Keynote Speakers
Wayne Allison, Ph.D.
The Practical Application of The English Football Association's Coaching Research Programme
Wayne Allison Ph.D., is the Coaching Research Manager for The English Football Association. He is responsible for providing the underpinning knowledge of research to inform policy that can then be practically applied to support and enhance coach education and development. A former professional footballer, who made over 870 appearances for clubs including Bristol City, Swindon Town, Huddersfield Town, Sheffield United and Chesterfield, Wayne has a Ph.D. in Sport Exercise Science and Coaching and holds the full range of UEFA Coaching qualifications including the UEFA Pro Licence. He has also been Assistant Manager at Chester City and been on the coaching staff at Bury, Tranmere Rovers and Bradford City.
Dan Gould, Ph.D.
Dan is the Director of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports and Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Michigan State University. Dr. Gould is a sought after speaker, coaching educator and applied sport psychology consultant, and has published widely on topics such as mental preparation, the psychology of excellence, coaching psychology, motivation, children in sport, stress and the development of lifeskills in young athletes. Dan has published more than 200 articles in the field of sport psychology, co-written three books including the most widely used textbook in the field, and has been invited to speak in more than 30 countries. Dan has also served as the Co-Chair of the Science and Technology Committee of the U.S. Olympic Committee, was a member of the USOC Coaching and Development Committee for 10 years and has worked extensively with a variety of national teams, Olympic and professional athletes and coaches. He has helped design a number of coaching education programs and has given more than 1,000 clinic presentations.
Dave Lenox
Dave Lenox took over as President and CEO of Special Olympics Washington (SOWA) in August of 2014. Prior to joining SOWA, Lenox served as Vice President for Leadership Development and Education at Special Olympics Inc. in Washington, DC. Dave began his journey with Special Olympics as a games volunteer in 1976. Moving on to coaching and then becoming a local committee member, he began employment with Special Olympics in 1985 as Area Director for the Kansas City, Missouri area. In 1987 Lenox became Executive Director for Special Olympics West Virginia, and in 1989 he became CEO for Special Olympics North Carolina. In 1997 Dave was recruited to join the Headquarters office of Special Olympics as Director of Athlete Leadership Programming. In 2003, he took oversight of the Sports Department as well. In his current role as the key strategist in the effort to develop leadership and education initiatives that support and advance the work of the Special Olympics Movement, Dave oversees Family Support, Young Athletes, Athlete Leadership, Youth Activation, EKS Fellowships, and volunteer/staff leadership development programming.He has a BS in Special Education from Missouri State University and a Master of Science degree in Business Organization and Design from Capella University. Dave is married with two children. His son Maxwell is a 4th Year Cadet and Captain of the Men's Basketball team at the United States Military Academy at West Point;and his daughter Erin attends Seattle Central College.
John Crawley
Better Cultivating an Environment of Sporting Excellence
John Crawley is the High Performance Director of Team Sports with the Sport Performance Division of the United States Olympic Committee in Chula Vista, CA. He is responsible for providing performance impacting services and expertise, high performance strategic planning, competitive analysis, and training and competition performance support for eight (8) summer Olympic team sports, including;basketball, football (soccer), water polo, volleyball (indoor and beach), field hockey, rugby sevens, team handball, and archery. He also directs a multidisciplinary team of sport performance professionals to support strategies that optimize medal winning opportunities for team sports. For almost 17 years John has worked in a variety of sport performance roles with the United States Olympic Team, and has served with the USA delegation at multiple Olympic Games, Pan American Games, World Championships, and World Cup events. From 1999-2002, John was a Sport Biomechanist with the Coaching and Sport Sciences Division of the United States Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs, Colorado and provided performance enhancement service to athletes and coaches preparing for the Sydney (2000) and Salt Lake City (2002) Olympic Games. From 2002-2007, John served in several capacities with USA Triathlon, including High Performance Manager, National Select Team Coach, and Technical Services Coordinator during the Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008) Olympic campaigns. John served on the coaching staff at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and served on USA Triathlon's elite coaching staff at several International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Championships and numerous ITU World Cups. John returned to the Sport Performance Division of the USOC in 2008 and was a member of the USA delegation at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, and the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. He will also be a member of the USA delegation at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. John earned his undergraduate degree from The Ohio State University and his graduate degree in Kinesiology from Arizona State University. In 2013, he completed the prestigious Olympic Sport Leadership professional certificate program from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
