With today’s youth athlete facing the rigorous physical demands of the modern game, best practices for sports performance are more critical than ever. Wendy LeBolt’s invaluable compendium of information in Fit2Finish provides the perfect balance of practical wisdom and professional advice and is a must-read for anyone committed to youth development.

I would encourage coaches of all ages to read this book. Wendy LeBolt is a pioneer in the game of soccer, and this book brings out the best of her teaching and development methodology. As the landscape of soccer and all youth sports continues to change and evolve, you will find Fit2Finish full of practical information that creates energy while you read it. Wendy’s passion, expertise, and real-life lessons in the field of player and team development will keep you intrigued from start to finish. Do yourself, your players and your team a favor and follow her advice; you will be glad you did!

Wendy’s tremendous understanding of the human body and compassion for young athletes makes this a must-have practical guide for youth coaches.

Dr. LeBolt’s experience as a parent and coach, combined with her expertise as a scientist, brings thousands of hours of observation, evaluation and research to the forefront in an easy-to-use resource guide for coaches. Fit2Finish provides insight for practitioners at all levels in the quest to make athletes as fit as possible with scientifically based programs that address the issues of anaerobic and aerobic energy systems, requirements and training; neuromuscular pathways; fitness prescription; identifying weakness; overload principle; overtraining; return-to-play; stretching, flexibility and recovery; periodization; and nutrition.

If a coach commits to being their best, being equipped with the science to back up their training is critical. Fit2Finish provides the information in a succinct and practical manner. You don’t need to be a scientist, but you can use this book as a pocket guide to better understand your athletes’ anatomy and physiology, the background of soccer kinesiology and the drills/training that you can use to maximize their performance in a safe way.

Fit2Finish provides sound practices in the science of fitness while giving coaches simple ways to incorporate these into their own training programs. Dr. LeBolt lays out a plan for coaches of both boys and girls, at all levels, in order to improve fitness in a safe manner. Most importantly, she does so without increasing the time demands on the coaches or the athletes.

Fit2Finish is a wealth of great information for parents, players and coaches. The book provides answers and insight to fitness questions youth coaches encounter on a regular basis. Wendy uses modern day training solutions with a common sense approach. This handbook is a must read for serious youth soccer coaches!

Wendy LeBolt’s book Fit2Finish takes the reader on an informative journey through the complex issues that face young athletes. She has combined her experiences as a coach and sport science professional into a book full of information for anyone seeking to develop those in their sport care. Coaches, athletes and parents will enjoy this book, as it combines scientific information with practical application.

Technical stuff to be sure, but if you’ve had a child go through injury, or coached several young players who have, this advice will be invaluable! Nothing is more difficult than to watch your player go down to an injury—even worse if it is your own child. Nothing is better than to see them recover from that injury to be able to take part again in the sports and the games they love so much!

Keeping your young athletes in the game mentally is always a challenge, and keeping them physically fit and able to compete when faced with such demanding schedules is also becoming tougher and tougher. Dr. LeBolt’s methods and training will help keep them fit and prepared—the rest is up to you!

Finally, I met a person with worthwhile techniques and demonstrations that addressed proper warm-ups. That person is Dr. Wendy LeBolt, an expert in this field. She is an Exercise Physiologist, develops Wellness Programs, and Fitness Consulting. I was so impressed with her presentation that I asked her to attend one of my teams practice sessions to demonstrate the proper techniques.  My U-16 girls team enjoyed the 45 minute workout as did the three coaches and two spectator parents who joined in!  Our practice session was on Friday evening.  Saturday morning the players had a new improved warm up routine that they did on their own and accomplished it in 15 minuets.  Watching them exercise in such an organized fashion was enough to intimidate the visiting team.

The players were definitely interested as 15 out of 17 players attended in addition to three coaches and two parents who unexpectedly participated.  Wendy set up here program and explained the purpose of what we were about to do and put us through the pre-game warm-up procedures.

I want my daughter to be a life-long athlete, not just to be able to play at a high level until she gets injured. Dr. LeBolt’s expertise and advice show how to make this possible, and I am very grateful!

This is fabulous, Wendy…especially as the mother of a daughter who has already begun the stretching and strengthening exercises for her knee issues.  I would be up for a Tuesday after practice to further understand what we can do to help.

Thanks for your expertise and willingness to help the girls improve (not to mention stay healthy)!!!!

I believe that most elite-level coaches overtrain their athletes and that, in the end, their training programs do as much harm as good. Elite-level coaches and athletes alike would do well to read this book and to implement this realistic and effective approach.

I’ve experienced firsthand how Dr. LeBolt has guided kids to enhance their athletic performance, to be healthier and more fit athletes and to reduce the risk of injuries. All of this is accomplished by educating them on topics such as flexibility, strengthening, balance, coordination, proper warm-up, stretching, cool down, recovery and nutrition. Her passion and genuine care for the kids lays the foundation for the insightful, powerful, effective, purposeful, influential and, most importantly, fun training provided by Fit2Finish.

Wendy started working with my team when they were very young; she introduced the program to us and stayed with us through many years. In the early years, when the kids were young, it was serious teaching brought to the kids in the form of fun and games, an approach that really worked well. As they became older and more mature, the instruction always evolved with them and was captivating each time.

Over 9 years of working with Wendy, we only had one knee injury, and that was to a recent addition to the team who hadn’t had the benefit of Wendy’s training for very long. As anyone who has spent much time with highly competitive women’s soccer sadly knows, knee injuries, particularly non-contact injuries, are a common element of the sport, and it’s almost unheard of to have a team go 9 years without a serious knee injury. I highly recommend Wendy’s program; I’m sure you’ll benefit from it as much as we did.

You were great and we all learned and enjoyed.  The proof came the next morning before the game when I told the captains to warm em up not how to do it.  There they were strutting their stuff across the field.  Just the sight of the formation was enough to intimidate the other team!

We learned a lot and I got good feed back from the girls, thank you.  I am writing a letter to Rick Kopel and others on the board, as well as other age related coaches suggesting we incorporate this type of training.  Thank you for taking the time to come.  All teams and coaches will benefit from your training.

Avery is doing well and has started putting the ball in the net, too. Sure appreciate your help.

I can’t thank you enough for coming out and working with my team last week. The girls REALLY enjoyed the evening, and I’m sure are looking forward to seeing how I will implement new drills into our sessions.  I will be in touch as the season continues to discuss having you come back out for a ’round 2′.

Kudos to Dr. LeBolt for such fantastic work on a subject that is so vitally important for coaches (in particular, youth coaches) to facilitate coaching education and knowledge. I can say with firm resolve that Dr. LeBolt’s approach to fitness, training and developing a method which places athletes first is must-read material. Coaches at every level should put this book at the top of their list and keep it close by as a constant reference guide.

Thanks for inviting me to participate.  I enjoyed the time and got a lot out of it.  I’ll use these exercises for myself in preparing to play again and for my daughter and her team as they grow up. Wendy, it is easy to tell teaching is your thing.  You were just great with the girls.