2022 GCAA National Convention Information
Welcome
The GCAA National Advisory Board (NAB) is pleased to announce that the 2022 GCAA National Convention will be held December 5-7 at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.
GCAA Member Registration
See this link for the 2022 GCAA National Convention registration link.
After discussion with Planet Hollywood, we have extended the hotel reservation deadline to Saturday, November 19th. However, rooms at the discounted GCAA rate have sold out for Sunday, December 4th. Reservations are still available for Sunday, but room rates have increased. Hotel rooms for December 5-7 are available at the GCAA discounted rate, but rooms are filling up quickly. To reserve your room, please follow the Planet Hollywood link or phone number below.
Schedule of Events
See this link for the 2022 GCAA National Convention Schedule of Events.
Presenting Speakers
Jim Tressel
Youngstown State University President Jim Tressel will speak on Monday, December 5.
Prior to becoming Youngstown State’s ninth President, Tressel spent 15 years as the school’s head football coach. Youngstown State appeared in the playoffs 10 times and won four national championships during that time. In 2001, Tressel became the head football coach at Ohio State. In 10 seasons, he guided the Buckeyes to the 2002 BCS National Championship and seven Big Ten Championships. After leaving Ohio State, Tressel served as Executive Vice President for Student Success at the University of Akron before returning to Youngstown State in 2014.
During his career, Tressel has earned many coaching accolades, including Chevrolet National Coach of the Year, the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, the American Football Coaches Association National Coach of the Year, the Paul “Bear” Bryant National Coach of the Year, and the Sporting News National Coach of the Year. He was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015. At Youngtown State, he received the Heritage Award in 2008 and was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013. He was also enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
Tressel has published two books, given hundreds of presentations and lectures across the country, and has had extensive involvement in fundraising and philanthropy, including the recent $1 million gift to create the Jim and Ellen Tressel Student WorkOpportunity Endowment Fund at Youngstown State.
Kelli Masters
KMM Sports Founder and President Kelli Masters will speak on Monday, December 5.
Recognized as one of the most influential women in sports business, Kelli Masters often hears, "You have a DREAM JOB." But she chooses to inspire others not with her successes, but with her vulnerability, sharing not only the victories but also the battles and failures along the way. She is an attorney, an NFL sports agent and the Founder and President of KMM Sports, a full-service sports management company with offices in New York, Los Angeles, and her hometown of Oklahoma City.
Masters has represented more professional athletes than any woman in the industry, having served as agent/contract advisor to players in every NFL draft since 2006 as well as numerous athletes in the MLB draft and the Olympics. In 2010, she made history as the first woman to represent a first-round pick in the NFL Draft. Her story of progress through pain was featured as part of Motrin's national "Women in Progress" campaign in 2017.
Kelli is a former National and World Champion baton twirler and was also Miss Oklahoma 1997, winning awards for talent and community service at the Miss America pageant that year. Currently, Kelli serves as an Adjunct Professor at Oklahoma City University and Oklahoma Christian University, teaching Sports Law. She is a sought-after writer and speaker on topics of sports and nonprofits as well as leadership, diversity, and discovering purpose in life. Her first book, titled High-Impact Life, was released in August 2021.
Mike Smith
Former Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith will speak on Monday, December 5.
Smith was named head coach of the Falcons in February of 2008 and immediately went about the business of turning around the downtrodden franchise. Smith is the winningest coach (66-46) in franchise history.
Under Smith’s laser-focused leadership, the Falcons enjoyed one of the league's biggest turnarounds in 2008. After a 4-12 mark in 2007, Atlanta finished the 2008 season with an 11-5 record and lost to eventual NFC Champion Arizona in the NFC Wild Card Playoffs. Following his inaugural season, Smith was named NFL Coach of the Year by the Associated Press and The Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year.
Atlanta tallied a 56-24 regular season mark during Smith’s first five seasons, recorded back-to-back winning seasons (2008-2009) for the first time in franchise history, and compiled five consecutive winning seasons (2008-2012), the only team in the NFC to achieve that feat during that time frame. This impressive run also included two NFC South titles, hosting the NFC Championship Game for the first time in franchise history at the Georgia Dome, and two 13-win seasons (2010 & 2012).
Smith, regarded by his peers as one the top defensive coaches in football, helped guide the Baltimore Ravens to victory in Super Bowl XXXV as a defensive assistant coach. He later helped transform the Jacksonville Jaguars into a defensive powerhouse, serving as the club’s defensive coordinator from 2003-2007 when the team finished as one of the NFL’s best in total defense, points allowed, and rushing defense.
In 2015, Smith co-authored with Jon Gordon the Wall Street Journal’s Best Seller book You Win in The Locker Room First. The seven C’s to Build a Winning Team in Business, Sports and Life.
The Stack System - Marty Jertson & Sasho Mackenzie
Marty Jertson and Sasho Mackenzie, Co-Founders of The Stack System, will speak on Tuesday, December 6.
The CEO of The Stack System, an app-based speed training solution that leverages A.I. algorithms, Jertson is a golf generalist, PGA of America member, and in his 18th year as an engineer at PING. Jenson was the lead designer of the G30 and G410 drivers, co-inventor of the iPING Putting App, and most recently led the creation of Ballnamic (www.ballfitting.com), golf’s first brand-agnostic, modeling-based golf ball fitting solution.
Concurrent with his engineering career, Jertson has taken his technical knowledge and training efficiency to the course. He's played in six Major Championships, including the 2020 US Open at Winged Foot. He made the cut in the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage Black and was a member of the 2011 and 2019 victorious PGA Cup Teams. Jertson has also played in the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open along with two appearances at the TopGolf World Championship in Las Vegas.
