I would like to recommend Alex Kloss from the University of Iowa for the Lance Vermeil Scholarship. Lance Vermeil worked for me and had a big impact on my life. Lance always wanted to be a part of the team and help someone. Sometimes we struggled as a staff trying to discover the best method to help people. I realized after Lance passed away that communication is vital and a change in presentation goes a long way to build great relationships. My focus changed and started to look at what does the person need and how can I present it better to open up dialogue. Our staff does this with the interns, student-athletes, coaches and administrators. Some people embrace it to a higher degree and Alex is one of those people.
Alex graduated in August 2013 and spent this past year volunteering for our strength and conditioning program. He performs many side jobs just to practice his craft and assist our student-athletes. Our intern program at Iowa focuses on building coaches that can develop and implement programs. Many training principles are emphasized but most important is the way you present things to your student-athlete/coach/administrator for the sake of building a partnership. Alex has embraced this concept and has worked his way up to be our lead intern. He leads 7 interns and many of the work assignments. His presence with teams and our staff is like having another full-time staff member. Alex plans to attend graduate school and become a collegiate strength and conditioning coach.
