Discover What 10 Of The World's Best Speed Development Coaches Do To Get The Best Results Out Of Their Athletes!

2025 VIRTUAL SPEED & POWER SUMMIT

The Complete Speed & Power Summit has been run since 2016. It was 2 days of athlete building and training education put together from the top speed and power development coaches around all run at a top notch facility as a live event.

This year we decided to do something different...it's going to be VIRTUAL!

It allows us to add more elite coaches to present. It's hard for in-the-trenches coaches to take time out their schedules to travel to a specific location to speak at an event. So we are able to get more amazing coaches who are actually putting in the work each day getting their athletes better, to share with you exactly what they are doing!

A virtual event also allows coaches throughout the World to be able to join us and learn from the best of the best!

We wanted to put together a complete FOCUSED event for coaches and trainers that work with speed and power athletes. There are too many events that are all over the place and have maybe one or two sessions on speed. The problem is, they don't dive in and get deep into the topics. The Virtual Speed & Power Summit does just that, goes deep into all aspect of developing faster and more powerful athletes.

Athletes Acceleration grabbed the top coaches in speed and power...the coaches that COACH EVERY DAY (you know what I'm talking about - you see other 'coaches' who speak on tour but haven't coached an actual athlete in years or online 'coaches' who put out fancy videos or crazy exercises but don't coach real athletes). We are bringing you the top coaches in our industry who talk-the-talk AND walk-the-walk.

You will not find a better line-up of coaches anywhere. You are going to learn from the best speed & power coaches in the world. Even better, you can become a better coach yourself!

VIRTUAL SPEED & POWER SUMMIT COACHING LINE-UP

Les Spellman

Coach, Owner of Spellman Performance and Founder Universal Speed Rating

Nicholas Hill

Pro Elite Performance Strength & Speed Coach at EXOS

Mark Fitzgerald

Elite Performance Coach, Former Strength & Conditioning Coach Anaheim Ducks

Dr. Ken Clark

PhD in Biomechanics, Researcher in Human Performance and all things SPEED

Shea Pierre

Speed & Performance Coach, Owner Pierre Elite Performance (PEP)

Kenna Smoak-Minnici

Director of Sports Performance at Army West Point

Erik  Hernandez

Associate Director of Strength & Conditioning at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

JB Morin

Sprint Expert, Professor Head of Department Sport Sciences, Researcher, and Coach

Brian Kula

Owner at Kula Sports Performance, Director of Performance at Farm and Forge Club

Scott Moody

Owner AthleteFit, CEO of Training and Research Institute for Athletic Development

VIRTUAL SPEED & POWER SUMMIT AGENDA

VIRTUAL SPEED & POWER SUMMIT AGENDA

Erik Hernandez 
"Running As A General Solution For Athlete Preparation and Injury Prevention"

Kenna Smoak-Minnici 
"A Plane Plan for Speed & Power in Rotational Sports"

JB Morin
"Speed Science, What's New?"

Dr. Ken Clark
"Training Top Speed"

Les Spellman 
"Building Game-Breaking Acceleration: Progressions, Metrics, and the Universal Speed Rating"

Scott Moody 
"Coaching Dynamic Speed: Movement, Mindset, and Mastering the Moment"

Nicholas Hill
"Developing the NFL's Fastest Athletes"

Brian Kula 
"Speed Priority Programming"

Shea Pierre 
"Unlocking Youth Speed: The Science and Strategy Behind Getting Faster"

Mark Fitzgerald 
"Speed Training for Hockey"

PRESENTERS FROM THE VIRTUAL SPEED & POWER SUMMIT

Here's who you will learn from...

Les Spellman

Coach, Owner Spellman Performance and  Founder of Universal Speed Rating

Les Spellman has emerged as one of the world’s elite speed performance coaches - training NFL and USA Rugby players, Olympians, NCAA athletes, plus emerging high school and youth level kids across a variety of sports. Most notably, however, he has guided a large percentage of youth athletes to college scholarships. He is an Ex-Olympic Speed coach. NFL speed builder and Founder of Universal Speed Rating.

