Nate Palin is a Strength and Conditioning Specialist for the U.S. Space Force and founder of Any Given Day, where he focuses on building physical, mental, and emotional resilience for warfighters and their families. He also serves as the Endurance Sports Director for Soldiers to Sidelines.

A former leader in the 2nd Ranger Battalion, Nate completed seven years of service and five combat deployments in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, gaining firsthand insight into the physical demands of military performance. He has coached Special Operations Forces, worked as a performance specialist with EXOS, and led the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s Tactical program, where he co-authored Preparing for the Army Combat Fitness Test.

Nate has also served as an adjunct professor in tactical strength and conditioning and held leadership roles in coach development, continuing to shape the future of tactical performance training.

Dr. Ben Freakley, CMPC, is a leader in the field of applied sport and performance psychology with a career spanning over two decades. He is the founder and CEO of Ready, Set, Resilient, which provides sports and performance psychology services to individuals, teams, and organizations. Throughout his career, Dr. Freakley has held several significant positions. He served as the Head of Mental Performance for the Toronto Blue Jays, where he led the development and delivery of mental skills programs. He was also the inaugural head coach and general manager of Tormenta FC in the United Soccer League (USL). His expertise extends to tactical environments, having worked as the performance psychology coach with the 75th Ranger Regiment of the United States Army Special Operations Forces. Dr. Freakley holds a doctoral degree in Sport and Performance Psychology with an emphasis in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. He is also a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). Before his full-time work in sport and performance psychology, Ben spent over a decade as an NCAA College Soccer coach demonstrating his versatility and depth in coaching, psychology of performance, and team culture.

Coach Aaron Brady is a former Rutgers standout and two-time All-Big East honoree who has coached at Duke, Georgetown, and Clarion, as well as guest coaching in the CFL. As a head coach at top high school programs, he has helped over 125 players advance to college football and developed numerous future coaches. Internationally, he led Team USA to two World Championships and has trained teams from China, Sweden, and Kuwait. A national speaker with over 200 Glazier Clinic talks, he is also a mentor with Soldiers to Sidelines and a veteran coach at elite camps including the Manning Passing Academy and FBU All-American Games.

Johannah Zabal, MS, CSCS, NSCA - CPT

Johannah, “Coach Jo,” comes from a diverse athletic background, with a demonstrated history of coaching in high school, collegiate & private industry for over 20 years. She is currently a contract Strength & Conditioning Specialist for the Army at Fort Liberty.

Coach Jo has a passion for helping & guiding people. She strives to embody the word “coach,” which is, in its origin, a carriage, something that brings a person from one point to another on their journey. Her identification with sport, teamwork, competition, and the discipline that fuels all of those areas steered her toward this career. Jo fell in love with the art of coaching, & her pursuit to be a lifelong learner, a better communicator, & an inspiring coach drives her every day.

Leigh Klein is the Basketball Director of Soldiers to Sidelines and a Clinical Professor of Marketing at Pace University. From 1992 to 2016, he served as CEO of Five-Star Basketball Camp, the premier training ground for youth basketball players (ages 9–18), known for producing more NBA and Division I athletes than any camp in history. He also edited five basketball books, including The Five-Star Basketball Coaches Playbook (three editions), Five-Star Girls Basketball Drills I & II, and the My Favorite Moves series. Earlier in his career, Leigh was a student assistant coach at the University of Rhode Island (1986–1988) and the University of Texas (1988–1991), contributing to four NCAA tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 and Elite 8 run. He was inducted into the University of Rhode Island Athletic Hall of Fame in 2023 along with the 1988 team. Leigh also worked as a sports journalist covering the NBA Draft and college basketball, featured in Slam Magazine, Basketball Times, 247 Sports, and Metro Magazine. His on-air work includes appearances on WPIX’s Sports Desk, FOX 5 New York, CBS WLNY’s Sports Update, and SNY’s Oh Yeah!. He was a featured panelist for the 2017 Jr. NBA Leadership Conference and a member of USA Basketball’s Youth Development working group.