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Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: Deemer Class, welcome to the True Sports Pod, super excited to have you here. Super excited to kinda hear what you're up to. And what I really wanna hone in on today's episode is the way you coach, the way you teach. And the reason I wanna hit that is because every great sports PT is an outstanding teacher or they should be. And I wanna glean from you and our audience of sports PTs want to hear from an outstanding coach. How is it that you coach movement? And that's exactly where we're gonna get into today. First and foremost, I want to hear the Deemer Class origin story. Tell us about yourself.
Deemer Class: Yeah. Well, first off Yoni, really excited to be here. It's been great building a relationship with you over time. I think I met you back in 2013, 2014.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: Right around there.
Deemer Class: Back in the original office.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: Yes. The original office. I did not have more hair. Maybe a little bit more hair.
Deemer Class: Just a little bit.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: Just a little bit. Yeah.
Deemer Class: Yeah. And it's been a fun ride. We started our business really after I graduated college. So I grew up in Baltimore. I played at Loyola High School. I graduated from Duke in 2016. I was lucky to have some great coaches that I think really inspired me to keep loving the sport and be passionate about the sport. I went on to play professionally in the MLL and PLL and you know, in that, in my pursuit of playing lacrosse full time, that's when I really fell in love with training athletes and really trying to build a business to help players get better and help now teams develop as well. And so that's where First Class Lacrosse came about. And it's been exciting to see the growth doing training, events, online content and really just trying to keep finding ways to stay on the cutting edge and help players get better. We work with men's players, women's players, and it's been a fun ride so far.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: And that's one of the things I love about following you and your career and the trajectory. You're always trying to get better and get better first as a player and then as a coach, so tell us what makes an outstanding coach and that's a coach of anything.
Deemer Class: I think the best coaches that I've played for and been fortunate to play for, I think the big thing that sticks out to me is they had high standards. These standards were the ways that they felt like players should be operating on and off the field and how you should carry yourself on and off the field. And they were not afraid to hold players accountable to that standard, but they were also understanding, I think, in terms of building relationships and understanding the different places that players might be coming from. And I felt like they were never unreasonable in their asks of athletes. But I just felt like I really gravitated towards these coaches who would set a high standard and a high bar for how they wanted things to be done.
Deemer Class: And, you know, really inspire players to push towards that. Like how you do something, how you do each rep, how you interact with people and how you represent the program. And so I think when I've even recognized and looked at other great sports coaches and someone that always comes to mind for me is Nick Saban. When I hear him and read about him talk about recruiting and just how he runs his program from top down, that is always really inspiring to me and something I wanna keep pushing towards in terms of even when I run my events. It starts with me and how can I get my coaches on staff to buy into that message? And then how are they treating the athletes? How are they teaching them, cueing them and running drills in a way that are gonna help them get better and create that environment.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: There's so much to pull from just in that quick response. I thought I was gonna hear about the way you break down movement, the way you cue movement, and you really took a much higher level holistic approach when you say, what is a great coach? And I think that's something that sports PTs can certainly learn from. How do you structure a full rehab program even more macroscopically? How do I get a team of physical therapists to be pulling in the same direction? Because that's what you were kind of talking all the coaches that work with you and for you, how are they educating appropriately? So I love hearing that there's so much to learn from the way you structure that. Tell me a little bit more about First Class Lacrosse so I can get a better feel and then dive all the way deep into how you coach movement. So tell me about that entire organization that you're running.
Deemer Class: Yeah, so we have two primary coaches that work with me. One is Christian Cuccinello, who you know.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: Love him.
Deemer Class: And the other is Matt Dunn who runs our defensive training and content. And Matt happened to be one of my best friends from high school. And so it's been really exciting to continue that relationship.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: And the world's best...
Deemer Class: Defender.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: Defender, he is the world's best defender. Yes.
