2019 Parisi Performance Coach of the Year: Braelen Meredith

Join us in congratulating Braelen Meredith as the 2019 Best Practice Award Winner for Performance Coach for the Year. Over the past 12 months, Braelen has made his mark and turned himself into the best all-around coach in the entire network. Braelen is receiving this award due to his high energy, attention to detail, understanding of athlete needs and dedication to delivering the best session to every kid, every day.

In the words of Alliance Champions Program Director, Lara Farnsworth, Braelen is “the whole package; a friend, a role model, a great teacher and really cares about his athletes success.” She firmly believes the program would not be where it is without Braelen.

Braelen has been with Alliance almost since the very beginning, joining the team in the summer of 2015 when he was still a grad student. Lara saw very early on that Braelen was going to be a great coach at training, as she watched him handle large crowds very easily but still maintain his attention to detail. It were these traits that made the decision an easy one in bringing Braelen on full-time when he completed his Masters Degree in Business Administration that same year.

While Braelen was a natural when it came to being a coach, he still strived for improvement, which he feels ultimately has driven him to be the coach he is today. Through practice, Braelen began to understand that even if he had a plan for a session and knew what he wanted to accomplish, it was more important for the athlete to understand what to do and to let the athlete dictate, to some degree, what happens during the class. Braelen says his communication skills with athletes has grown and he credits this to the continued education he received by going to regional trainings and learning from the Master Coach team.

He believes the most important thing he delivers as a coach is giving athletes the confidence and the belief that they have the ability to do well. He tries to find something small that they are doing right and give them feedback on how they can keep doing well, always remembering to point out the positives along with the things that could be improved.

Braelen also dove head first into the business side of Parisi. He has always answered the phones and completed necessary paperwork, but has grown his community outreach activity by researching events and finding new contacts, a lot of which is done on his own time.

Speaking of doing things on his own time, Braelen is also actively involved in the community, holding a career day at a local middle school and working with physically disabled children at Shriners Hospital. He began by going there every week, but now the kids even come work out at the facility. It’s through all of these actions and accomplishments, that Braelen has exemplified what the word “Coach” is all about.

So again, let’s congratulate Braelen Meredith as the 2019 Best Practice Award Winner for Performance Coach of the Year. Your attention to detail, commitment to continued education and passion for building relationships with your athletes has truly set the standard this year for all of our coaches to emulate.