Today we’d like to introduce you to Kaia Brooks.
Hi Kaia, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
It began after I graduated from college December 2022 (I walk the stage in May!) I had been doing volleyball year-round since high school, and I always worked hard but was never able to win a championship or tournament, etc. I took a rest month to figure out what I was going to do after school. In that rest time, I was able to be a fill-in coach for my old club coach’s club team because she was unable to coach the team at that time. With the exposer to her team, I was able to reconnect with a coach I worked with in summer 2022, where we did a volleyball summer camp developing beginners. I really took a love in teaching the sport I loved. Previously, I’ve been on teams that have use an acronym for their team name, so I started jotting words down that really stuck with me over my years of playing and coaching. Then one day, I looked at the list of word that stuck out to me and put together “Growth, Development, Athletic Training,” which I now call “GDAT”!
I’ve learned that sometimes really don’t alter, but figuring out what went wrong, learning, and growth to be better each day is all that matters. Development is close to growth, meaning in each experience, we are learning something we may not have known before. Athletic training can be defined in many ways, but I used as getting comfortable in the movements I’m making with my body and also understand why and what our bodies are doing (fun fact: I earned a degree in Kinesiology!)
With my time filling in for my coach, I discover I didn’t necessarily want to coach or have my own team. I reflected over my experiences and also realized that the competing in my area had really gone down since I was at that level of play, so I came to the conclusion that if I use the patience and love for youth that I’ve gained over the years, I can introduce the sport I love and teach what I know now to beginners. I realized I can push to get them the touches and reps necessary for the foundation of volleyball I didn’t necessarily have so that I could achieve success in volleyball (a ring and championship title).
I started my business GDAT to dip into the 4th-8th grade pool of athletes so they can be ready for their next level of play. Through my business, I host beginners’ clinics and privates (group or individual, male or female) lessons. My privates are for athletes of all ages!
My senior year, I thought it was too late for me to go to college and earn a degree while playing the sport that I love and that has groomed me to the disciplined, driven, and motivated woman I am today.
My ultimate goal for my business is to have a gym that athletes can access to gain the knowledge and skills they need for their sport to prepare them for the next level of play and get them access to finding opportunities to play in college if they desire. There are so many schools looking for athlete’s but as a kid, we think what we see and know is all I have to choose from. I don’t want that to be the case. I want #coachkjskids to dream big, put in the work, and make their dreams a reality!
I think something that separates my business from others would be my GDAT Journal. This is something my parents and I have came up with so my athletes are not only learning in clinics and private sessions, but they are going home and reflecting on what they did, what they learned, where they messed up what can they do to fix their errors. As well as vocabulary learned in a session and volleyball IQ fill-in-the-blanks that were discussed in the session. Following the vocabulary, each GDAT Journal page will have an uplifting Bible verse to remind my athletes that without God, nothing is possible, but with Him… We are blessed abundantly.
At the end of every clinic and private session, each athlete receives what is a GDAT Journal sheet as of right now (still working on getting the journal designed and made).
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 along the way would be pricing and planning for clinics. It kind of hard to run a business that requires a court and volleyball net without a court and volleyball net. All glory to God because the club team I work for allows me a discount price to rent a court for my private sessions, and I have been able to use my dad’s elementary school, by the grace of his principal, to start my beginner clinics. Pricing is difficult because I am technically a “new” coach (though I have been peer coaching in all my +10 years of playing). I want to make pricing affordable, but I also want to get what I’m worth!
As you know, we’re big fans of GDAT: Growth, Development, Athletic Training – Coach KJ. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
GDAT is based in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex for all athlete male and female. GDAT is a player development organization. I know that my energy and GDAT Journal set me apart from other organizations, but there is no person on Earth like me, and I embrace that and gasoline waiting to be lit by a spark. The spark are my athletes, and for them, I will always bring 110% to the table so they don’t fall behind or don’t feel like they can do something they want to do. My energy alone affects the way a child believes in themself and perceives physical tasks, but my GDAT Journal and simple reflection conversations set me apart because my athletes and gaining mental toughness and focus. All the things I learned in my collegiate career, they are being taught at a younger age! Why they are doing what they are doing. How they overcome what they are “afraid” of, when they don’t even realize it, how to be confident in they body moments, choices, and themselves. I’m most proud of the uncovering of my athletes’ love for volleyball after their first session and their willingness and readiness to come back for me.
I want readers to know that they don’t have to be afraid to work at the level they are on whether it’s a lower level or higher level. There will always be room for improvement, but if you take a the challenge with GDAT, you’ve got to be ready to work!
“Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard” – Tim Notke.
I also provide a list of recommend volleyball necessities via Amazon as well as I sell GDAT T-shirts with plans to drop winter hoodie designs at the beginning of the coming school year! Both available on my digital business card! (QR code available! Please request)
https://blinq.me/t2EIon1Wx7RQZvbNQQmM
We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
From the outside looking in, it may look like I graduated, started a business, and it flourishing. Though that is true to some extent, I don’t have everything figured out! Bumps in the road are always going to come.
I keep an idea journal close by, and anytime I get a vision or idea of something (even beyond GDAT), I write it down. This goes for building plans, GDAT Gear, practice plans, pricing, mentors’ information, reflections of the week/month, and even how my business and positive effect people I grew up with looking for work. My plans are big, and though they may seem impossible, taking it one day at a time, with God, everything that is for me will be for me, and everything that is rejected, declined or not approved was/is God’s protection.
Pricing:
- Beginners/ Intermediate privates $40/ hour Advanced privates $50/hour price going up summer 2023)
- Clinics price varies (follow on socials to keep up with flyers)
- GDAT Gear: tank tops – $20, t-shirt – $25, sweatshirt – $35, hoodies (winter hoodies coming soon) – $60
Contact Info:
- Website: https://blinq.me/t2EIon1Wx7RQZvbNQQmM
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/coachkj_gdat?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089755987167&mibextid=LQQJ4d
Image Credits
Nolan and Kanini Brooks
