On December 9th we held our Annual Strength and Conditioning Awards 2021 where we celebrated the success of Strength and Conditioning coaches all over the world. Nominated by you, we saw over 15 awards handed out, heard some incredibly inspiring stories, and enjoyed celebrating everyone’s achievements together.
With some HUGE names in the world of Strength & Conditioning nominated, it certainly was an evening to remember! Keep reading to find out who our nominees and winners were, why they won, and hear a little bit from them about what the award means to them.
Business Growth Award
For the coach who has demonstrated excellent business growth within a strength and conditioning capacity this year. It could be online, offline, a new starter – this award goes to the person who has managed to significantly grow their business and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down!
Nominees:
Emma Vincent
Sean Collick
Callum Siddall
Keith Ewing
Samantha Chisholm
And the winner is…
Sean Collick
Sean joined us on the Elite Coach Mentorship only 6 months ago and wasn’t sure where he was going or how to get where he wanted to. Since then he has been able to grow his business; SMC Fitness and make a massive income. He’s been able to keep on growing and growing and he shows no signs of slowing down! Congratulations Sean!
Online Coach of the Year
This award goes for the strength and conditioning coach who has built something special online this year. Whether that’s transitioning a business from in-person focused to online-focused, or significantly increasing the online impact and income within an existing business in 2021.
Nominees:
Amelia Robinson
Daniel Domaradzki
Chloe Brooks
Emma Vincent
And the winner is…
Daniel Domaradzki
Daniel has a very, very niche business; PrimeXaos – he combines meditation with strength training. We talk about growing your niche and he has done exactly that! Daniel has been able to expertly take the product that he has and take it online whilst still maintaining the same level of quality and effectiveness. Daniel has created a product that works and people believe in it so much that his last sale alone produced 5 figures! He has managed to nail his messaging, his marketing, and his strategy to ensure that his online business works and continues to grow. Amazing work Daniel!
Community Impact Coach of the Year
For the coach who has dedicated themselves to serving their community. This award goes to a strength and conditioning coach who has selflessly dedicated themselves to their community. This award is really, really important – last year this was one of the most hotly contested awards of the entire bunch and it was no different this year. It was one of the hardest awards to pick a winner for as we had some fantastic nominations!
Nominees:
Jim Davis
Victoria Bovill-Lamb
Emma Vincent
Samantha Chisholm
And the winner is…
Jim Davis
Jim was nominated for the Community Impact Coach of the Year award multiple times for the amazing work he has done, this is truly a fantastic story. Jim is a coach out in the US, the background of what he is doing and what he has achieved so far is incredible. Jim has done so much to warrant his win for this award, but a few things that really stuck out to us is that he runs the nation’s largest high school strength program at New Trier High School, with more than 2,000 weekly visits. Jim is also the Director of the Good Athlete Project, a nonprofit organization focused on maximising the potential of athletics as education and he continues to do so much to help his community and bring athletics to the forefront of education for all.
“To know Jim Davis is to love Jim Davis. I know there are many, many people who can say that about Jim because community well-being is his drive inside and outside the weight room.”
Strength and Conditioning Gym of the Year
Again, another hotly contested award. This is an important one for us as having good environments and safe places to train is really, really relevant. Inspiring people through environments is a proven way to get great results. This award goes to the Strength and Conditioning gym that we believe has shown great movements this year!
Nominees:
Tu Nova – Ste Gordon
FG Personal Training – Freddie Grice
Team CC – Russell Jolley
United Strength & Conditioning – Wayne Lakin
And the winner is…
United Strength & Conditioning – Wayne Lakin
United Strength & Conditioning went on to win this award and we were lucky enough to have Wayne to accept his award. Wayne has been heading up United S&C for just over 3 years, it was initially bought as just a normal gym, when Wayne took over he wanted to change that slightly. He has managed to successfully increase the size of the gym, he has lowered the age limit to 14 and introduced PT’ing from the age of 11 to give the younger generation a great place to come and train. Alongside this, the gym has also started working with elite athletes such as British Judo, badminton, gymnastics. They have gone from strength to strength (excuse the pun).
“Brilliant gym with everything you would need from a beginner to an elite athlete. Also. an incredible amount of knowledge on S&C from Wayne and his team.”
Congratulations all at United S&C!
General Population Coach of the Year
This award is for the coach who is impacting people, not necessarily athletes, or a specific set of people, they are working with everybody and doing a fantastic job of it!