Les believes that speed is not only an inherent trait but an essential skill that can be mastered - the X factor that separates good from great. 

Les and Spellman Performance help athletes & coaches by mastering speed through biomechanics, advanced technical training, and personalized speed profiles & programs inside the Universal Speed Rating software.

With over 20 years of speed training experience, our expert team of coaches will help you optimize your speed development to make a real impact on the field or court.

Shea Pierre

Speed & Performance Coach, Owner Pierre Elite Performance (PEP)

Shea Pierre is a Sports Performance Coach. Coach Pierre’s main focus is speed development for both linear and multidirectional athletes.

He played for 3 years in the Canadian Football League and studied psychology and sports in university.

He was the Strength and Conditioning Coach at Guelph University in 2018-2019 and for the Toronto Argos in 2019-2020.

Pierre also runs a very successful online business, Pierre’s Elite Performance – PEP, where he works with athletes with his sports performance training program and speed training products. PEP offers programs designed to unlock potential in athletes.

Shea’s mission is to build an athlete’s foundation from the ground up.

Shea Pierre, has been training athletes for the last decade and isn’t slowing down. After gathering a decade of knowledge training athletes of all ages he is expanding into the digital realm. No more paying 1000s of dollars to expensive trainers, he is going to bring you the best programs in the WORLD all available online. There are a lot of new programs that are coming out in the next year so stay tuned.

JB Morin

Sprint Expert, Professor, Researcher, and Coach

JB Morin is a Full Professor at Université Jean Monnet, Saint-Etienne, France. He is Head of Department, Sport Sciences and Physical Education. A Researcher, Interuniversity Laboratory of Human Movement Science (LIBM), an Associate Researcher at Auckland University of Technology, Sports Performance Research Institute New-Zealand, an Associate Researcher at Laboratoire Motricité Humaine Expertise Sport Santé (LAMHESS), Université Côte d’Azur, France and a Visiting Professor at Loughborough University, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences

Education & Diplomas
Research Director Degree, University of Saint-Etienne – 2011
Thesis: “Biomechanics of Human Locomotion and Performance: Innovative Models and Methods”
University of Cambridge ESOL certificate in English, CAE, Level C1, Grade A – 2007
PhD in « Human Motor Function», University of Saint-Etienne, France, and Udine, Italy – 2004
Thesis: “Mechanical Factors of Sprint Performance Assessed with New Measurement Methods”, Passed with Highest Honours
MSc « Sports and Training Science », University of Saint-Etienne, Rank: 1st – 2001
Track & Field coaching certificate, National Diploma, Level 1 – 1998

Teaching
University of Saint-Etienne, Faculty Sciences, Sport Sciences Dpt
Bachelor and Masters Degree in Sport Science and Training

Biomechanics of Movement, Locomotion and Sports
Training and testing methods: Force, Velocity and Power
Biomechanical consequences of fatigue
Research Design and Methodology
Data Analysis and Visualization
Football Science Institute
Online Masters in Football Science and Strength and Conditioning

Kenna Smoak-Minnici

Director for Sports Performance, Army West Point

2025 Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year

Kenna Smoak is in her fifth year as a member of Army West Point’s Sports Performance staff and works with the baseball, volleyball and men's gymnastics programs. After joining the Black Knights as an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach, she was promoted to her current title of Associate Strength & Conditioning Coach in the summer of 2019.

Smoak arrived on the banks of the Hudson from Marshall University where she was the Associate Director of Olympic Strength and Conditioning. She led the training for women’s basketball, men’s soccer, volleyball, women’s swimming and diving as well as the men’s and women’s golf programs.

During the 2015-16 season, she worked at Southern Methodist University with the women’s basketball team, the American Athletic Conference champion swim program and the women’s tennis team.

