Miscellaneous
Coach Megan Young is the High-Performance Director with the Chicago Red Stars, and serving her second season in this role. She was previously part of the strength and conditioning program at the Auburn University Athletics Department for 11 years. She worked with student-athletes in the baseball and football programs, moving up in time to become directly responsible for year-long programming and implementation of all strength and conditioning related activities for the women’s soccer and basketball programs. Megan currently holds certifications from the NSCA, Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA), USA Weightlifting (USAW), and USA Track and Field (USAWTF). In this episode hosted by Al Marez, Megan shares the story of how she entered the strength and conditioning industry, as well as what it was like for her as a woman in a male-dominated industry. She explains how she has taken on the challenges in her life, both in her career and personally in her battle with cancer, and how that has shaped her outlook and goals in life. Megan also talks about how she has adapted to the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and how she feels about the future of the industry. Tune in to find out more. Key Takeaways: [1:12] Al introduces his guest for this episode — Megan Young. [3:02] How did Megan get into the strength and conditioning industry initially? [5:37] What are some of the challenges that Megan faced getting into strength and conditioning? [8:47] More and more women are getting into the industry. [9:38] What is Megan's role as High-Performance Director? [13:51] How has COVID affected the training season this year? [15:25] This podcast is being sponsored by VertiMax. [16:11] How did Megan adapt to conducting trainings while the players were in lockdown because of COVID? [18:41] What was Megan's dream as a coach? [22:28] Megan shares more about what it means to "speak for those who can't". [27:37] How has Megan's battle with cancer changed her trajectory in her career and life? [29:52] How does Megan feel about more women getting opportunities in the industry? Mentioned in This Episode: VertiMax VertiMax on Facebook VertiMax on Instagram VertiMax on YouTube VertiMax on LinkedIn Al Marez on LinkedIn Megan Young on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter Chicago Red Stars Auburn University Athletics Department NSCA Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA) USA Weightlifting (USAW) USA Track and Field (USAWTF) Tweetables: "You have to be willing to be the only one of you in the room." — Megan "A lot of people feel the pressure to throw all technology and solutions into a system or organization without ever reading what the environment actually needs." — Megan "You can learn a lot from players by asking them questions first." — Megan "Dreams change with education and with experience and life." — Megan "I want to change what it means to be strong, and being strong, besides physically, means to share your scars, it means to share the vulnerability, it means to share the hard things that actually made you who you are." — Megan