Today we’d like to introduce you to Nate Soelberg.
Hi Nate, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I graduated from Granger High School in West Valley, UT in 1999. During my senior year I played Football (2nd team all-state), Basketball, Club Volleyball, and ran Track. I was the 5A State Champ in the 100m and Long Jump, I was offered a full-ride scholarship to Weber State for track and football, but ultimately turned that down to accept a preferred walk=on offer from BYU for football as a Wide Receiver. I went to BYU for a year and red-shirted that season and then served a mission in the Oslo, Norway mission for 2 years and then came back to BYU to start playing football. I decided to talk to the track coaches at BYU to see if that was an option for me and ended up doing Track and Football each year until I graduated in April of 2006.
*Went to BYU as a Wide Receiver, but was asked to switch to Cornerback his Sophomore year and was a 3 year starter (2003-2005).
*Ran Track at BYU for 4 years in the 60m, 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay (2003-2006).
*Ranked 79th in the World and 30th amongst American sprinters in the 60m dash with a time of 6.68 seconds (2003).
*MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE CHAMPION in the 100m with a time of 10.34 seconds. Ranked among the top 60 Americans (2003).
*Part of MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE CHAMPION 4x100m relay team (2003,2005). 2nd place (2004).
*Clocked by NFL Scouts between 4.21 and 4.26 sec in the 40 yard dash (2005).
*Named to ESPN’s All-Mayday Team (2006).
*Recipient of the Robbie Bosco Award, given to a member of the team who plays despite injury.
*Top Ten 100m All Time list at BYU (10.34 sec).
*40 Yard Dash record holder at BYU (4.21 sec).
After I graduated from BYU, I started working at Velocity Sports Performance (now closed) that was just opening up. I was hired as the Assistant Business Director, but I also ended up coaching some Speed & Agility classes because of my background. I was just out of college and was on a low salary and high hours and I new that I couldn’t last doing that, so I decided to take a sales job with another company. After about 4 or 5 months of doing that, I knew that wasn’t for me and during that time I had parents contacting me about training their kids because they didn’t want to go back where I was working if I wasn’t coaching their kids. I punched some numbers and decided it was worth the risk for me to open up my own business, Utah Speed Academy in 2009.
Ever since then I have been doing Speed & Agility classes and have also started my own Track Club (Soelberg Track Club). I spend my work day doing classes or private training or team/group training. The track club season goes from April to June/July each year and so I am very busy doing all of it during those months.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Struggles have been finding places to hold trainings. I initially found a warehouse space in Pleasant Grove and threw some turf down and it was going well, but the overhead on the facility and some other problems with the building made it so I knew it wasn’t going to be sustainable there. I’ve been renting space or training in my home garage turf gym ever since and it’s been great.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I do speed training; more specifically, I focus on acceleration and form/technique. I am known for my own speed and records, but it’s been so gratifying to see athletes get better and faster and to help them do it. I train athletes from Elementary to Pros.
What sets me apart from others is my own experiences and accolades, mixed with the training and experiences in competing at a high level of track and football. A lot of speed coaches haven’t necessarily walked the walk; they may have learned and studied, but they don’t have the experience and background in speed that I have.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
That’s tough…too many sports memories to choose from, but probably winning the 100m at the State HS Championships.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.utahspeedacademy.com/home
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speedacademyonline/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/natesoelbergtraining
