“It’s hot in here,” Adam panted to his dad 20 minutes into his training session with 2019 SLU Soccer alumnus Anthony Brown. They shared a quick laugh and a splash of water before the continual “thud” of the soccer ball enveloped the room again.
Brown graduated with a degree in finance and was able to get a job working at World Wide Technology, but the former soccer standout could not leave the sport that gave him so much. So when Brown’s pro trials did not land him in the MLS, Brown knew he needed to stay connected to the game and give back. So he started his own soccer training business called AB Technical Training—training athletes ranging from seven to twenty-two and even current professionals.
AB stands for Anthony Brown and technical refers to the specific type of training Brown teaches. “I’ve been there before, not being the best guy on the team,” said Brown, “I realized that I was behind” … “The technical ability just was not there. So I felt really insecure about it.” That is when he started practicing on his own with just a ball, a wall and some music in his basement.
Brown started the company back in May but had been training kids before that. Brown was really able to kickstart the training program when his older brother, also a soccer coach, put in a good word and the good word spread like wildfire.
Brown has reformatted his business for the winter. The program consists of a six week package deal in group or individual sessions. Brown also offers something that is not as common in the soccer training market. He made it his mission to teach kids what he wishes he knew when he was young, giving them practical drills and knowledge they can use on their own. “I’m trying to sell everything that I didn’t know for players at that age” … “If I could go back as a young player with the knowledge that I know and the mentality I have, things would be so much different.”
Part of what drew Brown to using his abilities to teach others came from his time at SLU. The team would spend every Saturday morning in the spring volunteering with the Special Needs Soccer Association. “We would play soccer with special needs children and just seeing how happy they were” … “It can be something so small and it can make someone’s day,” Brown recalled about his motivation.
Brown is able to bring the hard work mentality and service focus he learned from his soccer experience as a youth and at SLU and merge them into a great business. Brown currently trains people on the side of his full time job, working from around 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., going home to grab food and change, training for clients and then training to keep himself in shape so he can keep playing soccer.
Brown remains dedicated to giving back to the soccer community in all he does. Whether it is his work at World Wide Technology or AB Technical Training, he is committed to living out SLU’s mission as a graduate.
That mission is passed on through the training Brown does. Jamon, one of Brown’s returning clients, is getting a lot out of the mission with incredible dedication and passion sweating from his focused face.
AB Technical Training is Brown’s passion and while he does not have plans to make it his full time job at the moment, he hopes at some point he will make it that big.