Families all over the country will come together later this week to celebrate Thanksgiving. I wanted to take this time to recognize the numerous people for whom I am truly thankful to have in my life.
It’s not what you have in your life… it’s who you have in your life that matters most.
At the top of my list, I want to thank my wonderful wife Rebecca. She is an amazing wife and a phenomenal mother. It takes a special person to marry a coach… especially a coach who is as passionate about their job as I am about mine. I work long hours, travel a lot, and spend a tremendous amount of time focused on my craft. Fortunately, my wife understands, respects, and appreciates this and is behind me 100%. Her love and support allow me to do what I do.
While they won’t be able to read this for a few years, I want to thank my 8-month old twin sons, Luke and Jack. They have brought me more joy than I could have ever imagined. They help me keep life in perspective. They inspire me to give my best in everything I do.
I want to thank my two best friends and business partners; Blair O’Donovan and Steve Tikoian. In addition to our friendship; these two guys are integral to the success of Stronger Team. Blair is one of the top strength & conditioning coaches in the business. Many of the drills and exercises I use have been ‘stolen’ from him. Steve’s impact on the Stronger Team brand is invaluable. He is the creative force behind each of our websites and all of our promotional materials. I am so thankful to have these two guys on my team.
I want to thank my parents (and my brother Jeremy) for their unconditional love and support over the past 34 years. Despite our geographical distance, they are heavily involved in my life and routinely make the 8 hour drive to visit. I hope to do as good of a job raising Luke and Jack as they did with me and my brother. I don’t think you can fully appreciate your own parents until you become a parent yourself.
I want to thank Coach Mike Jones for allowing me to be a part of the DeMatha basketball program. I am so fortunate to get to work with such amazing coaches and players.
While there is no way I could possibly name everyone who has helped me, I do want to recognize several key people for their loyalty, support, guidance, and friendship:
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, Jeff Rogers of Nike Basketball, Ganon Baker of Ganon Baker Basketball, Drew Hanlen of Pure Sweat Basketball, Jeremy Russotti of 1% Club Basketball, Marc Isenberg of Money Players, Mike Austin of Winning Hoops, Dave Telep of ESPN, Tim McCormick of the NBPA, Ben Sylvan of ESPN/Rise, Mike Brown of Hoop Connection, Kevin Eastman of the Boston Celtics, Dan Prete of Montrose Christian, and David Adkins of the University of Maryland. A special thanks to Mike Lee, Matt Allinson, and Patrick Lee for their invaluable support of my blog.
I want to give a sincere thank you to my individual clients (and their parents) as well as my online shop customers for their commitment to training and development. I appreciate your business more than you know.
Lastly, I want to thank my Facebook friends, Twitter followers, YouTube subscribers, and Blog readers. I really enjoy our online interaction and value your constant support and feedback.
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.
And for anyone I missed, please know… I do appreciate you.
Thanks,
Alan Stein
www.StrongerTeam.com
PS: I just posted two new videos of the University of Maryland’s Men’s Basketball team:
Pre-Practice Warm-up: http://TinyUrl.com/MDPrePracticeWarmUp.
In-Season Strength Workout: http://TinyUrl.com/MDInSeasonStrength
Their strength coach, Paul Ricci, does an incredible job. I am thankful to have him as a colleague and friend.