Strength of Purpose with Coach Rory
JOURNEY TO ICU WORLDS 2025 - WITH COACH RORY
Coach Rory, we learned that you believe everyone should have a purpose, a why. And besides purpose, the values you live by are Growth, Integrity, Love and Purpose. Can you take us a bit further into that vision, and explain how you guide athletes to find their purpose?
GILP aka my values (Growth, Integrity, Love and Purpose) are something that took me a very, very long time to figure out, and something I didn't see much point in until I got further into my own journey of self development and understanding. Once I'd spent my time in the proverbial mental wilderness, it became clear that what benefits me from having these clear values and a "WHY" is the same thing that can benefit all those around me, all those I love and care for.
Nowadays something I work very hard to do with as many athletes as possible, no matter the age, is to help them understand that they can have a guiding light, a North Star, to help them when things are tough or when things don't make sense. It's this idea that I use to help them better understand the importance of values. The first line of action what we do at Crimson Heat Phoenix, is the use our of our programme values to help guide "In and Out of gym behaviours", and help athletes to see what the benefits are of having something to follow as oppose to just hoping for the best.
In truth, it’s a very difficult practice to spread the idea of values, as it’s most effective when it's organic. The athletes that tend to respond the best and pick up on how effective the practice of personal values can be, are those going through a struggle or some sort of difficulty. As often, the initial step we take, is “what do you feel?” will guide your behaviour or decision making here.
Your coaching approach is heavily influenced by your background in strength and conditioning. Can you explain why this strong emphasis is beneficial, and what role it plays in TeamNL's prep for Worlds 2025?
My strong emphasis on strength and conditioning is something that I think the entire sport should take more seriously. Every other Elite sport in the world uses strength and conditioning to improve the athletic qualities of those who take part at the highest level. In cheerleading, so often is the case, that we don't actually take our sport as seriously as we think we do, and strength and conditioning is one of those things. The issue, 9 times out of 10 - especially with younger athletes - is that they aren't strong enough to do what you're asking them to do, or to do it as well as you want them to do it. This actually compounds in older athletes because they then start substituting, correct and appropriate body movements for arched backs, bent arms, poor use of legs... I could go on. This is what makes so many of our athletes so injury prone.
Strength and conditioning is not only the gateway to improving our athletes ability in the sport through force output, strength, tissue tolerance and more, but also improving their longevity through injury avoidance. I say avoidance, because I don't like the word prevention as you can't "prevent" injuries.
I think one of the major issues people like me face (and there are more people like me, who want strength and conditioning to be more mainstream in cheer) is that it's easily overlooked; because people don't really have an understanding of it, nor do they believe they have the time to invest in it when they only have athletes for 2 hours a week, 4 hours a week, once a week or once a month and they have to get these routines ready and meet deadlines.
As regards Team NL All Girl, our approach to strength and conditioning will play a major role in the preparations and training sessions. We have already altered our warm-up to create a more strength focused start to our sessions, and every member of the team is expected to log additional workouts for which there are only certain things that will qualify. Having an S&C approach for the team is already having an impact! In the two weeks since we had our first training session, the girls have clocked - and this is a team of 28 - over 230 additional workouts which by anyone’s standards is not only very impressive but will very clearly make stronger, fitter faster and more resilient athletes. Our end goal is to have a team that doesn't lose endurance in the muscles or capacity in the body's energy systems towards the end of our routine, so we can continue to push the difficulty and the pace throughout the entire routine.
As the owner of Trif0rce Cheer, program director of Crimson Heat Phoenix, consultant, conference speaker and 2018 Coach of the Year, it's clear that you know a thing or two about the entrepreneurial side of Cheer. What did this thought you, and what would you advise to those who also want to become entrepreneurs in Cheer?
Believe it or not: I'm not an entrepreneur. I'd love to be able to say I am, but I never set out to build business, or to run a program, or do anything entrepreneurial. I simply followed my passion. I followed my passion with an aggressive work ethic and commitment to providing for the people who put their trust in me. I love the sport, I can't get enough of it. From the very first days as an athlete up until now, as a coach, a business owner and a director. My passion and that love for the sport hasn't changed, nor has my desire to provide the best possible service for the people that put their trust in me - be that athletes, parents, guardians, even national team committees it seems! 
If I was to give advice it would be very simple... Follow your passion, in fact, don't do that run after it; sprint after it, aggressively pursue it and don't stop until you live it every day. And surround yourself with people that are going to make that not only possible, but easier. I have to absolutely shout out my wife Danielle now. When I feel like I'm not going anywhere (and that happens, it happens to everyone) she pulls up a play-by-play analysis of just how much I've achieved and how much I still stand to achieve. And that's one of the biggest things for anyone wanting to pursue anything they love. Make sure you've got someone in your corner.
