Over the years, both my girls have done different types of training outside of their regular club practices- mainly on field private or small group soccer training focusing on developing specific skills. With L playing in the DA this year, there isn’t as much of a need for extra on-field training due to increased practice sessions, but she is a super motivated kid who wanted to push herself to increase her overall speed and fitness.
Enter Game Ready Performance (GRP). L’s bestie and teammate, E, as well as many other people we know, have worked with Jackie, but we’d never checked it out seriously. After moving around to several different facilities since 2012, Game Ready recently settled in a permanent super cool location in Hermosa Beach. L started training there in March and I can’t recommend it more.
Each training session begins with the writing of affirmations, positive statements or future goals on the giant whiteboard walls. I don’t think the girls would want me to show you exactly what they wrote, but they are all empowering statements about strength, commitment, hopes, and dreams.
Jackie Guerra, founder of GRP and Puerto Rican Olympic athlete, Big 10 soccer champion and physiologist, is there to guide and cheer the girls on every step of the way. I love the positive reinforcement and that “girl power” vibe that Jackie gives. She and Kenya make the girls feel that anything is possible and are always interested in what is going on in the girls’ lives.
This particular session that I photographed was more of a recovery session as the girls had played some tough games and they were playing again the next day. The sessions are tailored to fit whatever they need at that time which is great. They love using the Normatec compression sleeves… how awesome that they got to watch the World Cup at the same time. The DA season is loooooooong and we’ve seen many girls get injured- emphasizing proper recovery habits goes a long way to help.
Throughout the session, the girls wear a heart monitor and Jackie and Gio carefully monitor how they are doing. (You can see the screens with the information at the end of the row of treadmills) I know they do many things with the information, but one thing that I’ve noticed is them teaching the girls how to lower their heart rates quickly. They’ve done many different types of running on the specialized treadmills and have kept track of all personal bests and are always making new goals…and crushing them! GRP has a very active social media presence and L was excited to be featured a while back for achieving a personal best speed. Outside there are two small-sided soccer “fields” and it’s always fun to watch the girls take on Jackie and Gio.
All sorts of athletes train at GRP so it’s exciting to see athletes who are in D1 programs already and have traveled the road that L wants to follow. Although most are soccer players, there are all different types of athletes. Why are all these athletes in one place? This graphic from the GRP website says it the best…
The physical results that L has experienced have been easy to see, but it’s the psychological ones that I’m most happy about as a mom. Forget the super competitive girls’ soccer world, just as a teenager, it’s great to have someone always on your side helping you to achieve your goals. And most importantly, L really loves going and pushing herself!
This wasn’t a sponsored post- I originally was planning just to share a great resource. But, Game Ready wanted to offer my readers 20% off an initial evaluation if you use the code SMB20. Click here to register and find out more.
*If you do use the code I will get a small credit on our fees :)*