Introducing Myself and Rocket Performance!
Diving into my personal journey to Rocket Performance and detailing the passion behind our purpose
Hello and welcome to Rocket Performance! My name is Dan and I am delighted to introduce myself as the founder of Rocket Performance. I am keen to use this blog post as an opportunity to share my journey in the world of youth athletic development, elite academy football and sport science so far, as well as to discuss what we do and hope to achieve at Rocket Performance.
As a child I was always obsessed with sport.
Along with playing and watching football, rugby, tennis, cricket and just about anything else I could find the time for. Despite this obsession I had the sense to realise quite early that I was nowhere near the level to compete professionally, yet I was still desperate to have a career involved in sport in some capacity. Having known I wanted to go to University, in the process of choosing GCSE/A-Level subjects I discovered the concept of Sport Science and knew that a degree in this field was going to be the chosen path. I went on to complete a 5-year Master’s degree in Sport & Exercise Science at the University of Bath which included a full-time one year professional placement working at Southampton Football Club working as an U18 Sport Scientist throughout the somewhat turbulent period of Covid-19. Alongside my final years in Bath I picked up further experience in elite football, volunteering as a Sport Science Assistant at Chippenham Town Football Club, an eye-opening but highly rewarding and invaluable experience compared to the luxuries of Southampton Football Club who were competing in the Premier League at the time.
Following my time at University combined with the experience gained at Chippenham Town and Southampton Football Clubs.
I was all-in on a career as a sport scientist working in football which lead me to my first full-time role at Wolves as the U11/12 Sport Scientist in the academy. At the end of my first season working at Wolves I moved into a new role as the U15/16 Sport Scientist in the academy. My time at Wolves was without doubt the most influential on me in terms of developing my understanding and delivery of sport science and athletic development principles within the youth environment, and I have plenty to thank the staff and environment at Wolves for. During my third season working at Wolves I took the exciting opportunity to move into a new role working as the Lead U9-16s Sport Scientist at Aston Villa Football Club, leading the entire sport science provision across the schoolboys age groups at the club. My time at Aston Villa provided me with some significant clarity regarding what was important to me in terms of my career goals, and more importantly my purpose, and is ultimately what lead me to taking the terrifying decision to step away from a career in football which I had worked so hard for and into there world of self-employment and Rocket Performance!
3. The Burnout Problem: Physical and Mental
My core purpose, which I now hope to achieve as the founder and sole individual behind Rocket Performance, is to help children to build foundations for life through the power of youth athletic development training. Whether your child has never set foot in a gym before or has some experience and wants to take their performance to the next level, youth athletic development training with Rocket Performance can help your child reach their true athletic potential. Through 1-2-1 or group-based athletic development sessions either in-person or online, we can help your child develop movement competency, strength, power, speed, change of direction, mobility, stability and more. In addition to the training sessions, we also help children navigate their way through the uncertainties of the growth spurt through effective monitoring and adaptation to their growth and maturation status. We also provide unlimited access to advice and strategies regarding the development of lifelong healthy habits including nutrition, hydration, sleep, goal-setting, resilience and more.
If you want to help your child build foundations for life through youth athletic development training and begin the journey towards their true athletic potential, get in touch with us or visit our website to book a free online 20-minute consultation with Dan and get started!