Deemer Class: So we've been fortunate, as his career has taken a change and he's committed to lacrosse to have him on board. And essentially our goal right now we're mostly running regional weekly training. We've continued over the years to not only just do one off training in clinics, which is I think how we've built our brand, but then also find our markets or where we're living to try to provide more consistent coaching. And so Matt does weekly defensive training in Baltimore. Christian this fall especially has been really building up training in North Jersey and the Jersey Shore. I am doing weekly training in Baltimore, Westchester, New York, and Long Island, New York. And then outside of that we're doing some programming with some high school teams. We're doing online content that is provided to club programs, kind of access to our drill library and database. And then we are going into year three of what we call best in class, which is a high level recruiting and training event where we bring in kids from all around the country and we train 'em. We have games, we added a combine this summer to continue to try to develop a data set in our sport because I think that's something that is missing.
Deemer Class: And that's really the range of what we're doing and kind of our focus areas. And then we also last year started launching some athlete advising and mentoring where we watch film with players on Zoom and we really start diving into being a resource beyond just the training sessions themselves, because I think so much... And going back to what makes a great coach, it's not only just the access on those and the technique, but it's building those relationships and having someone as a coach as a player that you trust, that you can look up to, that you can work with and collaborate with, and know that they can give you some sound advice to make the best decisions for your career as an athlete, and I can honestly say too that I've had that with you, 'cause you've always been someone that I can bounce ideas off of and even business-wise too. And just trust that I'm getting some good sound advice that comes from a good place.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: I love it, because the lessons just carry over, it's all business, every business is just about the same. Here's what I just heard in what you were describing. You have a staff, albeit an unbelievable staff of three dudes and they're awesome, and coach is great, and Dunn is the best defender in the world, and you are reaching an unbelievable amount of kids and athletes. And what resonates with me is, it's not so different in the sports PT world. When you met me, it was me renting a small room in the back of a church in Fells Point Baltimore, and treating a whole bunch of athletes, and now it's even easier because of the technology, you're able to touch kids on West Coast and be based here in Baltimore with a staff of three, how many kids you think your coaching are coming into contact with First Class Lacrosse how many?
Deemer Class: I would say, just thinking about our main events and training, I definitely think it will be over 1000 players like hands-on at some point during this year.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: It's incredible, it's incredible. So a 1000 players, three full-timers obviously bring in the staff when you need it, but that's a great lesson in and of itself from the business standpoint, is what you can really do living lean. I think people get out over their skis too often, they need the latest and greatest tech, they need big, fancy facilities, they need a huge, that you don't need to just pump your breaks and be awesome at what you do and what you can do with even a slim group is incredible, so that's awesome to hear, and I love the way you think about structuring things for efficiency, that is certainly a hallmark of yours. Let's dive in a little bit deeper. If that's what makes a great coach, what you just described, what's unique about what Deemer Class brings to the table that PTs can learn from?
Deemer Class: Yeah, it's a great question...
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: Because it's about Deemer Class.
Deemer Class: I think one of my stronger traits is the ability to connect with the players, I think something I've gained more and more over the years is the ability to be empathetic and understanding and try to figure out what motivates different players. The best advice I got from actually a soccer coach Keidane at USC, who is now at a different school, but when I asked him actually about coaching men's versus women's because I coached for three years at USC with the Division 1 women's program, I guess I forgot to mention that in the intro.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: Yes. You did but we are gonna there.
Deemer Class: But I asked him 'cause I never coached a team of women before, and I just said, "What would be the biggest difference? What's your advice for me?" And being a male and just coaching that team and he just said the best advice he ever got was treat every player like an individual, and I felt like that really resonated with me because I was like, "Hey, this is how some of my best coaches have always treated me," and so I think regardless of male or female, if I can take that approach and work to connect, I think then... And then show them that I care about them and have been through some similar stuff, I think they can start to buy in more and more to the messages or how to shoot or dodge or play offense and that standard that we were talking about. So I think that has probably been the best thing that I've been able to do which I think has led to any success we've had, I think has been rooted on that.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: That's also super powerful. We say, to use a topic near and dear to both of our hearts, hip scopes and athletic pubalgia, and once you've seen one hip scope, you've seen one hips scope. And everyone's unique and everyone's gonna come across something that they need to overcome, you gotta meet that athlete where they are, it's true whether they're patients, it's true whether they're a Division 1 Women's lacrosse player. So I think that's really well said. And super interesting now, I fell in love with the lacrosse sport, actually came about it through my baseball background, and so I love the idea of the rotational athlete and creating the crazy amounts of torque that baseball pitches have, baseball players have, and that translates beautifully into lacrosse. Here's what we know about baseball pitching it is insanely complex, there are so many moving parts, the exact same can be said in the lacrosse world, and chime in here if you agree or disagree, it's so much poor understood in the lacrosse world, what creates a successful outcome? You agree with that?
