LOCAL HERO Reagan Dessaix
I am 22 years of age and I’m a current Professional Boxer (Ranked in the Top 15 of the world) and I currently work full-time as a Boxing Coach and Personal Trainer. I have had a total of 80 amateur fights and currently 16 Professional fights with the goal of becoming a World Champion myself one day. I have been qualified as Personal Trainer since I was 16 years of age and I took up the coaching side of things for boxing when I was 18, working at the current gym I am at now (World Gym Southside). I coach kids as young as 4 years old, to Adults competing in boxing (Professional and Amateur) right through to Older Adults as well.
I have been a coach for 4 years now and like any other good coach would say, “you can never stop learning”.
I use a lot of my own experience (what might of worked or didn’t work) to influence the athletes I am currently training.
I have great coaches and mentor’s myself who have taught me so much, and I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for them.
What was your first step in building your coaching business?
What are the biggest challenges you face as a coach? Being a younger coach, people who don’t know me or my background can be quick to judge because of my age. I accept it for what it is, but when people start training under you and know what you are talking about, you gain a lot more respect and trust from your athletes. How do you combine training and coaching? I have a good routine when it comes to splitting my own training from the athletes I am currently training.
My situation is different to a lot of others because I am still an athlete myself on the rise in my chosen sport, but I use all of my experience (past and present) to influence and show my current athletes I am training.
My own training is all about periodising, leading up to boxing fights I have locked in and scheduled for the year ahead. I do the same with the athletes I train as well. It’s all about getting the periodising, planning and preparation side of things correct to make sure your athletes peak at the right time during competition phases.
When I first started coaching when I was 18, I had a vision for the long term. Whatever I do, in the planning stages of things I always think long term. Because I think so far ahead, I must and always consider everything that may take place along the pathway to get there, in the mid-term as well as the short term. So, I could say, my first step in building my coaching business was goal setting and working out a realistic plan to get there. Ask any good or experienced coach and they will say goal setting is one of the most important fundamentals and attributes when it comes to coaching and training your athletes. The same applies for any good coach, you need good goal setting for yourself with whatever plan it takes to get you there. That’s where the saying “A goal without a plan, is just a wish” is so true and accurate.