Nominees:
Maria Braviakova
Charles Brister
Liza Smith
Jim Davis
Sean Collick
And the winner is…
Charles Brister
Charles runs boot camps for the general population in Glasgow as part of the Be Military Fit franchise he has really embraced athletic development, but instead of taking that and working with local football teams, or athletes, he wanted to take that and build it into his boot camps to offer an advanced way of training accessible to the general public. Charles really epitomises the idea that strength and conditioning isn’t just for athletes, it’s for everyone because everybody is an everyday athlete. Charles has done a great job at taking the strength and conditioning principles and applying it to his boot camps and he is getting some great results. What he is doing is really amazing and has made a huge impact up in Scotland and the surrounding areas. Great work Charles!
Sport Specifc Coach of the Year
This award is for the strength and conditioning coach who has done amazing things within a specific sport. It doesn’t have to be elite, it can be any type of population within that specific sport that has just mastered their niche and have moved on strength and conditioning coaching within a sport-specific context.
“Wayne has achieved AMAZING things this year. He’s an inspiration to all and really deserves this award for his Judo work and helping Chelsie Giles achieve bronze at the Olympics 2021”
Nominees:
Liza Smith
Wayne Lakin
Scott Simon
Darko Krsma
Reiss Silva
And the winner is…
Wayne Lakin
Wayne was widely nominated for this award by the athletes he has worked with and truly deserves this award! Wayne has had an amazing year, he has had an athlete medalling in the Olympics, has worked with elite athletes, and generally achieved some great things throughout 2021! Wayne works with elite athletes in judo and badminton and continues to showcase his skills and expertise within these sport-specific areas!
New to the Game Award
Arguably, this award could go to any of our Strength and Conditioning Education graduates over the past year so picking a winner for this award was certainly difficult. This award goes to someone we believe has been making great strides forwards and has really made a huge impact in a short amount of time as a Strength and Conditioning coach!
Nominees:
Keith Ewing
Andy Harrison
Samantha Chisolm
And the winner is…
Keith Ewing
Keith was available on the night to receive his award and we were able to hear from him. Keith mentions how much of a journey this last year has been for him, prior to making the move over to becoming a strength and conditioning coach, Keith had his own business for 18 years in a completely different field and decided it was time to go for a big career change to something he loves. Keith has worked incredibly hard to ensure the success of his S&C career change, he’s put in the hours with his training, is active within our Elite Coach Network and is constantly seeking help and learning from others. Keith’s daughter, Eva has recently won bronze at the British Judo Championship and without his support, determination, and coaching (plus with a little help from others), she couldn’t have gotten there. Great work to both Keith and his daughter!
Rehab Coach of the Year
This award goes to the coach who is doing great stuff within strength and conditioning within an injury management and injury reconditioning perspective. The winner of this award has moved that forward, shared knowledge, and taken things on that have really challenged them in the field of rehab.
Nominees:
Kate Charlton
Charmain Ho
Rob Reid
Michael Harvey
Emma Vincent
And the winner is…
Kate Charlton
Kate is a physio by trade, she previously worked for the NHS and then moved over to a private practice. Just before Covid, Kate set up her own company; Your Optimal Performance to allow her to offer services from rehab all the way through to elevating performance. Kate has worked hard to develop the physio and rehab side of her business and her goal is to rehabilitate injured athletes to not only perform as they were prior to injury but to make them perform even better than before through strength and conditioning principles and coaching. Kate is super passionate about her work and is constantly working to improve her knowledge, skillset, and upskill to provide a better service for her clients!
Student of the Year
This is an award for someone who is on one of our programmes or courses and has fully embraced their professional development and is ultimately thriving from that!
Nominees:
Keith Ewing
Nkoyo Mead
Adam Ralph
Maria Braviakova
And the winner is…
Maria Braviakova
Maria is someone who has stood out to us at Strength and Conditioning Education. Maria has had some challenges throughout her learning journey and has really had to reflect on the training she has done for numerous years as an avid fitness enthusiast and strength trainer. As she enters the world of strength and conditioning her whole training world has been turned upside down and has had to reflect hard on all of the information within her brain to try and unlearn some of the things from before that are incorrect or misinformed. Maria has had her own personal issues, but instead of hiding in her shell she has embraced that and has continued to push herself forward and continues to push herself for the sake of her clients. Maria is committed to being an evergrowing student, even when it has challenged or own ethos and the way she has viewed things in the past. For us, that is what epitomises a great student – someone who is happy to say ‘I don’t know all of the right answers, but I want to learn them’.
