Tommy Stahl
Orebro Sport Club
Tommy Stahl doesn’t do it for the money.
Tommy does it because he loves the sport and he cares about his athletes. A strength and conditioning coach at Orebro Sport Club-South (a women’s soccer club) in Sweden, Tommy volunteers his time to train with the athletes at the wonderment of many. “I don’t run any business or in any other way earn money from my commitment. Everything I do is on a volunteer engagement, but I don’t complain, I love what I’m doing.”
Tommy’s education is not in the sports performance field, but he is a licensed strength and conditioning coach from the Eleiko Sport Center in Halmstad, Sweden and has attended several weekend courses covering strength training for youth and elite, and functional training. And as expected, Tommy’s passion for training and skill development in sports keeps him hungry and on the lookout for more knowledge.
Participating in track and field when he was younger, Tommy became a track and field youth trainer for 12 years. Then in 2003, he was approached to help with a girls soccer team. It was quite an adjustment going from track and field to soccer, but Tommy applied the knowledge he had to help the girls reduce their potential for injury and further develop their athletic skills.
As Tommy worked with the girls, who are now women, and adjusted their training regime, he often met opposition with coaches. Tommy said, “In the beginning, I almost had to lead a struggle with the head coaches. They are very excellent coaches and very skilled in how to play soccer, but unfortunately, they are too often in lack of knowledge in the methodology of training and the knowledge on what needs to be done to develop small specific skills.” Although his views aren’t always popular, Tommy continues to help make a difference.
“My vision is that in the early years with our kids and continuously through the years as they grow, we work with movement patterns, stability, and body awareness. We should not ask ourselves how to be successful in our sport, instead we should ask ourselves how much more would be possible if everything is working in a proper way.”
Tommy is grateful that Orebro Sport Club recognizes his knowledge and shares his philosophy. He works with a 13- and 14-year-old team now and already sees the difference his training program has made. “I can already see a great improvement in their skills. They are moving faster, more explosive and they can handle critical situations in a better athletic stance.”
Tommy continued, “Lee has taught me how important it is to have a good control of the center of mass in a cutting or change of direction. And he has given me the tools to correct these things with my athletes. In my opinion, there should be a Lee Taft in every club, school or clinic.”
Tommy would eventually like to make sports performance his career, but he still won’t be doing it for the money. “My dream is that I someday can have this as a profession and be able to work with kids from the start. I see too many youth who lack the motions and movements patterns, and sadly, their coaches cannot see the problem.”
For Tommy, it is all about seeing each individual athlete grow. “My training philosophy is to see the individual, to see the person,” Tommy said. “When you work with a team, it is easy to see them as one unit. I want to see the person who builds the team, and I want to help her develop all her needs giving her every chance at success.”
Tommy added, “After a training session, when the ladies say to me, ‘Tommy, this was a very good training, I grow as a person. I can live on these words for a long time.’”
