by Alan Stein 11-26-2009 12:42 PM
“The more thankful you are for what you have; the more you will have to be thankful for.”
Millions of families will come together this week to spend quality time together, eat delicious food and reminisce over good times. I thought it would be fitting to take this time to publicly thank a myriad of people who have had such a positive impact on my life. I cherish each of the amazing relationships, opportunities, and experiences I have had, not only this past year, but over the span of my 10-year career.
First and foremost, I want to thank my wonderful wife, Rebecca, for her unconditional love and support. As many of you know, it takes a special person to marry a coach… especially a coach who loves his job as much as I love mine. I (happily) work long hours, travel a lot, and spend an inordinate amount of time working on my craft. Thankfully, my wife understands, respects, and appreciates my passion and is behind me 100%.
I also want to thank my two best friends and business partners: Blair O’Donovan and Steve Tikoian. In addition to our long-term friendship, these two guys have had a monumental influence on the success of Stronger Team.
Blair has been my right hand man in the field for the past 10 years and has assisted me in countless workouts, clinics, and events (he works the McDonalds All American Game and Jordan Brand Classic with me every year). Blair is absolutely one of the top strength & conditioning coaches in the business. Many of the drills and exercises I use I have gotten from him.
Steve’s impact on the Stronger Team brand is immeasurable. He is the driving creative force behind each of our websites and nearly all of our promotional materials. His technical expertise and business acumen is invaluable.
The next person I want to thank is someone I have never actually met, Mr. Steve Chandler. Although he doesn’t know it, Steve has had a profound impact on me this past year. Last December, before my annual trip to Hawaii with Montrose, I was stocking up on books to read and I randomly picked up a copy of 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and found it extremely insightful and helpful. I dropped Mr. Chandler an email (his email address was listed in the back of the book) to merely say “thanks.” He responded promptly, which is rare these days, and then sent me a generous care package that included a couple more of his books, as well as an audio set of The Story of You. His beliefs made a deep impression on me. To date, I have read all of Mr. Chandler’s books and am a proud member of his groundbreaking group, Club Fearless (www.ClubFearless.net). The resources Club Fearless provides have had an overwhelming effect on both my personal and professional life. Many of the concepts and ideas I have shared in previous blogs were inspired by Mr. Chandler’s work. If you are looking for something to make a difference in your life in 2010, I highly recommend joining Club Fearless. I also want to give a special thanks to Mr. Chandler’s assistant, Maurice Bassett for his time, energy, passion, and commitment towards Club Fearless.
While there is no way I could possibly name everyone who has helped me, I do want to recognize several key folks for their loyalty, support, and everything in between:
Thom McDonald of Championship Productions, Chris Hungerford of HoopsKing, Ed Janka of Nike Championship Basketball Clinics, Kevin Foley & Marc Steigerwalt of Position Sports, Steph Wood of Stronger Woman Basketball, Brandon Rafuse of Thunder Selects, Robin Schlosser of Rockville Fitness, Stu Vetter of Montrose Christian, Jeff Rogers of Nike Basketball, Ganon Baker of Ganon Baker Basketball, Drew Hanlen of Pure Sweat Basketball, Jeremy Russotti of 1% Club Basketball, Meredith Geisler of Meredith Communications, Mike Austin of Winning Hoops, Chris Thomas of 100% Hoops, Keith Stevens of Team Takeover, Dave Telep of Scout.com, Tim McCormick of the NBPA, Doug Ewell of Westfield HS, David Bauman of DB Hoops Management, and Jim Tanner of Williams & Connolly.
I want to thank Kevin Eastman, Don Showalter, Dave Schlabaugh, David Adkins, Dan Prete, Alex Chaudhry, Tates Locke, Jay Bilas and Fran Fraschilla for their mentorship and guidance.
I want to give a special thank you to my individual clients and their parents for their commitment to training and development. I commend the sacrifice you make.
Lastly, I want to thank my Facebook friends, Twitter followers, YouTube subscribers, blog readers, and blog syndicators (Matt Allinson of Access Athletes, Patrick Lee of Got Athletes, and Mike Lee of Mike Lee Basketball). I really enjoy our online interaction and value your support and kind words.
I hope each of you has a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday season. If I can ever be of service or help you in any way, please don’t hesitate to email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com.
Play hard. Have fun.
Alan Stein
Published 11-26-2009 © 2024 Access Athletes, LLC
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