, again, it's still, I didn't know the coaches that came in, had no prior knowledge of them or any connection or really association with them. And so I just made sure like, Hey, you still want me there? I, A&M is my dream school. And so I was like, you know what, I'm i'm just going to go it's going to be awesome.
Speaker: So I graduated early. i got there in the spring of 2020 and COVID hit. And so that just threw a loop and everything because, you know,
Speaker: I'm 18 years old, first college experience. It's kind of, college is already hard, especially the collegiate athletic experience when you're coming in as a freshman, you know, even a sophomore, you just you just don't know what you don't know.
Speaker: and adding, adding in COVID and everyone going through this and not really knowing how to react or what to do with it it. It was tough. And so my first year there was just kind of all over the place. Um, didn't get to play much volleyball constantly in and out of quarantine or my got hurt my back, but it was, i also, I wasn't, I wasn't performing well in the court. My mental was off.
Speaker: Um, and that, like I've spoke on that is why I so i leaned into the weight room a lot because my strength coach there, she, she pushed us. And that is where I found my strength and my confidence, my capability when on the volleyball side, both my freshman and sophomore year, I was not being, i was not being supported there. And i think, did I do a lot of things wrong?
Speaker: Absolutely. As any freshman or incoming does, you make a lot of mistakes and that's the period of you're you're learning who you are as a person and still as an athlete.
Speaker: And so I think I just wanted to keep grinding through it and forcing it to make it work of like, I'm going to get on the court more. I'm going to do this. going to force this. But it it finally took me being like, okay, this actually, this is not a good fit.
Speaker: This is not a good coaching fit for me. And unfortunately a lot, most of the players, um, Um, and so again, really what got me through those two years was the weight room and training. I fell in love with it and I fell out of love with volleyball. That was the sad part.
Speaker: And so I kind of got to a point where I was either going quit or I was going to transfer. And I decided to get in the portal, make that leap, even though I was told, you know, you're a libero, you might not get money. You don't have enough, you playing film and it was just all the doubts thrown at me, but i was like, well, why I'm miserable and i want to find love for my sport again. So I'm going to to make it happen.
Speaker: Were the the coaches telling you that like your staff that at A&M, were they saying those things or was it just a networking? There was telling you that. there was There was like some external um people, but I mean, and again, i i don't I don't want to speak poorly, but this was just my experience that I'm going to speak on. And unfortunately, I think a lot of, there was a lot of other people that transferred along with me at different periods who everyone has their own story.
Speaker: And so I think it finally took me realizing I'm not the only one. Maybe, yes, I took accountability for, you know, anything. I had i needed to grow up for sure.
Speaker: But there was a lot of things that I think ah we swept under the rug as normal that weren't normal. So when I got in the portal, um total God thing, um the coach who recruited me to go to A&M originally, he took the head coaching job at Liberty.
Speaker: And so whenever he left to to Liberty, he asked me, hey, do you do you want to come with me? You know, me being 17. No, like I'm going A&M. I'm not going to it' Liberty. don't even know where it is. And so he reached out and was like, Erica, come on a visit. your You will absolutely love it here. It's beautiful. The resources, the campus, the this. And at first, you you hear some interesting things about Liberty. You know, it has an interesting stigma for sure. But, you know, i was like, you know, i trust i trust him. um he I've known him for the longest. Yeah, let's do it. let's Let's go on a visit. And from the minute I stepped on campus, I just, I loved it. I mean, absolutely beautiful facilities. You'd think it's a power for.
Speaker: the it was in Virginia. And so something I wasn't used to, I mean, the scenery and the landscape and the people and the coaches, just I just had that sense of this is where I'm supposed to be. um And so when I got back home, I committed. and I got to Liberty and I spent three years there and what you were speaking on and of environment, the minute I started playing and practicing at Liberty, i was, i was bawling out. I had, I had my confidence back. I didn't have people and coaches in my ear, just doubting me and the negatives and telling me all the things that
Speaker: tear an athlete down, quite frankly. And when I got to Liberty, it was the opposite. It was, I have confidence in you. um You're going to be a leader. You are such a hard worker. You are so skilled. It was all these positives. And from year one at Liberty to year three, I just grew and grew and grew more as an athlete in my game, but also as a person and a leader. And, you know, just my overall character, which was questioned when I was at A&M. And so there was just a lot of emotional damage.
Speaker: from just being a human being and from the athlete standpoint that was repaired when I went to Liberty and i am very grateful um for the ability to transfer. And I think everyone's experience is different.
