Big Win; USANA Game Day Feb. 15

We picked up a big win over San Diego — a former Top 25 team — last week.

Here are some highlights:

USANA Day 

I'm really looking forward to our game against rival Santa Clara on Saturday, Feb. 15. It's also USANA Game Day. All USANA Associates receive free admission!!

I can always count on my USANA family to show tremendous support and get LOUD! Hope to see you all there. Here are details (click the photo for a larger view):

USANA Steps to Success

I spoke at the Steps to Success event in The Bay Area last weekend. Great turnout of about 300 USANA Associates! Ivy Chan invited me and I was glad I was able to make it.

As a bonus, USF gave everyone free tickets to come see us play this season.

Happy Birthday USANA — From USF

Our team greatly appreciates USANA! They are working really hard to get ready for next season. Our philosophy at USF is to be as fit and healthy as possible! Thank you USANA!

USF Basketball Player Rheina Ale Talks About USANA

USANA Night at USF

USANA Night!

An Inspiring Day

I spoke today at the USANA Health Sciences International Convention in Salt Lake City.

It was great to be in the company of legendary Billie Jean King. What an outstanding person! She has done so much to pave the way for women in sports. She told me she would be happy to speak with my team at USF —they could learn so much from her!

The incomparable Billie Jean King

 With Dr. Myron Wentz, founder of USANA, and Dave Wentz, the company's CEO.

I also was able to speak with many of the USANA athletes and hear their amazing stories. This year’s theme is “Living the Dream.” It’s a perfect fit for athletes and associates who are overcoming their fears and truly living their dreams.

What an inspiring day!

An Amazing Time at USANA's Asia Pacific Convention

I just returned from speaking in Hong Kong for USANA’s Asia Pacific conference (a 13-hour non-stop flight from San Francisco!!). There were 7,500 USANA Associates in attendance!! My segment was about elite level athletes and coaches trusting USANA.

Additionally, I had the privilege of introducing USANA’s exclusive relationship with the WTA. When I introduced Zheng Jie, China’s top tennis player and one of the most recognized athletes in China, via a video testimonial, the crowd went crazy. She spoke about her belief in the products and how USANA helps her to be healthy on the court.

I am still amazed that in the supplement world there are very few nutritional products we can trust. A positive test for a banned substance can end an athlete's career! I am forever grateful that I found USANA.

I enjoyed spending time talking with Dr. Wentz, USANA’s founder. He is absolutely brilliant! I also got to spend a bit of time with Collette Larsen, Dr. Strand, Dave Wentz (USANA’s CEO) and Dr. Wood. The conversations always seem to include the latest health issues and solutions — right up my alley! I always learn so much from being around them.

My trip was amazing and I have some great tools to bring back to my team at USF.

NE3 Provides Energy Boost at 'USANA Night'

USANA’s Team NE3 came to a recent home game at USF. We had a blast! As a USANA Associate, whether you are crossline, downline, or upline, you are a family. That was evident as we had a fantastic time at our game with NE3 in San Francisco!

Our team really needed a boost and they were shocked to have so many screaming fans in our gym! If you've attended a USANA event, you know how loud Next Evolution can get! The season so far has been difficult for us, but NE3 gave us a much needed boost of energy!

After the game I spoke with our USANA Associates and I was asked about the parallels between building a USANA business and building a program at USF. The fundamentals are the same. Success starts with belief! We have to believe we can be successful. My team has to believe they can work hard and win games.

With USANA, you have to first believe in the products! Second, you have to have a vision — see where you want to go. People may think you are crazy, but it is up to you to paint your vision for success and go for it!

Right before that, we welcomed Stanford, my alma mater, to our home court. It was a big night — Stanford coach (whom I played for) Tara VanDerveer was going for her 800th win! Leading up to the game our team received a lot of press (you might have seen links on Facebook). We had articles written about us and the game in the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, and by the Associated Press. It's great press for a team like us, who's trying to build a program.

