My Story

Sports have been pivotal in my life from the moment I learned how to walk. I grew up in a small and beautiful town called Hillsborough in North Carolina, which is located only 15 minutes from Durham and Chapel Hill, and less than an hour from Raleigh. 

I started playing Rainbow soccer at about 3 years old, and immediately fell in love with the game.  I played on both club and school teams every season through high school.  My grandfather, a retired Executive Coach, attributes my success in sports and academics to the fact that I set goals for myself in almost everything I do, starting when I was a toddler.

I was very fortunate to have great coaches and upper-grade mentors. One such coach and mentor was and still is the coach of the Duke Men’s soccer team. During these years, not only did my competitiveness and love for the sport grow, but also my interest in leadership principles. My coaches taught me about conditioning, self-discipline, teamwork, resilience, and how to be a good leader. From the moment I reached the age where the referees called captains to the middle of the field to do a coin toss during warm ups, I knew I wanted to be a captain and a leader on my respective teams. 

Through the combination of hard-work, discipline, drive, and lessons from failure — which are always the hardest lessons, and the ones that have to be lived to learn — I was able to achieve personal and team success at the club and high school level in both soccer and track. I left my high school, Durham Academy, with All-State honors in Soccer and Track my senior year, as well as being the only 2-year captain in school history for Varsity Soccer. 

After having an impactful track experience in high school where I gained a life-long mentor in my coach, and shared hundreds of miles with friends who became like brothers to me, I decided I would pursue running Track and Cross Country in college. I enrolled at Furman University in the fall of 2019 as a selected walk-on to the team. At Furman I specialized in middle distance races and relays (800 meters, 1500 meters, mile, DMR, etc.). 

Using the same principles and lessons I gained and reinforced from coaches in middle and high school, I was awarded an athletic scholarship after my sophomore year. I gained a reputation on the team and amongst the coaches for being a reliable “pacer”, and one of my greatest memories was helping my roommate break 4 minutes in the mile for the first time during my senior year. Off the track, my academic work was also recognized, as I graduated magna cum laude. 

Since graduating from Furman, I have been working with children to help them develop the skills, attitudes and self-discipline to perform better in the classroom and on the playing field, while aiming to help them gain self-confidence and increased enjoyment in their lives.  I have coached soccer, basketball, and track teams, as well as created complete physical education programs for different grade levels across Durham, NC, and then Charleston, SC where I currently reside. 

I feel privileged and blessed to be in a position where I can make a positive impact in the lives of kids like me who share a love of sport and learning. Additionally, I feel a strong desire and responsibility to give back to my community by sharing some of the same principles, skills, and lessons I learned from many of my great coaches and mentors.