Speaker: And do I love the constant transfer culture? No, i think nowadays it, it can get a little hairy, but every, everyone's, Story is different and I think it depends on the person.
Speaker: Time out. Coach needs a coach. I want you to take a second to reflect on this past season and what did not click. Were there moments where you lost your temper, lost your cool, felt your team was mentally soft, weak, not prepared to face competition? Were there moments where they put their heads down and were not ready or accepted?
Speaker: Did they quit on you? Did they quit on their their teammates during a game? What was that experience like? How did you manage it? How did you handle it? I have a course out here. It's called Why They're Not Listening, Coaching Today's Athlete, where I dive into a concept I've been working on that's called social emotional leadership. How do we use practices? How do we use strength and conditioning sessions to develop our leaders, to have self-awareness, social awareness, and then have a toolkit to then lead not only their teammates, but themselves.
Speaker: But it starts with you, Coach. i encourage you to check out this. My first lesson in the course is free. To find that, head to listen.captainsandcoaches.com. Start preparing now for next season, and everything that you're investing will start to pay off.
Speaker: Now, back to the show. Ready, ready, and break. Mm-hmm. and so when you first got to campus and coaches were aiming to build you up and give you this opportunity was there moments of doubt and being like put a wall up why you tell why are you talking to me like that i'm used to yeah negative negative negative and how long did it take you to actually trust that belief that the coaches had in you
Speaker: It was a constant battle for me. i mean, it didn't really ever go away. It got better, but I thought it was fake. I was like, you're lying to me. um You're going to go back on your word. You don't actually mean what you're saying. I mean, these are all the thoughts in my head.
Speaker: you know where we have end of season meetings or coaches like, hey, Erica, can you come in the office? And I'm like, I'm I have a panic attack because any other time I was asked to come into a coach's office, it was something bad.
Speaker: And then it was, i walked in there like, how are you doing? How's, how's your life outside of volleyball? So that was, it was just very, it was so, it was amazing, but it took me some time to accept it. I think the biggest moment that I remember is my first season there. were, we, it was a preseason tournament.
Speaker: I had been performing well. I was the libero and we played a game. I did not have a good game. It was kind of started off rocky. My mental kind of went downhill and it just kind of fell and you know, all in my head, are they going pull me out? Oh, I'm terrible. I'm back to the player I was when I was at A&M, all these doubts.
Speaker: And after the game, my coach came up to me and he just was like, he could tell I was upset. And he was like, dude, you're stud, I'm not taking you out. So you need to accept that and forget about it.
Speaker: All right, I'll try my best. And so I will always remember that and the the confidence that that those coaches helped me rebuild back.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah that's that's awesome. And fortunately, at a lot of levels, and at college and then even some high school that I've witnessed worth for an athlete and an individual is dependent on their performance.
Speaker: it versus just the inherent worth that we have. So you see a lot of backs turned on kids when they need them the most. And that that that's just devastating and and and heartbreaking. So yeah, I'm glad that you found the environment that, and it just, it clicked. It's almost like you knew it right away.
Speaker: and then... Yeah, i I would call these shame lies where other coaches have used shame to try to to motivate you and push you to ah just comply with whatever their demands were.
Speaker: And then you start to believe those internally. So then when you do have a supportive network and people that believe in you, you still have those shame lies playing in your mind.
Speaker: And it's it's almost like you got trick yourself into believing it. It's like, what do I got to lose by being positive in this moment? Yes. Next play.
Speaker: Goldfish mentality. So um now in your current environment and it's it's division one, you've got bad ass people When you start to see those anti-social, those negative behaviors when athletes are acting in against themselves, how are you stepping in and being that coach that you had way back when?
Speaker: I think... I'm pretty good at picking up, you know, someone's vibe if something's off. Again, it takes time as I'm getting to know each person, but I will immediately just pull someone to the side, not during a team lift or something, but, or wait and call them into my office just to sit and just talk with them.
Speaker: And instead of, Oh, are you acting like that? Like you're being negative or you're being this. Like, I just, I want to understand because that's what I wish was done to me. And so that's what I do for them is I just, I like to sit and just have a conversation if it's needed. It doesn't have to be anything serious. And I think,
Speaker: where the places I've been at so far that that has helped and just shows that I do care about them. Yes, I care about them. I want them to be the best athletes possible, but I care about who they are as people first and my relationship with them because that's what matters. um And I think fortunately for the team here, The coaching staff here is amazing.