Coach VanDerveer ended up getting her milestone win that night. And even though our team lost, I couldn't be happier for her. As I mention in the articles, I'm working to build a solid foundation for the USF program and I know we can learn a lot from what she's done at Stanford. While we're experiencing some growing pains, we're making excellent progress! I'm looking forward to our next game as we open conference play against Santa Clara on Saturday.

Hitting the Road with USF for Thanksgiving

We recently returned from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where we played in a Thanksgiving tournament. We had to travel on Thanksgiving — tough to be away from family for staff and players, but thankfully we get along so well that is was a pleasure to spend the day with them.

Boston Market catered our meal, which was ready when we arrived at our hotel. After saying what we were all thankful for, we got into a heated game of Guesstures. We divided into 3 teams — Staff, Freshman and Sophomores, and Juniors and Seniors. Unfortunately, we placed last! Juniors and Seniors won. They are quite a competitive group!

On the court, our first game against New Mexico didn’t go too well for us. NM is a really good team and very well coached. Thankfully, we had a chance to redeem ourselves the next night against Rhode Island. We were down 4 points with about 12 minutes to go in the second half, but we were able to outlast Rhode Island in the final 11 minutes of the game. I was really proud of my team’s effort and composure to never give up and do a great job executing down the stretch.

Albuquerque is at 5,400 feet above sea level. Part of what helped our team’s performance was having a strong conditioning base, and drinking a lot of water as we traveled and staying hydrated all three days. As a coach, it can be tough to keep up with my own workouts, but I was able to get in a run while we were on the road and I ran as soon as we landed in San Francisco.

I feel much more effective and energetic as a coach when I also take care of my health. I also take USANA everyday, everywhere I go. Health and conditioning will continue to be an emphasis for our team and our program at USF.

Best Ever USANA Convention!

The USANA International Convention was the best ever! Every year it feels like a big family reunion. This year I was particularly moved by the 40 associates who climbed Mt. Everest. They were led by Werner Berger, USANA Silver Director and the oldest North American to climb the seven summits. The age range was 18 to 84! Associate Edna Northrup, 84, was the oldest woman to make the climb — breaking a world record!!


Could they have done this without USANA?? They each talked about their reasons and motivation for the climb. Collete Larsen's motivation was to feel what her daughter, who has CF, feels when she is in severe oxygen debt. The stories were all so inspirational — I could not hold back the tears!

Saturday morning we had our annual Children's Hunger Fund 5K. Associates raised over $125,000 for CHF! It was a perfectly gorgeous morning for the thousands of associates who ran with us! Derek Parra is a machine!! I was happy to run and feel great!

As for my part, I was the host of the Athletes segment. I was particularly impressed with the testimonial of Liezel Huber, the No. 1 doubles tennis player in the world. She credits USANA with her rise to the top! Health really is the foundation for sports performance and it is such a pleasure to be able to share the message of true health that USANA provides.

As I begin my coaching career at USF, USANA provides a wonderful partnership for health! Thank you Dave Wentz for all that you do to make USANA the best!!

An Incredible Event for a Great Cause!

A Couple of Photos From Yesterday

Naomi Priestley, Jason Priestley, Kathy Kaehler, Ashlan Gorse, and Dan Macuga

With E! News Correspondent Ashlan Gorse

Jason and Naomi Priestley

What a Day at the USANA International Convention!

San Francisco Chronicle Goes 'Behind the Scenes'

Susan Slusser from the San Francisco Chronicle followed me for a day as I am beginning as Head Coach at the University of San Francisco (here is the article). The team is gone now, so most of our focus is recruiting, organizing, camps, and the details of laying the foundation for success.

Susan wanted an inside look at what the process is like “behind the scenes” for a new coach in college athletics. There are a lot of moving parts!!

Throwing the First Pitch at a Giants Game!

I had the opportunity to represent USF and USANA as an Olympian at the Giants game. It was a Northern California Olympians tribute and a I threw out the first pitch at the Giants vs. Rockies game. It was a lot of fun!

