Founder Story Chp 1
The idea of Couro stemmed from a personal pain that followed me throughout my athletic career: being held back by not having the resources I need.
My athletic story is similar to many others’. I started to get serious and focus on sports in high school, starting with basketball, and got into Track and Field from a coach’s recommendation to stay fit in the off-season. While my high school had at least 2, if not three, coaches for each basketball team (Freshman, Junior Varsity, and Varsity), my track team had 3 coaches for 70+ kids spanning over 30 events. That just did not cut it
While the head coach tried his best, he was a mainly distance and sprints coach. So, when it came to jumps practice, I was on my own. So, I turned to the internet. I watched the best of the best, like high jump world record holder Javier Sotomayor, and tried to emulate their form. I would record myself on my phone, compare my form to Sotomayor’s, realize it was far off, and try again. Rinse and repeat. For the jumpers out there, see the thumbnail image for how that went. Luckily for me, in my junior year a recent Stanford graduate, who did high jump and sprints in college, volunteered with our team a couple times a week. I had an in-person coach, and saw my marks rise accordingly. Coaching matters.
Fast forward to college, where I had 4 coaches in 4 years. All were great people, and I learned something from each of them, but the lack of continuity stunted my growth. By the end, I had to understand what I needed for me, and communicate that with the coach so they could fit the training schedule to my needs. YouTube was my 5th coach to fill in the gaps.
Three years later, and in the early months of the pandemic, gyms were closed. I desperately needed to have a healthy outlet for stress as I study for the California Bar exam. So, I went back to what I knew, jumping. I went at least five times a week and trained just like I did in college. To my surprise, I was beating my college marks, which was fuel for my fire. No coach, just a tripod, or the occasional kind friend, to record my jumps so I can compare to the pros later. Just like old times. This time around, there were many more videos of athletes and coaches posting their jumps, practices, techniques, and methodologies. But it was all so dispersed, on YouTube, Instagram, and various workout websites. Moreover, it was hard to know whether a drill was useful, let alone the long-term injury implications of doing certain drills and exercises. Mind you, I had no training staff to stitch me up if I blew out a hammy or worse.
As I started getting more and more serious about competing, I reached out to one of my old coaches, looking for some approach advice. Sadly, he changed his number. I looked him up on social media, but I couldn’t find him. And I thought then and there: “What if there was a social platform, just for athletes? Where I could find an old coach, find relevant workouts, discuss training habits with trainers, and get feedback and workout inspiration from my contemporaries? Wouldn’t that be great?