Speaker: I mean, they they love those girls. They care about them. Yeah, so they heart on them and they're going to do what it takes to win. That's why I'm very excited to see the season. But the big theme and why I'm so happy to be a part of a program here is because they treat their athletes with respect.
Speaker: um They treat them kind and they love on them. And so that's been pretty cool to see here as well. Mm-hmm. And I mean, this wasn't your first stop, which is cool. You get to see different weight rooms, experiences, cultures, programs in this.
Speaker: And you have a ah unique challenge. And I had the same experience where I went from athlete on my college team to them being coach, coaching my college teammates. So now peer to peer leadership is one thing, but now coach to athlete when we were peers not too long ago,
Speaker: What was that growth and learning experience like? Did you try too hard to put the fence up and draw this line in the sand? Or was there still this blurred line where we're friends and pals when we're not on the clock?
Speaker: Whenever I was at Liberty, I did i did my internship there and in that spring, I actually, i wasn't with volleyball a ton. think honestly, mainly because there was that, don't know, those are my teammates, you know, and yeah i still, I would, we, us interns were very, we were very spread out. So yes, I was with volleyball just as much as I was with lacrosse or whatever team. And I think for the teammates, a lot of the teammates that I played with that were my age, we all graduated together.
Speaker: And so it was a lot of the younger ones that came in. And so it was fun whenever I'd get to go to their sessions and watch them or coach them up. It was, it was cool because also i'd kind of already been in a way doing that before, because I was the captain my last year. And so it was pretty seamless, but being an intern, you know, you don't, have that authority over them either, which was nice of like, we kind of could still be friends and buddies, but I was also helping them out.
Speaker: um And so luckily I didn't really have to, if I was, you know, hired on as a full-time coach over them immediately after, i cannot imagine how I would have navigated that. So kudos to you, but that's, yeah, I did not have to do that.
Speaker: Oh, it was a lot of fun. And luckily, they weren't strong enough to hurt themselves. So that's good. Yeah, but i'm I'm a D3 guy. um Well, you got the opportunity to work with lacrosse, Liberty, and then Lindenwood.
Speaker: So now you went from a court sport to working with many different sports, including field sport and lacrosse. Did that mess with your brain a little bit? How did you break down and just, is it still just squatting and jumping or does field transfer? And now that you're working with bobsled transfer, take on a whole new ball game.
Speaker: I think whenever at, i was I'm very thankful for the internship I had at Liberty because we got to work and see what the coaches did with every sport. And so I think that helped equip me for, okay, I know volleyball. I know what we did. I know what we should do for the most part. But what's the difference, like you said, with other sports? And so it was cool to see the strength coaches at Liberty. i heavily asked questions about different things. And I tried to learn as much as I could about sports.
Speaker: what to do. And I think the biggest thing that stood out to me is things they did in the weight room you couldn't always tell which sport they were. They, it was pretty, the basics. um Maybe there were some things here or there that were more emphasized, maybe at the end of the lift, but I think where things maybe got a little bit more different, more variety, was when you go out on the field with them or on the court with them, that's when you can kind of be like, all right, how do we, how do we equip them a little bit more game-like with the speed, agility, conditioning, whatever you will. So that was the biggest difference. So whenever I did go to Longwood, luckily I did have, coaches who, if I had questions or if I needed help on things, I definitely leaned on them and did not hesitate to reach out or do my own research.
Speaker: But honestly, i loved it. I loved working with lacrosse or field hockey. these field-based sports because we got, I got to do things with them that I didn't get to do when I was an athlete. And so it was fun for me to learn kind of their sport, the demands of their sport.
Speaker: I mean, talk about lacrosse. mean, these girls are freak athletes. I watch them on the field and I'm, I'm amazed how they do what they do. And so I really enjoyed it. And even me being here at South now, I also work with women's soccer. So I've absolutely loved that. I love being on the field with them, trying to get creative and different things we can do during our speed sessions and things like that. So i've I've loved it. I've loved learning about it. Did you ever pick up a stick?
Speaker: Do they gift you a stick? Oh boy. i I tried tempted field hockey. I could kind of pass lacrosse, but it was hard. So hard. I mean, I'm watching them do the stuff on the wall. They're making it look easy. And so I remember being out on the turf with one of them. We're just throwing back and forth, man. I was humbled, humbled.
