Greg Annan

How Did Sports Shape the Way You Lead?

Like any youth soccer player, I wanted to play soccer.

But at every level I played, I was always a leader on my team. I was the captain. I was the person who took responsibility for others. I did that from the beginning, all the way through my Division I soccer career.

I’m a motivator at heart.

That’s always been part of who I am. Whether I was playing, coaching, or working with kids in different settings, I always found myself stepping into that role where I wanted to push people to reach higher levels.

That’s really what motivates me most.

Being able to step in, build a relationship, and help someone see that they can do more than they thought they could.

My name is Greg Annan, and I’m an L3 Coach at Texas Sports Academy.

What Did You Learn from Working with At-Risk Youth?

Before Texas Sports Academy, I spent almost two decades working with at-risk youth.

I was a program manager for an emergency youth shelter in Pittsburgh, working with kids between 13 and 19 years old. They lived in our program, so our job wasn’t just putting a roof over their head for a temporary period of time.

It was always –

• What can we do for this individual that’s going to help them?
• What can we teach them that will make their situation better?
• What will they remember from us?

To this day, I can walk around Pittsburgh and hear, “Mr. Greg! Mr. Greg!” And I’m like, who’s that? And it’s one of my kids. So, I’ve always had a history of serving kids and families in very difficult situations.

But during those times, I always thought - I wish I could do more. I wish I had more time with this kid. I wish this kid’s situation wasn’t so dire that no matter what we provided, they still might not get the outcome they deserved.

At the same time, I was coaching soccer at an elite club level. I would work with kids who had the opportunity. Those kids were going to get Division I scholarships. They were traveling. They were able to do great things.

So, I had a taste of both worlds.

I had the joy of knowing my soccer players had opportunities to go great places. And I also had the pain of knowing some of my residential kids probably weren’t going to get that same opportunity.

It was this day-in, day-out balance between what kids can become when opportunity is there, and what happens when it isn’t.

How Did You Find Texas Sports Academy?

I discovered Texas Sports Academy before I discovered Alpha.

When I moved down to Texas, I looked at coaching jobs in the area, director of coaching jobs, soccer roles, and youth development roles. Because of my background, LinkedIn started showing me Crossover ads for a coaching position at Texas Sports Academy.

At TSA, we’re called Coaches instead of Guides.

So, I saw this role - Coach at Texas Sports Academy. Two hours of learning in the morning, two hours of life skills, and two hours of athletic development or sports focus.

And I’m thinking, oh my God, that’s my dream job right there. It was the combination of everything I was already doing, all in one place.

Instead of working with kids in a residential program, then going to coach at a soccer club, this was one place where I could do it all. That’s when I started learning about Alpha, two-hour learning, the Guide system, and how the mentoring side of it worked.

But the first thing that pulled me in was TSA.

It joined my passion for supporting youth with my passion for training youth in sports and soccer. It put it all into one position.

It felt like a gift.

Why Did TSA Feel Like the Right Fit?

After my interview and shadow day, there was a moment where I could have gone to Alpha Austin middle school or to TSA.

Both needed someone with my skill set. I had the behavior background, the coaching background, and the experience with middle school students. So, the decision was mine, which was pretty awesome.

Usually when you come into a position, they place you where they need you. But I got to think about where I felt I could make the biggest impact.

• Which kids would I connect with more?
• Which kids would look up to me more?
• Where could I really build that true mentor relationship?

And honestly, it had to be the sports.

The player-coach relationship is a different level of connection. Parents sometimes call coaches and say, “Can you please talk to my son?” or “Can you please talk to my daughter? They listen to you.”

That relationship really exists. So I had this little voice on my shoulder saying, yeah, you know where you need to be.

Then I saw the TSA campus - it’s gorgeous! I met the kids on my shadow day, and they were fantastic, they took to me right away. They asked the right questions, said the right things, and I watched the community and the culture. That was the moment where I thought, this is it.

This is where I need to be.

What Makes TSA Different from a Regular Coaching Job?

At TSA, sports are not separate from academics or life skills - it’s all connected.

We have the same core skills and community standards as Alpha, but we approach them through the TSA lens. I can talk about responsibility and accountability through sports in a different way than I might talk about accountability in the business world.

When people hear Texas Sports Academy, they think, oh, those are the jocks, or the athletes are over there. But the knowledge on campus goes far beyond sport.