The Coaches Coach Award
This award is fantastic, last year our Lead Mentor, Ste Gordon was on the receiving end of this award and he massively deserved it and continues his great work with our coaches. The coaches coach award is all about the coach who is coaching and mentoring the coaches. We have a fantastic coach network in the Elite Coach Network, we run workshops all over the UK, have coaches learning with us from all over the world, but it wouldn’t be what it is without you and the support you provide our students, graduates, and coaches all over the world!
Nominees:
Freddie Grice
Mel Young
Steph Morris
Ben Haining
And the winner is…
Ben Haining
Ben was blown away by winning this award and was speechless on the evening. Ben is the foundation of our Youth Course, so if you’ve completed our Youth S&C Programme, you’ve got Ben to thank for your new skills and knowledge! Ben is part of our Elite Coach Mentorship programme, he has been a huge influence on a vast majority of our programmes, courses, and support network. Ben is dedicated to supporting strength and conditioning coaches, he’s still coaching himself, but his passion flows further than that and he is constantly working to help other coaches achieve their success!
Elite Sport Coach of the Year
This is an award to recognise a practitioner or coach who is working with elite athletes in any sport, but working at the highest level and delivering impressive results at that level.
Nominees:
Simon Bavers
Reiss Silva
Wayne Lakin
Darko Krsmar
Scott Simon
And the winner is…
Scott Simon
Scott takes this award for his incredible hard work and successes over the year. Scott works within Paralympic and Olympic sport, he’s currently the head coach of the British Canoeing Canoe Sprint programme. This year he and his team have faced so much adversity the obvious; covid to floods, qualification to the Olympic games all whilst trying to keep athletes in top shape and keep their training up which for Canoe Sprint athletes, when you need water and a canoe but you’re in lockdown has been tough and Scott has had to work around that, come up with new ways of training, and ways of keeping his team motivated and sport ready. Scott and his team medaled at the Olympics and took an Olympic record, plus he then went on to win 3 golds, 1 silver, 3 bronze, and 4 world records at the Paralympics – an amazing year for Scott! Great work to him and his athletes!
Youth S&C Coach of the Year
This award goes to the coach who is working with young athletes and developing great people. This award is not only about performance, it’s also about roundedness, psychology, confidence and everything that leads to within young athletes within strength and conditioning.
Nominees:
Michael Harvey
Ben Haining
Jeremy Frisch
Nick Ward
And the winner is…
Nick Ward
Nick has worked in and around youth strength and conditioning for around 20 years or more. Nick is spreading his knowledge all over the world at the moment, he’s currently working with ALTIS in the US heading up their programmes and building up their specific youth programme and is doing amazing things over there. Grassroots youth strength and conditioning is what Nick does best and is at the forefront of all of the work he does. If you’ve been on any of our youth courses, you’ll know we champion the triple E methodology; excite, engage, enable, this means you need to excite your youth athletes, engage with them and give them the purpose behind the training, and also enable them to get the results. That methodology is Nicks, it came from Nick and we have him to thank for that. Nick is a fantastic winner of the Youth Strength and Conditioning Award! Nick’s continued drive and passion for youth S&C is exactly why we chose him for this award.
Facing Adversity Award
This award goes to the coach who has had a tough year, but has come through or is coming through and not letting the tough times stop them from still achieving great things and pushing through.
Nominees:
Tim Wilson
Heather Allan
Maria Braviakova
And the winner is…
Tim Wilson
Tim has faced a very tough year throughout 2021 from losing loved ones, to illnesses within his family, but Tim hasn’t let that stop him. Tim has continued to strive to achieve more this year even with the struggled he has faced from taking on new projects such as Head Judge at the Hyrox event, Tim has stayed committed to his development no matter how hard things have gotten for him and that fully embrases the ‘Facing Adversity Award’.
International Coach of the Year
This award goes to the coach who is doing things across international waters. As a UK based company it’s easy for us to only look within the UK at coaches, but there are so many coaches achieving greatness all over the world and we want to honour that within this award.
And the winner is…
Duncan French
Duncan French is a huge name within the world of strength and conditioning and we’re sure you’re already aware of who he is and the amazing things he’s done and achieved! We were lucky enough to get Duncan live on air on the night and hear a couple of words from him, check out his acceptance speech now (skip to 1:38:00). We’ve worked with Duncan quite a lot over the years and the knowledge he has shared with us, our students, and our graduates has been phenomenal! Duncan is doing great things out in the US, working with college football, universities and now at the UFC as Vice PResident of performance working with some of the most elite UFC fighters (we’re not jealous at all)! Strength and conditioning is at the forefront of absolutely everything Duncan does, he lives and breathes S&C and embraces everything that we believe in. Truly an amazing coach, and a very worthy winner of this award.