Speaker: So I'm not a stick sport athlete. I don't think, but. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Men's lacrosse, boys lacrosse, we get this deep pocket net yeah where we can easily catch it and there's some margin for error.
Speaker: Girls, you don't have that. So you got to give and have this soft touch and guys were like, nah, physical, beat each other up. girls i would argue they are more athletic than the guys playing the sport because you got to be nimble move around dip up dive dodge and with no pocket in the stick and they're still shooting ridiculous 70 80 miles an hour it's crazy um so on the line they are i would argue more athletic than the men's side of the game um so let's let's talk about longwood i think i said lindenwood my mistake longwood
Speaker: You got this career opportunity, internship into job. And if anybody knows the strength and conditioning world, that doesn't always happen. So you got your first opportunity and your job um and you had to move across the country again.
Speaker: So now take us into that that shoes. What were you worried about? Did the expectations and worries fulfill? What were challenges that you didn't know existed that you then took on?
Speaker: So when I was in the job process from Liberty to finding my next place, I was applying for a lot of fellowships and GAs and paydermtonships. You know, I knew that was probably the next step.
Speaker: Even GA positions where I'm like, i already have my master's. I really don't want to do school again, but you know, I was going to take whatever was available. And director at Liberty had a connection to the director at Longwood. They they were friends. They had worked under the same mentor.
Speaker: And so that position opened up. And so it really was a connection that got me in the door. And I'm very thankful to the director at Liberty. He definitely poured a lot into me and helped me grow a lot.
Speaker: Took me under his wing a little bit during the summers when I wanted to help him with men's basketball. And I didn't know anything from anything, but he taught me so much. ah So when I got to Longwood or before i even accepted the position, it was softball, lacrosse, field hockey, cross country assists with cheer.
Speaker: And this is going from an internship of having none of my own teams to having, we'll say four and a half of my own teams. And so my coaches were like, Erica, you accept this. Like you are going to be thrown into the fire. This is going to be a lot.
Speaker: was like, well, let's do it. Whatever. um I'll figure it out. And I mean, I did, I tried to do all the planning that I could ahead of time, which helped.
Speaker: But I also realized, okay, I can plan out as many things as I want so far in advance. But the minute I got on campus and had my meetings with sport coaches and talked about schedule and this and that, everything changed, obviously. So i think biggest thing for me was the the time demands were tough, you know, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. And eating at the dining hall.
Speaker: And the pay is, it was tough. um But... I think just the hands-on coaching that I got to do and learning my coaching voice in a different sense. Cause I had the the athlete leader voice, but I had not, I didn't know what my coaching voice was.
Speaker: What coach do I want? What kind of coach do I want to be? I don't know. Like there were some times when I would speak and then afterwards be like, why did I say that? You know? So there's a lot of those, a lot of,
Speaker: I think it came down to, i feel like I started really coming into my shoes and gaining the trust of the athletes that I worked with and really getting the most of them and the coaches when I just kind of let off the guard of what I should be. And I was like, what, who am I?
Speaker: What, what's my character? What, you know, how was I as an athlete that that's just how I'm going to be because Athletes, coaches can see right through any BS. So me putting on a front and trying to be perfect and trying to act like i have it all together.
Speaker: it's It's just that's exhausting. And so I think the minute where I tried to kind of let the reins off and just do the best that I knew how to do, and I just accepted that this is going to be a continual learning process, which it still is, and it's going to be my whole career.
Speaker: That's when I started to get more enjoyment out of it and just started to be like, when I'm able to connect with them and focus on my relationship with them and that they know that I care and my efforts, I'm going to get more out of them.
Speaker: And obviously I make sure my programming and the training I'm doing is sound, but I kind of geared what ah i was so hyper-focused on, you know, the X's and O's and the programming and the this. And then I think being in it, I realized, okay, that is a massive part of it. But this other part, I just didn't understand how, how big it was.
Speaker: um And then i think the last thing that I did realize was, being in a collegiate coach position or just really any coach is the time that you're actually coaching your athletes on the floor or the field or whatever is very small in comparison to meetings and planning and things you have do with the staff and just all these other things that I just, I didn't know the behind the scenes stuff as an athlete. And so that was definitely an eye opener of, okay, I really got to love
Speaker: what I'm doing because does anyone absolutely love a ton of meetings? No, not really. they have to do them, but it opened my eyes of the reality of strength and conditioning. And, you know, I would be lying if I didn't say when I was out long with, there was a little bit of burnout for sure. it was long days and a lot of frustrations with myself. I wanted to be perfect.