I must say it’s more nerve-racking to do that than to shoot a free throw with two seconds left and the team is down by one! I guess you are only good at what you practice!

Golfing at Pebble Beach

I golfed at Pebble Beach in the annual fundraiser for All-Stars Helping Kids. It was a fabulous event! I have been very buys at USF with my team, but I was able to keep my commitment to play in one of my favorite events of the year!

Pebble Beach is one of the most beautiful places on earth! I am not much of a golfer, but I am learning and was thrilled to be paired with Cindy Reid, one of the top golf pros in the world. I was a bit intimidated at first, but she has such a gift for teaching!! I may have improved in one day...

The rest of our foursome was Olympic gold medalist Brandi Chastain (who is quite the golfer!!) and actor Grant Show (another amazing golfer!!) We had a blast together. They were so much fun to be around — everyone was so positive.




Another highlight for me was to see USANA have a presence at the tournament. Joe Wentz was at one of the holes handing out Nutrimeal and BlenderBottles®, as well as much needed Rev3! So many people were asking me about USANA, so I was able to share more about the products and the company with a lot of people at the event. Each of the celebrity athletes, including Joe Montana, received a MyHealthPak in their care packages. Go USANA!

Speaking About the Value of Proper Nutrition

I was a keynote speaker at The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAPHERD) conference in Indianapolis. I worked with both the Got Milk? Campaign and Ruth Carey, the Portland Trail Blazers Nutritionist. She is one of the few RD’s I have met that has become so well integrated into the fabric of the team organization.

Ruth Carey

It’s obvious, that what we eat is just as important as how we train, but so many sports organizations leave that part out! I was thrilled that she is able to truly educate the athletes about the value of proper nutrition and sports.

We share the same philosophy that by keeping yourself healthy you can perform to the best of your ability, whether a professional athlete, or an everyday person looking to “seize the day!” And yes ... I spoke to her about USANA so I hope to get her into the family!

Incredible Energy at the Las Vegas Celebration

The Las Vegas Celebration was awesome!!! I got so energized spending time with other USANA Associates and hearing all of the incredible speakers on Friday and Saturday.

What I love is the diversity of people who are all equally motivated by Dr. Wentz’s (USANA’s founder) vision of true health — a world free from disease, a world free from pain and suffering.

Through USANA, we are helping to change the health of our world one person at a time. A highlight for me in Vegas was the group of Associates from the Bay Area, my home. With Aaron Dinh as their fearless leader, they are so full of energy and they are a living example of the USANA family at its best.

I applaud them for their team spirit and their drive to be their best! I am thrilled to see everyone again in Salt Lake City at the International Convention in August!

And Collette Larsen is simply the best!! I always love to hear her speak!

An Amazing Las Vegas Celebration

Wrapping Up a Phenomenal Winter Games Experience

It’s bittersweet as the Games here in Vancouver are winding down. I had the opportunity to go to the speedskating Team Pursuit medal round. To see races won or lost by .02 seconds is incredible. The difference between gold and silver is so unbelievably minute — a second feels like an eternity out on the ice!

The race that sticks out for me was when Germany's Anni Friesinger-Postma lost her balance and slid on her stomach for the final 25 meters. She looked more like a swimmer on ice as she crossed the finish line. She started to cry thinking she lost the race but she was able to get her skate across the line (skate has to cross to finish) to beat the U.S. by .23 seconds!

My friend Derek Parra (US Speedskating Head Coach) was in total shock. He told me after the race that Friesinger-Postma did a remarkable job getting her skate across the line but he was pretty bummed about losing the race.

I also caught up with Dave and Renee Wentz again at the USA House. Dave shared his pin collecting hobby with me and talked about it on the video posted above. You have to watch!

The Olympics have been so inspiring. This was my first Winter Games and I am extremely grateful to the USOC for providing me with such great access to current and former Olympians and for hosting me and all of the Olympians at the USA House. I was able to meet so many outstanding people!