Featured Alumni

Part of college football’s highly anticipated bowl season, the LendingTree Bowl was held near the United States Sports Academy campus in December 2021. Academy alumnus Fred Reed – M.S.S. Sports Management 2002 – is the defensive pass game coordinator and safeties coach for Eastern Michigan University, who played the Liberty University Flames at the game in Mobile, Ala. Reed’s 26-year coaching career includes 24 seasons in the college ranks and two years in the National Football League. He just finished his sixth season at EMU, and after the LendingTree Bowl he reflected on how his Academy education benefitted his career. “The Academy helped me be qualified for more jobs,” Reed said. “I enjoyed the Academy because it gave me the opportunity to continue to work in my profession [while in [...]

The United States Sports Academy’s 2021 Alumnus of the Year Greg Walker can add another honor to his growing list of achievements. Walker was recently named the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Volleyball Coach of the Year. In his first season at Smith College, Walker led the team to its most successful season since 2013, guiding the Pioneers to a 21-11 record and NEWMAC Tournament appearance – the team’s first since 2013. As a team, the Pioneers finished first in the conference in kills, service aces and total blocks and fourth in assists, digs and hitting percentage. Walker, who holds a Bachelor of Sports Science degree in sports coaching from the Academy, earned the institution’s Alumnus of the Year Award because of his more than a decade [...]

A pioneering sports psychologist in the world of Gaelic athletics, Niamh Fitzpatrick has made a career for herself working with some of Ireland’s biggest names in sport. The head psychologist for the Irish Olympic teams in Athens (2004), Beijing (2008), and London (2012), Fitzpatrick said mental health and wellbeing are equally important to athletes as physical training. The Dublin, Ireland, resident holds a Master of Sports Science degree in sports management with a specialization in sport psychology from the Academy. She is the owner of a private psychology firm in South Dublin and a longtime sport psychologist. In addition to her Academy degree, Fitzpatrick also holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in clinical psychology from University College Dublin. “We must never forget that athletes are people [...]

Alabama Soccer Association (ASA) technical director Kevin Laux said his master’s degree from the United States Sports Academy showed him the science behind coaching and ultimately led to his career in coaching education. Laux holds a Master of Sports Science degree in sports coaching from the Academy. Like many Academy students and graduates, Laux pursued his degree while working full time in the profession as an assistant women’s soccer coach at the University of Mobile (Ala.). “The Academy helped me understand that coaching is a science and an art,” Laux said. “Studying at the Academy showed me that there has been incredible research done in the field of coaching and that successful coaches don’t just go out there make it up as they go along. There is a science and [...]

When the American Distance Project (ADP) was founded more than a decade ago as a training outlet for local long distance runners in the Colorado Springs area, Scott Simmons had no idea the organization would produce multiple Olympians and world championship competitors within the next 10 years. Simmons, who is a coach at the ADP, holds a Master of Sports Science degree in sports coaching from the United States Sports Academy. Since 2011, the ADP has helped more than 50 long distance runners on Team USA, including Olympic medalists at both the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games. Those athletes include American distance runner Paul Chelimo, who medaled in 5,000-meter races at both the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Simmons credited his “transformational” education from the Academy as a [...]

United States Sports Academy doctoral degree holder Dr. Mark Janas is the cycling coach at Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, N.C. He’s also a prolific inventor, innovator and writer who has written extensively for the Academy’s Sport Digest blog. Janas is the founder of RevoRace.com, a virtual event and race management platform, and he uses his expertise in the field in his latest article titled “How to Build a Collegiate Virtual Sports Program.” The piece (read it here) covers everything you need to know about just virtual sports administration - from describing the difference between “virtual sport” and Esports to giving tips and pointers on getting your college’s virtual sports program off the ground. Janas, who earned his Doctor of Education degree in Sports Management with a sports medicine emphasis [...]

An experienced lacrosse coach with more than a decade working in the collegiate ranks, United States Sports Academy graduate Emilia Ward is a volunteer assistant coach for the University of Michigan women’s lacrosse program. Ward earned her Master of Sports Science (M.S.S.) degree in sports coaching in 2014, while she worked in the field as head women’s lacrosse coach at Kalamazoo (Mich.) College. She is also the owner of Ward Lax LLC, a company hosting lacrosse camps and clinics across the country for a decade. Like many Academy students and graduates, Ward took advantage of the institution’s flexible scheduling options to continue working in the field while earning her degree. “The Academy helped me to gain my master’s degree while still working full time, allowing me to excel in the [...]

Brian Daccord has been involved in hockey at every stage of his life – playing, coaching, parenting, and in business – and at every level from youth to professional and international across three decades. Throughout his prolific career, Daccord has used what he learned in a United States Sports Academy class nearly every day. A native of Montreal, Quebec, Daccord earned his Master of Sports Science degree in sports management from the Academy in 1993. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Merrimack College, where he played goaltender for the Warriors hockey team. He played seven seasons of professional hockey in the Swiss National “A” league before working as an assistant coach at Merrimack, then Saint Anselm College before joining the NHL’s Boston Bruins as goaltending coach. Daccord is also the [...]