We have people who have competed at the highest levels, Olympians, Major League Baseball players, high-level athletes. But we also have academic specialists, reading specialists, and leaders with deep expertise in learning.

It’s not just sports.

Its Alpha enhanced with the sports ethos. We’re building future academic All-Americans. That’s how I think about it.

To accomplish that, students need discipline. They need effort and focus. They need perseverance. Mostly, they need the ability to rely on themselves and come up with solutions because we trust that they can.

It’s not just academic mastery, it's also athletic and life skill mastery.

We don’t just expose kids to something cool and say, look at this, isn’t it nice? Exposure is the tip of the iceberg. We teach them to create their own masterpieces.

We put them in situations where they have to master something. That might mean a student learning how to sail, or tie knots. It might mean a five-year-old learning how to ride a bike for the first time and riding for a mile because the group encouraged him and he didn’t want to quit.

Those moments happen day in and day out.

That’s what makes TSA different -it’s not just a coaching job. It’s whole-child development through sports, academics, and life skills.

See open roles at Texas Sports Academy.

What Kind of Impact Do You Get to Make with Students?

My favorite part of the job is the creative freedom.

When it’s time for me to create a plan for students, I’m not just trying to make something 'fine.' I’m thinking, will this kid remember this for the rest of their life?

I have the ability to deep dive with multiple Guides and Coaches, get feedback, talk to my Lead Guide, and really ask - what are the parents going to think about this? Is this going to make the greatest impact possible?

At TSA, creativity means the ability to make the greatest impact you possibly can on a kid. Now I know I have what it takes, and I have the resources it will take to get the result I want.

One of my favorite recent examples was South by Southwest.

Three of our students presented there about our sailing workshop, Pirates of Lake Travis. They had learned how to sail, tie knots, be safe in the water, and race in a regatta. They trained for six or seven weeks, and week eight was race day.

Then they got to tell that story onstage at South by Southwest.

Watching them prep was incredible. We changed the speech just a few days before because we realized it couldn’t be stand and talk, stand and talk. It had to be storytelling and it had to feel connected.

So, they had to become storytellers onstage - and they crushed it.

One student had a moment where he took the mic during Q&A and said, “Let me add to that.” And then he just smoked the answer. As a coach, when he said that line, I was just like, yes!

Another student lost her line and recovered in a way that professional speakers struggle to do. Another thought he wasn’t going to be able to memorize his speech, and then he didn’t miss a word.

Those moments are why I love this job.

You watch students do something difficult, you watch them own it, and then you watch them realize they can do more than they thought. This job honestly makes me feel like I have superpowers.

I’ve always had ideas, worked with kids and hoped for certain outcomes. But now I’m in an environment with the tools and opportunity to make those things happen.

Explore our selection process here.

How Has This Role Changed What You Believe Is Possible?

I wish I was going to TSA.

That’s what I think about all the time. I’m so happy that I get to witness my students have this opportunity, and I get to be part of it, because this is something I would have loved to have had for myself.

I’m jealous!

As an athlete, imagine being able to fully tap into your capabilities from the beginning. Imagine knowing that if you get your schoolwork done efficiently in two hours, you unlock time to train, build life skills, and focus on your sport for the rest of the day.

There is no legit athlete who wouldn’t want that.

And when you add the Coaches around you who are motivating you individually, it changes everything. I know my students, and they know that I know them.

So, they can’t really get by with “it’s too hard,” because I can say, no, it’s not. I know what you can do.

I also know where their limits are. I know when to push and when to give a little slack. I know how to guide them into tough situations and help them do difficult things because I spend time with them every day.

In my old work, I often felt like I was fighting a fight I couldn’t win. I was putting energy into kids who needed support, but there were so many outside obstacles pulling them back down.

At TSA, I don’t feel that same pullback.

The energy we pour into these kids now is building them toward a future where they may never have to face some of the situations my other students faced.

They’re learning life skills early. They’re developing confidence early. They’re learning how to fail, recover, work hard, lead, and take responsibility for themselves.

And I get to help them do that.

This job found me, it’s a great fit. It lets me grow and expands what I’m capable of doing. I’m a big “get in, master it, and climb” type of guy. I want more! I want more kids doing great things. I want my students reaching higher levels.

It feels like, what can we cook up next?

As I get better with the tools I have now, the sky just keeps going up. It’s exciting, and it’s because I applied for a job on Crossover.

Want to keep reading? Meet Braden a Head Guide at Alpha Austin.