Where are the All-Stars playing?
What people are saying
“I have been doing private training with Maria for about a year and a half, and I have had a great experience. I have had many valuable lessons and I have learned many important soccer skills that will be used appreciatively in my soccer. I have learned many things including proper ball handling, how to shoot with my dominant and non-dominant foot, also lots of moves, and now finally I can juggle!! Maria has been a serious help and I don’t think I would have improved as much as I have without her help.”
Isabelle
“My daughter has worked with Maria for more than two years. Working with Maria has greatly improved my daughter’s technical skills, footwork, and shooting. As her skill level has improved so has her confidence in games, at ODP trainings, and at ID soccer clinics. Maria is an excellent resource for both my daughter and me. As my daughter embarks on the soccer in college process, my daughter will go to Maria with her questions and concerns.”
Patty
“Working with Maria for the last three years has drastically improved my game overall. Maria uses her immense soccer experience to work with you individually to apply technical exercises that relate to real life game situations. Maria is incredibly focused on each play, and works with everyone on their personal needs. For example, she creates a specific training that is tailored to your strengths, challenges, and goals. Furthermore, Maria shows her commitment to holistic training by coming to games and practices in order to see how you interact with your teammates in an effort to focus on improving your skills not just as a soccer player, but as a member of a team. Maria focuses on the skills you naturally have, and works with you to improve them. In this regard, Maria consistently pushes you to do your best, and to work hard to always improve. Maria is more than a coach, but a valuable mentor that you can rely on to help and guide you.”
Kiara
“Maria’s trainings are always fun and at the same time, very helpful. I have gained a lot of confidence with the ball from training with her. Maria has helped me both with attacking and defending. She has made me a better technical player and I finally have the ability and confidence to score, or attempt to score. Maria is very helpful with giving advice. I ask her a lot of questions relating to ODP, college recruitment, and games. She give me suggestions for things to do at home to improve my game. Maria really cares about my future as a soccer player and is always willing to help me become the best player I can be.”
Ellen
Avoid the first injury​
Have you realized kids are requiring surgery early than ever before?!
Did you know that children and teens with an ACL injury are up to 10 times more likely to develop early arthritis? That means arthritis in their 20s and 30s!
Did that happen to you?
This can’t become the norm! Together, we have the power to change this.
– Through strength training we can reduce youth athlete injury risk
– Through strength training we can reduce adult early onset arthritis or avoid it completely.
My desire has always been to provide a form of training that allows your young athletes to stand out on the field BUT also be protected!
On Friday I spoke with a coach that said a girl on his team was on her 4th knee surgery. At 16 years of age. This is the result of specialized training, the norm in club sports.
A study in Sweden found that 1 in 4 youth athletes that had ACL surgery between ages 15-19 need a second surgery. Let’s get to the root of the matter and stop the first injury from ever occurring.
And this is where a strategically designed strength and conditioning program comes in. You nor your athlete should expect injury and rehab as inevitable consequences of playing.
What’s in it for athletes to train with Maria?
- Injury reduction
- Measurable strength gains
- Increased speed
- Enhanced agility
A little about me…
42%
I was on the injured list 42% of my time at UNC, 25% of on field time was playing through pain. The healthy moments were spent building myself back up from zero after surgery. Three times.
There are 2 things that can hold you back from top performance: Injury and getting sick.
The first can truly be avoided through proper training programs!
Hence why, since 2012, my passion has been coaching and educating athletes how to train smart in developing skills, fitness, speed, and becoming bulletproof.
I care that you are dominant in your career, that you retire on your own terms, and that you can run & play with your grandkids.
Climbing trees, multi-sport athlete, neighborhood games, wrestling with my brother, and being active was part of my childhood.
Due to this I was mobile, fast, strong, and a force on the field/court. It was during adolescence that I slowly started to lose my “natural” ability, add on traditional “big 3” weight training (squats, deadlifts, and bench) to the equation and I was a fraction of what I used to be.
Problems didn’t arise until my freshman year at UNC-Chapel Hill. Between morning practices, team lifting sessions, and daily pick up sessions my body began to break down. My first anomaly was a difficult to diagnose pinched nerve in my heal which kept me off the field from May to March.
This is where my passion for injury prevention began. Unfortunately, I would go on to experience another major injury which would require 2 surgeries, a partially ruptured plantar fascia which led to retirement after my first pro season in Italy. Coming out of retirement 4 years later to trial with the NC Courage and only last 5 months before plantar fasciitis & patellar tendonitis debilitated me again.
This is the path that so many athletes take. From fully capable natural athletes to broken, in pain, trying to push through injury to make it college/professionally.
This DOES NOT have to be you.
Rule #1. Build the athlete from the ground up.
Rule #2. Never work through pain.
Rule #3. Train movement patterns not muscles.