Deemer Class: From a shooting perspective?
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: From a shooting perspective.
Deemer Class: I think I definitely would agree, and just the data behind it is nowhere near the same.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: Right. Nowhere near the same. I'm glad we see eye to eye on that, 'cause I don't know where I would have gone if you're like, "No, we got this." But because of that, it's insanely hard to coach an athlete of that level, here's exactly how you throw a baseball, here's exactly how you shoot a lacrosse ball, so when you take something so complex, which encompasses the entire body, how do you teach that effectively?
Deemer Class: Yeah, and I think this is a great question. I think it also ties back to when you're talking about strengths of mine, of how I've tried to teach. I think one of the constant pieces of feedback that I've always gotten, whether it's my online content or when I'm teaching players, is the ability to simplify and make it sound so simple. And I think that's a common thing that I see in strength and conditioning, probably PT... Not you, don't worry.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: I'm with it.
Deemer Class: And sports is people's... And it happens in finance and law and people's need to make things sound so much more complicated than it really is. And I think it's some sort of probably ego and insecurity and making sure that, "Oh, can this be replicated? Can this be... But I have to make it sound really complex and really important." I think that's been something that's actually been really helpful that I've used to my advantage is, can I connect with third and fourth grade kids and seven and eight-year-olds who are just starting, all the way to college and professional athletes and trying to say things in a way that can resonate and connect, and just knowing that that might change, finding different analogies and cues. When I go back to thinking about teaching shooting, I've really tried to now simplify, what are a couple things that I think are the main keys, and then as I see things come up, I'm trying not to assume what I think is going to be wrong, or assume what I'm going to see. And then as I see stuff, I'm not afraid to make tweaks, run different drills and then try to adapt to the athlete.
Deemer Class: And the biggest thing, I've... Again, even only I graduated six years ago from college, I'm trying... And my friend Tim, who I was coaching with in Nashville yesterday, he brought me down to Nashville, he even said himself, "How can I get out of the way of the athletes, and let them figure it out more?" I think that's even more what I'm trying to continue to progress to, to allow them to explore, allow them to explore the movement and get a sense and a feel for what they're doing, as opposed to just being told all the time, and then them trying to just replicate what they're told. I think that also inhibits curiosity in a way too. So that's how I'm really trying to continue to teach it.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: What I've noticed, 'cause I've done a number of clinics with you, a number of workshops was a part of that combine atmosphere. What I've noticed about the way you coach, is the amount of reps that you're able to build in and allow that, what we call in our field kinesthetic awareness, our ability to understand the way things are moving on our body, with a very complex task. You just build in these reps that allows the athlete to ingrain that into their movement patterns, that's something that I've appreciated from watching you teach and coach. You're awesome at simplifying stuff, that's an awesome lesson to teachers of movement, and that's what sports PTs are. How do you take something really complex whether you're teaching something like scapular retraction, pulling your shoulder blades back in the right place, just make it as simple as possible. Maybe it's a tactile cue, you touching the patient and saying, "Put your scap here." Maybe it's showing them, "Here's where it should be." But there's a good chance that it's different for everyone.
Deemer Class: There's two books I've read that have also continued to help me evolve how I'm teaching. One is the Inner Game with Tennis, and the other one is, I believe it's called The Art of Movement, or it might even... That might be completely off, but the author is Rob Gray.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay.
