In 2005, a college classmate got me an impromptu meeting with a strength and conditioning coach. I showed up unannounced but was welcomed in. A two hour conversation led to me being allowed to observe workouts for a summer semester. I was told several things that day but one has stayed with me, "You can make it what you want!" I brought a note pad and took as many notes as I could. At the conclusion of a workout I would ask the coach as many questions as possible, gathering information and seeking further explanation. My desire grew and at the end of the summer I was allowed to continue. I continued volunteering, along with a full time class schedule and part time job at the student recreation center. Eventually, I got class credit for my volunteering and during my last semester a full time internship. I graduated and began a post-graduate assistant-ship, along with my part time job. It was a lot of time, a lot of risk, not a lot of financial compensation but immensely valuable.
I have been very fortunate to have great mentors! That internship experience was what helped shape and guide me to the coach and person I am today. I do not take lightly the privilege of being a mentor for you. My hope is to help you on your journey!
You can make it what you want!
I have been very fortunate to have great mentors! That internship experience was what helped shape and guide me to the coach and person I am today. I do not take lightly the privilege of being a mentor for you. My hope is to help you on your journey!
You can make it what you want!
Former Interns
Brooks Pearce
Clinical Operations Manager
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Alex Fain
Assistant Basketball Coach
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Kade McGee
Fitness Professional - UA Recreation Center
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Paul Schneider - B.S. 19 - Exercise & Sports Science
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Hello UA students,
My name is Paul Schneider, I graduated from University of Alabama in December 2019. I originally came to school to study secondary education, with plans to pursue a career as a teacher and coach. During the middle of sophomore year I wanted to switch my focus fully towards coaching in some capacity. It was that summer while taking Dr. Geary’s class that I started to look for internships to complete the mandated hours in order to graduate. I had a friend in the class who was working for the Central high school football team and asked if I could shadow him for the day. During my day shadowing I met Andy, he was helping out the team with strength and conditioning and I got the chance to ask him questions, and learn about what he does. I asked Andy at the end of our conversation if I would be able to come by and shadow him, just like I was doing that day. Andy was the sole operator of Move at the time so I think I got lucky and he said yes because he needed an extra set of hands. That next week Andy and I communicated and settled on doing a full day that would include meeting him at the Tuscaloosa tennis facility, then going back to his facility at the time and training some of his clients. That first day I met Andy at the tennis facility at 9AM, typical Tuscaloosa summer day about 100 degrees with 90% humidity, but that didn’t stop him from bringing passion and energy. It took all of 10 minutes for me to realize this is someone who wants to help other people become better in their day to day life and whatever goals they wanted to attain. After we got done with the tennis players we went back to the “facility.” At the time Andy was operating move out of an office space in Northport that was home to other businesses and doctors offices, in a room slightly bigger than most of your apartment living rooms. That didn’t stop him from creating an environment to get better. Our first client that day was an elderly lady that was blind. Watching how Andy was able to create a program specifically for the client and get her up and moving in order to remain as healthy as possible was mind boggling for me. We just went from training kids who hope to have careers in tennis ranging from high school level to hopefully some day professional, to someone who needed assistance attaching bands around her shoes. He showed me that you don’t have to focus specifically on training one type of athlete or even one group of people but could range all across the board. After we finished our appointments that day I asked Andy if I could come back or help him in anyway, I believe he was a little surprised at that point because all I did all day was help carry a couple things then sit in the corner and take notes. He obliged to let me take up some of the precious space he had for another day and come back tomorrow. Slowly over the next week or so I learned what an average day looked like for a man with his own business, a wife and child, and responsibilities, something as a 20 year old I knew nothing about. At the end of that week he asked if I would be willing to learn and help for the rest of the summer and I don’t think he was finished asking me by the time I yelled “yes.” I specifically put learning then helping in that order, Andy’s first job was to teach me about his program and the world of exercise science, that as a student in the school for 5 months, I barely knew anything about. He takes a wholistic approach to training, that involves flexibility, agility, speed, and power. Every program for every class was different. From the tennis kids, to other youth athletes, kids looking to be active, adults all with different goals, and even our elderly blind client, everything was different and built for their success. Andy worked like crazy from 6AM group class workouts, to individual private trainings, sprinting over to the tennis facility, then back to his gym for youth classes all before noon, it was pure chaos for an outsider at first. He took the time to break down the workouts and plan with me days before and educate me on why we were doing certain things and how they related to our major. I’d ask him (I’m sure at the time dumb) questions, and he was patient and answered them all. He gave me all the tools to understand what was going on and what our goal was for the clients. He slowly gave me more and more responsibilities such as writing out the workout for the class on the white board, to setting up ladders, and putting weights on the bar. To then bigger tasks such as getting to lead a youth class on my own, with his supervision, because I still barely had a clue what was going on. Throughout that summer as Andy taught me more and more, he trusted me more and more. We would spend long days together and I got to see how he balanced his work and life. As you can imagine Andy out worked and out grew the office space we currently occupied and he set his eye on a stand alone facility so we wouldn’t have to give an earth quake warning every time the youth class was going to do ladder drills. He found a facility in another part of Northport and got to assemble what he had in mind for being able to train everyone. With a bigger facility came more clients, he brought in NBA players that he had relationships with from his time working with the crimson tide basketball team, to aspiring college athletes, marathon bike riders, former boxers, etc. but the thing that always stuck out to me was the commitment to making others better and his commitment to his family. If you’re blessed enough to get the chance to work for Andy I’m sure you’ll see the same things. Come in with an open mind, a willingness to learn, and try to match his passion, you’ll be rewarded greatly by improving other peoples lives.
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