Lifetime Achievement Award
This award is for the coach who has devoted their lifetime to coaching, to taking things forward, and to embracing strength and conditioning within everything they do. Rather than following, this coach is a leader within S&C and is a driving force within this field.
And the winner is…
Dan John
Another HUGE name in the world of strength and conditioning, Dan John has done and achieved so much greatness over his lifetime from the books he has written that educate us all to the competitions he has personally competed in such as Olympic Lifting, Highland Games, and Weight Pentathlon, the records he has set, the lectures he has giving, the workshops he’s run – Dan John embodies S&C in everything he does! We were so honoured to have Dan online for the event to accept and make a speech. Dan’s acceptance speech was truly inspiring, and moving – if you haven’t watched it already we suggest you do as you’ll take so much from his words. You can watch it here (skip to 1:55:00). Dans passion and hungry to continue learning, and educating is what has made him the most worthy winner of this award. Dan is an absolute inspiration to us over here at Strength and Conditioning Education – we can all learn from Dan and take a leaf out of his book to continue to strive to be and do better.
Purple Cow Award (aka Remarkable Coach Award)
We know this is a funny name for an award and the background to his award is; it’s for the award for the coach who has done something different this year, something outside of the norm. If you were driving past a field with lots of cows in it and you saw a purple cow, what would you do? You’d stop and say ‘that is remarkable’, and that’s what this award is. The coach who has done something note worthy this year that doesn’t fit into any of our other awards.
Nominees:
Freddie Grice
Nina Lawrence
Scott Simon
And the winner is…
Nina Lawrence
Nina set up and started the Strength4Life programme at the University of Leeds with the support of the Lead S&C coach, the Group Exercise Coordinator and the Head of Sport. It all started last year during the university’s healthy week when Nina offered to be a strength champion. Nina, 55 started strength training only 4 years ago and now compete as a strongwoman, and knew that she could offer something more to the staff at the university within a strength and conditioning capacity. Within the initial seminar during healthy week, sarcopenia and the benefits of strength training to combat the natural loss of muscle and bone density as well as the mental health benefits of exercise were incorporated and have formed the basis of the course which has since developed massively. With the help and support of the Head , and based on the success and the popularity of the seminar, the Strength4Life programme was born of S&C at the university and Nina has been doing great things with it ever since. Her attendees have achieved so much from dumbbell deadlift and squatting to trap bar deadlift, barbell deadlift, back squatting and also some strongman work such as prowler push and pull, farmers/dumbbell carry, and kettlebell/single dumbbell carry. Nina is keen to carry on the work here to continue to educate the staff at the university and give them a safe and fun space to learn about strength training and the benefits of strength training. This is a really great cause and from it Nina has built so much positivity – great work Nina!
Personal Development Award
This award embodies everything that we’re about over here at Strength and Conditioning Education. Everything we do, the courses we create, and the programmes we run are all for your personal development and this award goes to the person who has embraced that and taken their personal development seriously throughout 2021.
Nominees:
Heather Avul
Sean Collick
Adam Ralph
Tim Wilson
And the winner is…
Adam Ralph
Adam has had an incredible year this year, it’s been great to have him on our courses and see his transformation over the course of the year, and what a transformation he has had! When Adam first joined us on our Mentorship programme he was a little bit lost and wasn’t sure where to put his effort or what to focus on. When we sat down with him and challenged him on what he really wanted to achieve, what he wanted to get out of his career, Adam said ‘I love movement, movement helped me come back from a serious injury’ and he really embraced that. Adam took the principles from the Level 4 Strength and Conditioning Course and he’s really gone from strength to strength, he’s helping 70-year-olds move better than they ever have in their life, he’s helping rehab clients in a way they never thought possible, he’s introducing people to strength training. Adam has got this new lease of life and now he’s started his Masters to study to become an osteopath and he’s just turned it completely around and has that focus and drive to go and achieve exactly what he wants. It’s been great to see his journey and we’re so excited to see where he ends up over the next 5, 10 years. He’s no longer held back by thoughts of doubt, he’s confident and ready to go out there and do what he loves. A well-deserved award, great work Adam!
That’s it for the Strength and Conditioning Awards 2021. We want to wish a huge congratulations to everyone who was nominated and everyone who took home an award. You should be so proud of everything you have achieved, we’re incredibly proud of you and so happy that we’re able to be a part of your journey and can’t wait to see what else you can achieve over the next few years.
To your strength and success – the Strength and Conditioning Education team.
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