Nick Ward is a performance coach who has worked with athletes across a wide range of ages, talents, and needs—from amateur to professional and Olympic levels, and in various sports including soccer, cricket, rugby, golf, skiing, and plenty of others. Nick's purpose is to support the health and performance of people who engage in and push themselves in athletic endeavors.

He earned his bachelor's degree in sport science at the University of Northumbria and his Masters in Exercise Physiology and Functional Fitness at the University of Calgary, Canada.

After moving to South Lake Tahoe, CA in 2016, Nick served as the ALTIS Director for Performance at Barton where he also worked with the US Ski and Snowboard Teams. The program he helped build served over 400 locals, preparing them for mountain activities or returning them to the mountain post injury.

Nick also serves as the ALTIS Programs Director, where he coordinates the ALTIS Mentorship Program to develop coaches from all over the world. He also provides online and in-person coaching programs privately, for high-performing athletes both locally and internationally.

In this episode we talked about:

• How Nick got into coaching

• Athletes and people as complex systems

• Whether or not to incorporate weight training into programs for junior athletes

• Approaching coaching and sport through a creative and specialized lens

• Handling the foundational elements before the minutia

• Cultivating character, not just high performance

• Training World Cup skiers and Olympians Travis Ganong and Marie-Michelle Gagnon

• Injury risk mitigation

• Building community through training

• Distance and virtual coaching

• Nick’s inspirations

I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Nick over the past few years through hiring him as my conditioning coach for my recent experimental adult ski racing comeback. As you’ll see, Nick is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom and an excellent guy all around, and I hope you enjoy our conversation!

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You can follow Nick on Instagram, @coach_nickward and find more resources on his website: coachnickward.com