Deemer Class: And I sent you this book, I definitely talked to you about it last year and it's very much supportive of constraints led approach. And that's something I'm seeing in a sport like ours more, it's something I'm seeing across other sports where the difference being our sport comparing to a pitching is that, you have that same athlete having to move in a lot of different ways. They're not just a shooter, they're a dodger, they're moving, they're cutting, they're playing with the ball, without the ball. And you have such limited time with these players and the younger they are, they're playing different sports, which we won, and they've got school and then the older they are, even professional lacrosse players, not everyone in reality is still just a professional lacrosse player. So your time on field is gonna be constrained, so then how do you maximize that time? How do you create drills that have the reps, but also allow them to explore and get the feel, and then how do you guide them and give them that feedback? And that's also why we've started using film so much too, because we're thinking why is it just for high school or college and professional players, younger players should be learning how to watch, use, study and then go out and try it or maybe make a tweak on their own.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: That's really powerful. You mentioned tennis, right? You mentioned some of baseball, I mentioned a lot of baseball, what's another... Like what else are you pulling into your coaching from other sports, that are benefiting the athletes that are in front of you?
Deemer Class: I've all... I had a football background. I didn't start playing tackle until seventh grade, but I played varsity for three years in high school, and that was a sport that was always close to my heart. I've always used the quarterback comparison, but again, we talk about connecting with different athletes, like for a women's lacrosse player that doesn't hold the same connection, sure they've thrown football, but not many of them have played tackle, even though we had a few that did. So again, trying to find different things to connect, I've even found myself sometimes talking and comparing stick path in lacrosse to spiking a volleyball or serve... And that's the same as like the tennis serve, like finding that highest point where you're snapping. Golf is a good one, learning how to transfer your weight and rotate through, there's definitely, as I've even picked up golf more, as I've tried to keep getting better in terms of tennis, there's different things with like your snap of your wrists that don't translate. And so it's just trying to find things that you can use as analogies, to help players connect the feel, without saying that it's a one for one translation.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: Hey, guys, this is Yoni with the True Sports PT Podcast. Just taking a quick break to let you know that our practice is growing. We have availability on our team for outstanding sports physical therapists. It doesn't matter if you're new to the game, it doesn't matter if you've been out of school for a while, if you wanna treat athletes, we are the place for you. We have outstanding benefit packages, great starting salaries, and more importantly, it is the ideal place to treat elite-level athletes. Just reach out at pod@truesportspt.com. We also wanna hear your feedback on the podcast. Maybe there's a guest that you want me to have on, maybe there's a topic you want me to cover. Reach out. Same email address, pod, P-O-D, @truesportspt.com. We can't wait to hear from you.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: I love it. The carryover to my world, how can you do a drill, be it med ball, be it snatch, be it a movement where you're creating a whip-like pattern and explain to the athlete, "Here's why we're doing this med ball drill, here's why I want you doing the snatch like this." You're gonna see it on the field, it's what you do for a living. In your case, for years it was being able for that to resonate. I was working with a linebacker just last night and I put together... He said he's coming off of an Achilles injury. He had issues, what he called anchoring. What the hell does anchoring mean? I don't know what that means. I certainly didn't learn about that in grad school. I had him show it to me. Based upon what he was showing, how well can he absorb force moving backwards, which shows up all the time in the sport of football and in lacrosse, especially in Matt Dunn's world, and then how can he anchor that back leg and drive forward. And so then you create a med ball drill around that.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: It's no different than what we would do and what you and I did for years in lacrosse world. How do we create whip, how do we create dissociation? What do those words mean? How do we explain it to the athlete to allow buy-in? I think that's the take-home in the sports PT world of exactly what you were describing. There's a ton there. How do you avoid... You were a great athlete. There are tons of sports PTs, myself not included, that were outstanding athletes that struggle to teach athletic movements to those who are not as athletically gifted. I think it was Magic Johnson, he lasted a couple weeks on the bench of the Lakers 'cause he just couldn't understand why people couldn't do what he could do for years. That had to have happened to the Deemer Classes of the world. When you get on the field, you got the freshmen from McDonagh who just can't figure out how to put his feet and arms together and you're able to still teach. How do you get over that barrier of, it was so easy for you?
Deemer Class: I think if I think about my origin story, I was never... Looking back, fortunately, I think I was a pretty natural athlete just growing up. I never had one sport that I just dominated at.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: You didn't dominate lacrosse.