Speaker: But then I think it also helped me grow a lot of, I just went back to my why, you know, why, why am I doing this? And that's pretty much what carried me through was my relationships with the athletes, coaches and seeing them grow was, it's pretty cool.
Speaker: So. Yeah. And were you still training at this point or did that take the back seat to meetings? No, I, no matter what, I've always, i will train at some point, whether it's super early or I will do that. And then rush eating lunch. I never, I've never let my training take a backside.
Speaker: i haven't. it's It keeps me sane. If I'm being completely honest, it keeps me happy and sane. So. Time out, Tex here to take a second to talk about training. wanna extend a seven day free trial for my training program, Old Bull. It's the program I'm writing for myself, I'm staying active, I'm lifting heavy, I'm having fun with it, and it's flexible to move each day around, heavy push, heavy pull, cardio, athletic strength, moving those days around to fit my busy schedule between doctorate program, podcast, work, running a business, everything. I got a busy life, so do you.
Speaker: follow along with the training program with me seven day free trial click the link in the show notes if you're watching on youtube it's right here don't want to hold you back anymore join us on the program oval and now back to the show ready ready and break oh i get it uh you make some great points there with you knew how to lead with an athlete voice And it it took you time to find your coaching voice.
Speaker: And i I love that. Like, I'm going to put some genuine thought into into that um on when that transition happened.
Speaker: Or if I was coaching, if I was an athlete with a coaching voice throughout, because I always felt that and felt a vocation ah towards this position, whether it's sport or strength.
Speaker: And then what I should be versus who I am. And I feel like there's a moment there. Was there a a breaking point, a a conversation, a mentorship moment from someone who or what happened to help you realize like, this ain't me.
Speaker: Yeah. Honestly, it was how I felt. I was exhausted um trying to be this perfect person because I was younger and this was my first position. So I thought I have to prove to everyone that I should be here, which is true in a sense, but I i don't think I was being real.
Speaker: And honestly, the exhaustion, i was like, this is not, I can't do this. I'm i'm I don't have the energy to put on this front anymore. and You know what? i'm I'm going to be myself. And if they don't like it, okay.
Speaker: And it actually turned out it was the flip of that is when I saw things take off in the other direction. And I wasn't as exhausted because I was just being myself. And obviously not everyone's going like you. That's okay. So, yeah.
Speaker: that's That was the change. I was exhausted of being fake. Yeah. and And having that mask. So there's something I'm going to encourage you to look up if you haven't heard of this already. It's called self-discrepancy theory.
Speaker: You heard of this? No, I'm in my doctorate. I got research all these different theories. So this this one I find fascinating. So there's there's three cells self discrepancy theory.
Speaker: You have your perfect self. That's your ideal. You're aiming up to be. And this is what we see on social media. We're putting forth our perfect self. And then we have our actual self. It's like we're showing up late. We're doing this or that. We know we're behind.
Speaker: I won't eat, but I'll get my squats in. So that's like our actual self. And then our ought, our ought self. This is what people are telling us we should be doing or what we feel people are telling us that we should be.
Speaker: And Like this this is where shame comes in is we're not our ideal. So then we are shaming ourselves and feeling bad about ourselves and not not accepting our gifts or not knowing who we are or stepping into our own skin. And then with the ought, this is when we're listening to the haters.
Speaker: and we're believing them, that one negative person or coach and experience. And we're accepting that story that they told us years ago versus this awesome coach who truly wants to see us succeed and believes in us is telling us about who we actually are. So it's called self discrepancy theory.
Speaker: And if you move farther away from your actual self, that's when the the negative feelings and experiences have and the mask we try to protect to to preserve what the the people see is perfect.
Speaker: That tears us apart and we hit a point. um So, yeah, not a new experience, but like ah I know exactly ah where you're at with that. and I'm glad you had the the the confidence to step into your own.
Speaker: um So now I want to speak to that because that I feel like has almost helped you because you didn't start as a weightlifting performance person.
Speaker: You were a volleyball player, but now you, identify as an athlete. Are there volleyball players now or whatever sport specific kids you're working with that have yet to see the value and the passion within training in the weight room that you so adamantly are sacrificing lunch, for God's sakes, to get your workouts in?
Speaker: I think for me, i'm I'm kind of psychotic. So I don't know if they will ever be at that level, if they are awesome. But I do think slowly they're starting they're starting to understand and i've I've tried to make it you know enjoyable.
