“I found this scripture in the Bible,” said Isaac Jones, former NFL Wide Receiver. “It says, ‘As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he’ – Proverbs 23:7. That’s my life mantra and everything I do flows and extends out of that.”
That includes being the Lead Trainer at Unlimited Tennis Academy.
Unlimited is a co-ed facility training children ages 7 to 17 to become better athletes and the best versions of themselves. When the Academy made the decision to incorporate more sports, Isaac responded, “I don’t train tennis players, I train athletes.” This goal is key. Stressing functional movement, Isaac explained, “Whether they play football or not, their ability to move, control their body, get themselves in position, is the same.”
Isaac continues, “You take what you've learned at a really high level and you present those same concepts at a younger age and begin to implement. It's being able to get that high-level access at a grassroots level and, really, that's what drives me, is being able to take a conversation with Peyton Manning in the huddle and being able to apply, and break it down to where now the middle school quarterback understands, and the work ethic, and guys like QB Drew Brees – to take those examples and anecdotes, and being able to integrate that into our program.”
“It's not about working with division one athletes, it's not about trying to send kids to the pros,” said Isaac. “Kids become confident because they know they’ve got someone out there who believes in them, who’s going to be there, win or lose.”
“What makes Unlimited so special is that it’s not all about the end result,” explains Isaac. “We want kids to feel good about themselves. We know sports gives them a platform to be able to express who they are, but also to be able to work out who they’re becoming, and that’s what’s so awesome.”
"Kids become confident because they know they’ve got someone out there who believes in them."