Deemer Class: And then did not dominate lacrosse for most of my career. And then I think that always forced me to have to continue to find ways to get better and put in the work. And I started seeing more and more success throughout high school and then I gained more confidence. And then it started becoming this self-fulfilling mechanism too where I just wanted more. I really got a taste of what it felt like to score a goal and to have some success and that just drove me so much. And I think I've started to embody that in my coaching where I really like the feeling of working with a player or a team and getting that affirmation that impact was made. And then me being like, "How can I continue to make it better? How can I continue to make that positive impact and not getting complacent?"
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: I think that's... Sorry to cut you off. I think that's why you love coaching 'cause you're a competitive bastard, but my question is, you are a natural athlete. You're very skilled, you won two national titles. I don't know if you mentioned that in the origin story, but it bears repeating. Two.
Deemer Class: Two.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: Two. How do you talk to the kid who's a movement moron? Because sports PTs deal with that all the time. How do you do that?
Deemer Class: Well, I think that's where there's a balance because I think with some kids if maybe they're struggling in my sport, but I know they have some effectiveness or they're moving well or doing well in other sports, then that's where I'm really trying to seek some of those analogies to draw and connect the dots for them. But I also think that, again, going back to the over-coaching piece, you can't just always give them all the answers and then them process that from an audio perspective and then do it. So I think that's where they need more and more time in the environment, more and more time in situations to learn and grow.
Deemer Class: And I think too, there's kids who put so much pressure on themselves to get it right that sometimes it's them getting out of their own way mentally more than it is the actual skill and the motor piece of it. And so I think you have to try to be really in tune to that. And I am empathetic to that 'cause I was always someone really hard on myself. So again, when I say my disposition, I think coming from a place of being tough on myself, coming from a place of really trying to be curious and pushing to learn and understand and being analytical and then being able to verbalize that, I think that all helps me in then trying to connect with these young players if something's not getting through. But I still really see though a huge disconnect sometimes in coaching where just telling them exactly how to do it isn't always just gonna translate into them doing it. So how can you, again, guide them in a way to help them figure it out, but also I think sometimes creating environments where they're not so afraid to make the mistakes. And that's the tough balance too.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: That is an awesome answer, that answers my question really directly. Dude, you should be educating sports PTs because it's all the same. It's all the same. The way you just described, making connection, dumbing things down, meeting that athlete where they are, that's what we do for a living. Making them better, that's what sports PTs do for a living. So I think that's really powerful stuff for the sports PT, even if you're an accomplished sports physical therapist you gotta be listening to teachers like a Deemer Class, you're not a PT, but you can coach and teach the hell outta movement and that's what we gotta be great at. One of the things you have to deal with is dealing with lacrosse moms and it depends where you are in the country, sometimes that's a soccer mom, sometimes it's an overbearing football mom if you're down south in Texas, it's all the same personality type, we deal with that crazy, when's my kid gonna get better, I need my kid ready for X, Y, Z, my kid is the next Deemer Class. What's some advise you can give us on the best ways to deal with an overbearing parent?
Deemer Class: Yeah, I was gonna say don't leave the dads out.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: Dads. There you go.
Deemer Class: But yeah, it's not easy. And I think too, the hard part is that it's coming from a place of competitiveness and I can understand... And I can't understand 'cause I'm not a parent, but I can try to put myself in the shoes of when you're spending so much time on something, you're traveling for something, you're putting a lot of money into your child's success and future and happiness that if it's not happening right away then it can be really hard. So I think one, when people talk about the crazy parent, the crazy lacrosse parent, I think that's still really hard for people until you have kids and you're in that situation to even understand that that might be you someday and I think everyone handles stress differently. So I think one, it's probably also trying to be extra patient understanding and knowing that it's just not easy for anyone, I think the kid is probably hearing a lot of that at the home too so it's gonna be tough on them from that mental aspect, but I think what is tough is that athletes are hearing messages in a lot of different places.
