Valley coach talks about the business of motivation

Johnson Lane resident Rod Robison, known as Coach Rod, has spent his life in athletics - playing, coaching and fostering the values of competitive sports.

His business, Coach Rod 1st Scholastic/Sports Success Systems, offers personal training and goal setting for athletes in the region.

Robison said he currently has 30 clients ranging in age from 10 to 80 years old.

"Some of my older clients don't necessarily need a trainer, but choose to have a trainer," he said. "The gift I've gotten in life is the ability to coach, and I'm doing that as much as possible."

The 51-year-old knows coaching, specifically football. After playing as a defensive back for Chico State in the early '80s, Robison became a grad assistant coach and started a strength conditioning program for the college.

In 1986, he moved to South Lake Tahoe and started a personal training business called Body Sculpt Fitness. Six years ago, he closed the doors of that operation and moved to the Valley, where he still retains many of his original clients.

Now, Robison is an assistant track coach at Douglas High School and active in the Pop Warner football program. His daughter Kendra graduated from Douglas High last year, and his son, sixth-grader Sonny, attends Pinon Hills Elementary and plays football and baseball.

Robison's wife Heidi trains horse riders and also helps with the business.

"We do sport specific training," Robison said. "I'll meet with a group of kids and look at last football season and what they did well and what, if anything, they want to improve."

Robison specializes in football and track skills, but also offers performance training for all athletes.

"Some of my older clients are skiers and mountain bikers," he explained.

However, if one of his clients needs skills training in a sport other than football or track, Robison refers them to another coach.

"I'll consider what coaches are out there whom I know," he said.

In addition to Coach Rod 1st, Robison works for the Darin Slack Quarterback Academy and ProspecTrak.

The former, he said, is a national agency that trains quarterbacks at the youth, high school and college levels.

"I do about 40 clinics a year," he said. "They hired me as a coach, and I'm responsible for kids training in national clinics on the West Coast."

While traveling, Robison said, his regular clients are expected to follow their regimen and report back.

"A lot of my clients come from the Quarterback Academy," he said.

Same goes with ProspecTrak, a recruiting and training service for prospective college athletes.

"We take a kid who doesn't just hope, but who really has the vision to play college ball," Robison said, "and we evaluate, track, develop and expose them to colleges."

But Robison's coaching business is about more than just the game. He tells his clients, especially his younger ones, that at some point, the glory will end.

"One day, football will end," he said. "You turn in your pads, and there is no more band and no more cheerleaders, yet you still have to get up and fight the good fight everyday."

Robison said life coaching is an integral part of his operation.

"I want to make kids better so they can serve," he said. "There is a bigger picture than sports. Even with a quarterback, you have to tell them, 'It's not about you. You are there to serve.'"

Robison offers motivational presentations as well, from coaching clinics to real live firewalking.

"Firewalking is something I learned going through my own growth process," he said.

Certified by the Firewalking Institute of Research and Education, Robison has organized walking events, with glowing coals and all, for professional groups and martial arts programs.

"Firewalking represents a fear, a self-limiting belief people have," he said. "We show you how to challenge that belief and ask you to look at your life and what other things, what other beliefs, you might challenge."

Robison said many people come to the events but choose not to walk.

"I applaud them for that," he said, "because they're paying attention to themselves. I encourage everyone to listen to that little voice inside. The point of firewalking is not to stand in the fire, not to run through the fire, but just to walk with the purpose of getting across."

Robison said the best thing about his work is developing relationships.

"Seeing my clients progress," he said, "changing lives."

Available by appointment, Robison can be reached at (775) 291-8653 or at coachrod1st@aol.com.

For more information about the Quarterback Academy, visit www.quarterbackacademy.com.

For more information about ProspecTrak, visit www.dsqa-makethefit.com.