Speaker: um If it's early mornings, I get it. We're all kind of tired, but I try to make the training as enjoyable as I can. Obviously we're gonna get our work done. And i did had a conversation with one of my athletes at the end of the spring semester And again, it was a lot of figuring out, getting to know them as people and athletes and what made them tick and things like that. And I still am. But she came up to me and was like, hey, this was the most fun and like bought in we've been to like training. Like we've really enjoyed what you've been doing with us and we feel like it's working. And we also see you training and yeah what you do with yourself works. And so it kind of
Speaker: That made my day and I'll probably won't ever forget that very brief conversation that she probably doesn't even remember. But I think that was the moment where I was like, okay, I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing. And at the end of the day some athletes never like lifting and never really they All i all i care about is work hard, get it done. If you enjoy it, that's my goal because I would like to see you train when you're done being an athlete because that's so important for women and just people health-wise.
Speaker: But it is it's cool to see when there there are some athletes that they they they do like the weight room and they grind and it is very fun to watch them and coach them and be a part of that experience because it reminds me of – myself you know when i'm six years ago now so and ah ah want to wind this down now and and and look forward because yeah just uh connected with you i meet a lot of people i meet a lot of coaches and i mean zillner's word goes a long way with me especially
Speaker: But I feel it's important you got great stories, lessons, experiences to share. what What goals are coming up? And I'm just curious, is speaking and presenting one of them?
Speaker: So I think currently i'm I just feel very at peace with where I'm at right now, being at South. I'm very excited to go through end season with soccer and volleyball. it's going to be It's going to be a lot, but I'm excited to learn through it. I'm excited to be on the other side of it because this is my first time going through volleyball season.
Speaker: being the coach and not the athlete. So honestly, that's kind of where my, my head's at right now is this, this next six months of just being the best coach that I can be and the best support I can be for these girls, even when it's, it's going to be hard when you get into you know the October months.
Speaker: But I think for me, kind of, if I were to look any further um I'm going to continue pursuing events like apex and things like that. I don't know if, you know, maybe if I attempted bobsled, it probably wouldn't be until next year, just because being a collegiate coach and bobsled, those don't, those don't really work. Um, so competitively wise, I'm just going to keep going the apex route. I've really enjoyed that. And then,
Speaker: Career-wise, would love to eventually be able to work with a power four volleyball team that's competing to win a national championship. I think I would love the opportunity to do that. And I know it takes a lot to get there, but that's definitely in my eyeline.
Speaker: um And in terms of presenting, i definitely would be open to it. i think even just being on podcasts, it's the...
Speaker: the anxiety of just speaking and the imposter syndrome or, okay, well, maybe someone doesn't agree with me or someone doesn't like this, but I think, I don't even know who said it, but people, it's it's not, people just want to hear stories and just want to hear your unique experience. And at the end of the day I can't lie about my story and my truth, I can't.
Speaker: So I think that's given me peace of if those opportunities do present themselves, I 100% wouldn't turn them down because everyone's experience is different. Why can't I share mine?
Speaker: That's awesome. Yeah, I'm glad you have that vision. And that's also helpful for your athletes, helping them understand that we can have different goals in different arenas outside of sports.
Speaker: So it's great that you as well have those. Well, yeah, Erica, I appreciate your time. And yeah, I took I took a lot of notes here and i'm I'm excited to follow along with the girls this season. Yeah, always whatever podcast guests I get on, I become a fan of those teams and I'm just collecting You see all the stuff behind me collecting different things from those different teams. So excited to watch soccer, volleyball, and then i guess USA Women's bobsled the next winter cycle. Not this one, but the next one.
Speaker: We'll keep an eye out for you. So Erica, if people want to continue to learn from you, follow you, and see how you're applying all these awesome tools with yourself and your athletes, where can they go?
Speaker: I would say Instagram is probably the easiest. Eric Lowry strength. And I'm pretty active. If you send me a DM, I try to check those pretty frequently. Again, as soon as we're getting in season, I cannot promise that I will be super responsive, but that's definitely the easiest way to reach me. Or if you email me, you can just go to my in Instagram bio. My email is in there. Email. I would probably see a little bit quicker.
Speaker: So either or. And there you have it. All right. Thank you, Erica. Thank you to our listeners. And we'll see you next time. Thank you for helping us raise the game.
Speaker: And see you.