Deemer Class: They're hearing their coach, they're hearing their trainer. And I think it's important to try to share with the parent the same kind of language that you're trying to share with the player. And for me, a lot of that is around growth mindset, development, how we're attacking, how we're getting back to work, how we're trying to handle the disappointment. And again, the whole thing that I was always told was the benefit of sports was the lessons you're going to learn from it, and so as a parent, you also have to let your child learn those lessons, you have to let them fail too and it's okay. And I just think it's hard, it's hard to watch someone you care about not do well or not do well right away, but I think it's just constant reminders of that. Now, at the end of the day these are things that people choose to buy into or they don't, and that's where that falls out of your control, but I think it has to just constantly be that message, that messaging to reinforce, because otherwise I think it can become very contrasting with what you're trying to teach the player mentally or just technically.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah. That consistency is something that we've seen as sports PTs is, here's the way we think it's gonna go. You keep consistent communication, should there be hiccups the athlete's parents is already prepared for that because they've had consistent messaging from the coach, from the sports PT. So I think that's super helpful. You are, man, wise beyond your years, that's a really eclectic way to look at it.
Deemer Class: There's a lot of... I think what causes a lot of stress too is lack of communication, and unfortunately, I think there's a lot of coaches out there, whether it's club or this, and it's just they're tempering how much communication and even time bandwidth they can give to those parents too, and I think as you get to more competitive levels, a lot of coaches are, hey, or no communication, we're not communicating with the parents. And so a big thing I always try to advise too is to put the ball in the player's court and have... And really try to encourage the parent to have the player drive a lot of discussion, have the player drive discussion with their high school coach, their club coach, how can I get better, what can I do to earn more time, and making sure that again, the phrasing is in the way of not just, I'm unhappy, give me more, I deserve more because I work hard, my kid deserves more because they work hard, which again, no one really cares because everyone is working hard, and even if they're not, if they're just better they're better, and that's how life is too, but it's hard to say it like that.
Deemer Class: So it's more just how can you encourage the player to take the accountability as they start to transition to early high school and beyond to... And that's where I think the pressure kicks in because that's when recruiting starts to ramp up, so I think the middle school player, it's like there's not as much at stake until they start to choose a high school, if they're going the private school route. So I think as that starts to happen, that's where you want to try to push the parents too to help the player drive the bus, because also college coaches wanna hear from the kids, the kids they are there recruiting, but then yes, they're recruiting the family to buy into the bigger picture but they're recruiting the kid to be a part of the culture, and the kid needs to start to have that sense of awareness and accountability and how they carry themselves, if it's all done by the parent it's gonna negatively impact their chances.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: No question about it. You're using sport to teach these kids how to be respectable legit grown-ups, how to be... And that's something really awesome, I think we can do the same thing with their injury process, it's a massive set back, how are you gonna deal with it, how's the athlete gonna deal with it, how is the parent gonna learn to deal with a kid with a set back? A lot of times it's very new. So I think it's a great way to learn all the way around. You mentioned communication, and that's the last piece I really wanna hit on here. As an elite coach, coaching elite athletes, how much do you wanna hear from a sports PT and how do you want to hear from us, if at all?
Deemer Class: So in my position, I don't have as many conversations with the PTs directly. Now, right now, I'm not coaching a team. When I was coaching at UCS, I would have really loved to be in the know, but I think even then it was more from ATC than physical therapists. I want to understand where they're at and I think knowing that injuries can be such a nagging thing, there's an element to, I'm not of the mindset to just power through and be the suck it up, be tougher type. I think that bravado is still in sports a lot and I think people are starting to get smarter and prioritize athletes' health more. But I think that as long as PTs also are understanding and ATCs are understanding of the goals of the team and the coach like they want to, there's that tension. Coaches want them on the field, especially if they're an impact player. PTs are prioritizing the long term health and you just, I think, want to just have that constant dialogue about the risks and the timeline and that way the ultimate decision is probably still gonna come down to the coach and the kid, and then making sure that whichever they choose, they understand the risk associated. I think.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah. Let me reframe it because I think that makes a lot of sense. When you look at the PT, the way we used to be 10 years ago, 15 years ago, the standard, "Hey, you don't go to PT unless you're hurt." Well, now you know this well from working with True Sports, we're dealing with a ton of kids, they don't have debilitating injuries. They're looking for movement enhancement and movement performance. And so these are some of the conversations that I've loved with you as the elite level coaches, how do we make these kids more effective from a biomechanical standpoint? So if that's the case, if you're dealing with, True Sports or let's say it's not at True Sports that you know and love, I'll say, you're in Idaho, but there's a sports PT just like us, great with movement assessment, understanding of what a lacrosse player needs to do at a high level. How does that guy get in touch with you when you come to town or you open an FCL Idaho branch?
