My name is Sean Squires and I’m the new coach on the block here at Defy Functional Fitness. I’m grateful to be part of such a strong community and staff here at Defy and can’t wait to start working with Coach Chris on our Youth Program more closely heading into the new year!
My passion for kids development both physically and mentally stems from my formidable teenage years that were filled with sports, training and coaching. From a young age I have been involved in multiple sports from American Football, Basketball, Rugby and Track & Field. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been coached by many high level coaches who instilled my passion for developing myself and my teammates on and off the playing surface. For me training allowed me to develop not only as an athlete but as a human being and that is where I focus my coaching philosophy around today. Developing better human beings which in turn helps build confidence and communication skills on top of physical literacy.
Our Defy Youth Program is about to take some massive leaps heading into 2024! Coach Chris has laid a solid foundation for our team of coaches and young people involved in the program to build off of heading into the new year! I will be leaning on Chris and working collaboratively to bring our program to the next level. We want to continue to build our kids’ confidence both mentally and physically as well as expand our program in ways such as progress tracking, innovative coaching technology as well as daily wellness monitoring.
From a mental wellness perspective our goal remains to build self-esteem through positive affirmations and coaching feedback. I work on a two-way street model when it comes to the progression of any individual I work with. The relationship we build with our kids is of utmost importance. And them being comfortable and confident in communicating their ambitions with us helps us build better buy-in to their overall premise of our program. Of course we want them to improve their strength and fitness levels but the foundation of our program is building strong relationships that help foster a resilient mindset to getting better at life. We want to build high performers in life and that means in school, in sports, in the gym and eventually in the workforce for our young people involved in our program.
From a physical standpoint our main goal continues to be building a strong foundation of movement skills that our kids can tap into at any time in the gym or in life outside of our walls. These movement skills involve our 7 functional movement patterns and all their variations. These include…the Squat, the Hinge or Bend, the Lunge, the Push, the Pull, anything Core or Bracing related, and finally anything locomotion related such as sprinting, jumping, throwing, etc.
On top of building proficiency in all the above mentioned functional movement patterns and above all else we want to have fun. Especially given the circumstances and stress of some of the kids’ lives involved in our program we want our classes to be a fun, inclusive and energetic environment for youth to flourish in. They need to enjoy themselves to get the most out of the program. If not, we aren’t doing our jobs as coaches! But we won’t let you or your kids down. We plan on expanding our gameplay in warm ups as well as integrating more engaging and interactive performance assessments. These activities allow us to track progress along with fostering a healthy competitive environment where kids will empower others to be the best version of themselves.
We can’t wait to start working with your kids heading into 2024 and help them become more confident and proficient in life!