He’s the hottest name in professional sports, the best player on the best team in the NBA, the overwhelming favorite for the NBA’s MVP award, an electrifying highlight reel, the best shooter in the history of the game — and an even better person, father, husband and son. But what you may not know about Stephen Curry is that his story — from a small, skinny kid that no major school wanted to recruit, to arguably the best player in the game — is a CoachUp success story, and one that was formed even before our company existed.
Stephen made himself great through hard work, determination and consistency in training sessions with private coaches from age 13 through today. Regardless of whether Stephen wins the NBA Championship this year and earns the MVP trophy, he will spend his summer in the gym, training with his private coaches to improve his game. That’s what makes him a star and a winner on and off the court. But Stephen Curry was not always an NBA All-Star. And that’s what makes him a perfect fit for CoachUp. He believes strongly in what we do.
Stephen’s one-on-one work with private coaches since he was a kid meant countless extra hours practicing his shooting and dribbling and doing drills to make him faster and stronger. These individual training sessions have always been a part of his training, and they still are today. Stephen knows what it means to work hard to reach the next level and how important personal coaches are in that equation. In fact, his personal coaches and thousands of others like them are on CoachUp, training athletes every day, all across the country. Having met Stephen through a mutual friend, it was quickly apparent that our shared belief in the power of private coaching and our desire to make those opportunities available to all kids would make this a great partnership as CoachUp moves into our next chapter of growth.
That’s why I’m so thrilled to announce that Stephen is joining CoachUp as a partner to provide guidance and valuable expertise as we grow our network of coaches and athletes nationwide and continue to improve our service and product offerings. This is a historic day for CoachUp and we couldn’t be more excited. Please join me in warmly welcoming Stephen Curry to the CoachUp team!
It’s hard for me to easily put into words what it means to me to be working on CoachUp with Stephen. I founded CoachUp because personal coaching transformed my life and has been critical to my success on and off the basketball court. The terrific experiences I’ve had – playing the game I love at the collegiate and professional levels, making lifelong friends and connections – all became possible thanks to my private coach.
I later became a private coach myself because I wanted to have that same impact on other kids in my hometown. And that’s what we are all about at CoachUp — we know that behind every great athlete is a private coach. Coaches who give those athletes confidence, teach them to expand the limits of what they think possible, and believe in their capacity to reach their goals. Young athletes need someone in their court to reach the next level. CoachUp is about helping kids improve their game, at any level, while learning the valuable long-term lessons that true discipline in sports teaches for success in school, work, and life. And that’s exactly what happened for Stephen. But even more importantly – Stephen wants to give back, and wants to help every kid reach the next level in sports and life. So we’ve teamed up to make that shared mission a reality.
But how did Stephen and CoachUp come together? It’s a pretty cool story: Stephen was playing at Davidson College while I was playing at Bowdoin College — both small liberal arts colleges known for academic excellence, not athletic prowess. I remember watching him play year after year and saw the incredible improvement he made in his game each off-season. People saw that he was an elite shooter and scorer but questioned whether he would make it in the NBA. Could he handle the ball? Could he play point guard? Could he defend at that level? But what I saw in him then was something extraordinary – his confidence, his character, his intelligence, his off-the-charts basketball IQ and his quiet determination.
He had it – the gift that private coaching gives – the quiet confidence that he knew he trained harder than the other guy, that no matter what the game throws at him, he has seen every scenario before in training, he has taken and made every shot thousands of times, he has made those split-second decisions in his sleep. So the game is fun for him. The game is slow for him. He’s a master on the court, and he plays with the joy that only comes from mastery of a craft. I knew that he had great private coaches behind him and that he not only wanted to be great but was going to be great. Fast-forward 3 years later.
As I was working hard with my team to get CoachUp off the ground, Stephen was working hard to prove the doubters wrong in making his transition to the NBA. Stories started to come out about his work with private coaches and about how much he valued them and how hard he worked with them. I knew that his life and his story were a much larger reflection of my own and a great testament to all the CoachUp athletes and all of our coaches and trainers, all across the country, who work together every day with a shared goal. So when I was put in touch with Stephen over a year ago and learned that he was as big a fan of CoachUp as I was of him, it just felt so right. Over the past year, Stephen watched and cheered as CoachUp continued to grow by leaps and bounds, and we watched and cheered Stephen on in every game as he showed the world what he can do — what he has earned through his own hard work and perseverance.
And today, finally, we are announcing it: Stephen Curry is the face of CoachUp and a huge part of our future, joining our leadership team as we continue growing CoachUp to reach more parents and coaches and help motivated, young athletes achieve their dreams. Stephen is in his sixth season as a guard with the Golden State Warriors. A two-time NBA All-Star, Stephen is one of the league’s best shooters. In both the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 seasons, he led the league in 3-pointers and was this year’s NBA 3-point contest champion. In 2010 and 2014, Stephen was a member of the USA Men’s Basketball Senior National Team that won Gold Medals at the FIBA World Championships. You’ve probably seen the videos of Stephen doing amazing, jaw-dropping things on the court.