Mackenzie, who holds a Ph.D. in Sports Biomechanics and is currently a professor at St. Francis Xavier University, has consulted for several entities in the golf industry, including PING, FootJoy, Rapsodo, BodiTrak, K-Vest, and FlightScope as well as for several top instructors such as Mark Blackburn and Chris Como.
His research interests lie in the optimization of golf performance, encompassing optimal movement patterns as well as the most advantageous training techniques. Mackenzie has conducted, presented, and published research on putting, shaft dynamics, 3D mechanics of the swing, shoe fitting, and the role of ground reaction forces in the golf swing.
Peter Sanders
Peter Sanders, Chief Data Officer at SwingU, will speak on Tuesday, December 6.
After a successful career in the insurance industry, Peter Sanders used his analytical skills to develop ShotByShot in 1989. As an avid golfer frustrated with the flaws in traditional, one-dimensional golf stats, he used computer modeling experience to create what is now known as Strokes Gained analysis (see History of Strokes Gained).
The company’s website, ShotByShot.com, provides interactive Strokes Gained analysis to individual golfers as well as instructors and coaches that use the program to build and monitor their player groups. The program provides analysis with answers, supported by more than 765,000 rounds of unique comparative data.
Sanders has written, or contributed to, over 80 articles in major golf publications including Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, Golf for Women, and GolfWRX.com. He has also been a speaker at golf industry gatherings, including a presentation at the 2018 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference (MIT Sloan Talk - Evolution of Golf Analytics).
He also works individually with PGA Tour players and their coaches to interpret the Tour’s often confusing ShotLink data. Zach Johnson has been a client for 11 years. Sanders has also provided support to Jonathan Byrd, Smylie Kaufman, Lucas Glover, Zack Sucher, Sepp Straka, Dylan Frittelli, and Michael Thompson and their coaches.
Sanders has been a technical consultant to Arccos Golf, developer of the groundbreaking game tracking and analysis system that attaches GPS sensors to users’ golf clubs. His role was to implement Strokes Gained analysis into the Arccos system.
Most recently, Sanders sold his company, ShotByShot, to SwingU, a successful golf technology and media company, in May 2022 to provide ShotByShot’s unique Strokes Gained analysis to SwingU’s Premium users. He now enjoys a role with SwingU as its Chief Data Officer.
Dr. Tim Royer
Neuropsychologist Dr. Tim Royer will speak on Wednesday, December 7.
In 2002, Dr. Royer started a practice working individually with students who were struggling behaviorally and academically. He expanded that experience into a school-based business in which he could provide student testing and treatment within the school setting, while coordinating the parent’s and teacher’s concerns under one roof, to produce improved academic performance. This successful concept developed into a thriving chain of clinics providing brain-based treatment to clients of all ages, addressing attention, memory, sleep, anxiety, mood, and peak performance concerns.
Today, Dr. Royer’s work continues in clients’ homes, universities, stadiums, and businesses across the globe through Royer Neuroscience and Inner Armor. For 25 years, he has been working tirelessly to improve the brains of his clients and impact their quality of life. Combining cutting-edge technology with proven principles and tools, Dr. Royer produces the highest quality of expertise in brain optimization and peak performance. He has worked with numerous professional and collegiate athletes, including 20+ pro golfers, including the former #1 in the world, the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, Orlando Magic, Portland Trailblazers, and more. His unique experience and education come together to provide a holistic and proprietary training process to help athletes forge resiliency. Dr. Royer is a believer in the power of the brain! He is double board certified in neurofeedback and heart rate variability, providing him the means to produce brain balance.
Dr. Troy Van Biezen
Dr. Troy Van Biezen, a Chiropractor for the PGA Tour and Golf Digest Top 50 Golf Fitness Trainer, will speak on Wednesday, December 7.
Dr. Van Biezen travels throughout the country teaching healthcare professionals on Functional Assessment of the Athlete, Injury Care, and Enhancement of Sports Performance. His knowledge and expertise in treating injuries and improving sports performance is known locally and nationwide. Athletes throughout North America have sought out Dr. Van Biezen’s expertise to help them recover from injury and improve their performance. In the office, he treats active individuals as well as professional athletes including athletes from the NFL, AFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, PGA, and Korn Ferry Tour. He also treats National and Olympic-ranked Gymnasts and Track & Field athletes.
While working as an ART Elite Provider, Dr. Van Biezen consulted and worked with major corporations on the prevention and treatment of “acute trauma injuries” and “cumulative trauma disorders”. He has been very successful in resolving injuries such as Sprains/Strains, Sciatica, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Tennis Elbow, Shoulder Impingement Syndrome, Plantar Fasciitis, etc. through Active Release treatments; which has dramatically reduced the cost of work injuries for their respective companies.
The four-time certified specialist is also a Titleist Performance Institute Medical Professional Level 2.
The AJGA Amundi Evian Showcase
Again this year, the AJGA will be holding an event in conjunction with the GCAA National Convention. The AJGA Amundi Evian Senior Showcase will be held at Legacy Golf Club in Henderson, Nev., and feature 156 unsigned 2022 graduates. The dates of the events are December 2-4, 2022. Complimentary transportation will be provided by the AJGA for all coaches to and from Planet Hollywood and Legacy Golf Club.
For more information please visit: https://www.ajga.org/tournaments/2022/the-amundi-evian-senior-showcase-boys