Deemer Class: Yeah, that's a great question. I think if you're a PT, I think the more you can build your network to get in touch with those coaches, even if it's not directly benefiting your programming, I think you can provide value. I think you can build the trusted relationship piece to where that coach might consult you, might ask you questions over time. And also you're kind of, even if it's not in terms of a formal partnership, you're building a team, you're building a network that you can surround your athletes with. And I think, it can be easy to, when maybe you're trying to think about that, it can be easy up front to be focusing purely on the dollars and cents from a business perspective or how's this gonna look? But just by putting yourself out there to introduce yourself, maybe come by practice, watch, "Hey, I'm working with some of the kids I know they're on... " You're starting to integrate yourself in the community more, and then I think you will build your reputation as someone who not only is knowledgeable about what they're doing, but they have the best interests of the kids.
Deemer Class: And I think the more that we've been able to do that and parents leave knowing like, hey, this wasn't a money grab, this was an event where my child got better, they had a good experience and we feel that they have their interests at heart. I think if you're a PT and you can show coaches that, if you can show parents that, you can integrate yourself in any of your communities. I think the partnerships will naturally arise. And you'll start to also quickly weed out the people who value what you do and the people who don't and think they can do it all on their own. And that's fine too, 'cause there's a lot of smart people who can do a lot of different things. And you wanna find the people that I think recognize what you can do for their athletes.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: I love it. You have to show that you care. You have to show that you want to be there and just do crap for free. I can't even begin to count how many awesome referral sources that I've met because I'm just standing on the field watching, trying to learn, trying to learn from a Deemer Class. A really recent example is, I met a strength coach up in Delaware who's an absolute stud, an absolute monster who now really trusts what we do as a company at True Sports because I went up to your clinic in Delaware because I know and love what you do. And yeah, I knew and love most of your staff that was there and turns out I knew a bunch of the kids that were there, but I didn't do it to make a bunch of money. I just went up there because I love what you do and I love moving, I love the sport. And it turned into an awesome relationship that really could generate down the line revenue way more than I would've made by saying, "No, I'm gonna need 18 bucks an hour to go up there or whatever."
Deemer Class: And here's the other takeaway to that too, is and I always had this conversation, sometimes we had players who struggled with the idea of, well, if I do this extra work, will I get an opportunity to play? And the answer was, it would increase your chances that you would get an opportunity to play, not that you are guaranteed an opportunity to play. So it's the same thing if you do this extra event, if you take a concession on your normal price to get the opportunity and you're trying... If you can find a way to rationalize it, especially early on, if you're building something, it's probably worth it. And I think build more people in your corner in the long run. And I think that will come back five fold, 10 fold years down the line. I think if you can have that mentality, I think you'll probably go far in your market.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: It's just another example of how sports is life, life is sports, all businesses are the same. You gotta put yourself out there. The lessons that you've imparted today during this interview, work so well in my world and I knew they would in the sports PT world. And that's why I'm thrilled that we had you on here, Deemer. You've taught me so much just in this hour, no question. You brought a whole bunch of value to our audience of sports PTs. I think we're better sports PTs for having listened to this. I want to thank you for your time and I cannot wait to watch where First Class Lacrosse goes.
Deemer Class: Thanks. Thanks for having me. Excited to listen back to this episode and hopefully if you're a PT listening to this, would love to connect with you at some point, good chance we're running training in a similar market. And we're on Instagram at First Class Lacrosse, so feel free to shoot a message and it was great spending some time today.
Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt: Love it. Appreciate it.
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