Our task is simple…
Enhance the knowledge of youth sports/fitness professionals and volunteers throughout the world via intensive educational opportunities as well as continuing education requirements. The main purpose of the IYCA is to assist in the evolution of the youth athletic/fitness industry by regulating the knowledge and skill of the individuals who work within it.
The International Youth Conditioning Association is the premier international authority with respect to athletic development and youth participant-based conditioning. We validate research and provide appropriate examples of practical application for working with young athletes and youth participants at large.
We establish industry norms with respect to safe, effective and clinically sound means of optimally developing injury-free, emotionally sound and functionally gifted young athletes and participants.
Incorporated in 2004, our goal at the International Youth Conditioning Association (IYCA) is to unite the youth fitness and sports industry by providing a solid leadership and defining voice within the field of conditioning and developing youngsters.
The IYCA is a wonderful collaboration of professionals from the sport science, athletic, and sport medicine communities. Our membership is comprised of conditioning professionals, personal fitness trainers, exercise physiologists, athletic trainers as well as other sports medicine professionals, coaches, teachers, fitness and sport facility managers as well as students. Our membership base also includes volunteer sport coaches, officials, parents and youth sport executives.
The IYCA is a certification-based outfit offering the finest educational certificate programs in the realm of youth athletic development and fitness. Successful candidates must pass both a criminal background check as well as our intensive examination process.
We believe that developmentally-sound, fun and goal-oriented exposure to fitness and sport is a necessary building block in progressing through the formative years into adulthood. Our mission is to fulfill our duty as the leaders of the youth fitness and sport training industry and help reform the quality and care we are providing for our youth.
Highly regarded as one of the top speed coaches in the country, Latif Thomas is the Co-Owner of Athletes’ Acceleration, Inc. A former All East Sprinter while attending the University of Connecticut on a track and field scholarship, Latif is certified by the NSCA and is USA Track and Field Level II Certified in the Sprints, Hurdles and Relays. In 2005, he was voted the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Coach of the Year for his success in developing countless champions and record holders at the conference, division and state levels.
Latif has run numerous successful speed development programs including the Speed Clinic Empire Mentorship, a program designed to teach coaches how to run their own profitable speed camps and clinics. Co-creator of the internationally acclaimed Complete Speed Training Program, Latif has excelled at simplifying program design and technical improvement in order to facilitate greater results in his athletes.
Dave Jack has been in the industry for nearly 15 years and has worked with top professional athletes and teams throughout the National Football League, Major League Baseball and beyond.. His vision is to inspire people to live healthy lives and provide them with tools to do so.
In addition to being the Fitness & Wellness Director of TeamWorks Fitness in Acton, MA, Dave is a national advisor and consultant for brands like Reebok, Rodale, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Prevention and NBA All-Star Paul Pierce’s Truth on Health Foundation.
Dave is also a National Level Speaker on Sports Performance, Fitness and Wellness and Co-founder of “Sports and Life,” a wellness curriculum for schools