Before arriving in Dallas, Minnici (formerly Smoak) was at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. She worked with volleyball, softball, women’s tennis and women’s basketball while assisting with football. In her time with the Mocs, the softball team and nationally-ranked women’s basketball squad won the SoCon Championship and NCAA tournament berths.

Minnici completed a graduate assistantship for strength and conditioning at Gardner-Webb University in December 2013 and earned her Master’s in Sport Science and Pedagogy. She was the primary coach for women's basketball, women's soccer, men's and women's swimming and track/cross country and assisted with football.

Prior to Gardner-Webb, Minnici went through an internship program at Georgia Institute of Technology to complete her undergraduate education in Kinesiology from the University of Alabama. While at Alabama, she was a student intern from spring of 2009 to the summer of 2011 and focused on softball, women’s basketball, rowing and golf. She also handled the training for the men's wheelchair basketball team.

She is certified through the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). Minnici is also USAW, RPR, FMS, and NASM-PT certified, as well as Collegiate Strength and Conditional Coaches Association certified as Strength and Conditioning Coach (SCCC).

A native of Atlanta, Ga., she has been a National Level NPC Figure/Physique competitor since 2009, is a pro-total powerlifter and a two-time Boston Marathon qualifier.

Brian Kula

Owner at Kula Sports Performance, Director of Performance at Farm and Forge Club

Coach Kula has worked with thousands of athletes in his career as a track & field, sport performance and football coach. He has coached multiple National Champions, All-Americans, Gatorade Players of the Year and State Champions in a variety of sports. 

Kula has 29 years experience in the athletic development of athletes at all levels from youth to professional. He has been certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from UNC in 1996 and began his professional career in the same year. In addition to many years as a head track coach and architect of numerous championships and records, 

Kula also coached football and operated strength and conditioning programs. He directed all facets of strength, speed, agility, conditioning, testing, recovery and nutrition. Kula has been a presenter at coaching clinics for speed development and training programs in a number of states and consulted for various programs around the country. 

Developing athletes in various sports at multiple levels, Kula has worked with professional and D1 athletes from over 36 universities across the country including notable athletes Christian McCaffrey - NFL OPOY (San Francisco 49er’s), Saquon Barkley - NFL OPOY (Philadelphia Eagles), Janine Beckie - #8 Overall NWSL Draft Pick (Racing/Team Canada), Anna Hall - Olympian (adidas) , Josh Morrissey - NHL All Star (Winnipeg Jets), Jeremy Dodson - Olympian (Samoa), MaryBeth Sant – World Championships 60m (Oregon/CSU), Evan Baylis - Tight End (Kansas City Chiefs), Kaela Edwards - World Championships 800m (adidas) and many other elite athletes. 

Before retiring in 2021 from Valor Christian High School and launching KSP, Kula served as an athletic director, head track and football coach. His passion and success for the development of athletes to maximize their potential has been recognized at the state, regional and national level. 

As an athlete, Kula was an accomplished Decathlete at the University of Northern Colorado earning All-American honors and played wide receiver for the football team. He was inducted into the UNC Hall of Fame, class of 2014.

Mark Fitzgerald

Owner Elite Training Systems, Former Strength & Conditioning Coach Anaheim Ducks

Mark has spent the last 15 years working with athletes from a variety of sports at every level. He began his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs organization and most recently was the head of performance for the Anaheim Ducks. 

Mark is the founder of Elite Training Systems in Ontario, which has grown to 4 locations servicing athletes from all major and minor sports. Mark is the lead training advisor for Under Armour Canada, as well as a member of their global training team. Mark also serves as a consultant for a number of health and performance organizations.

Erik Hernandez

Associate Director of Sports Performance at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Erik Hernandez joined the University of North Carolina Olympic Sports Strength and Conditioning staff in August of 2010.

A former UNC intern, Hernandez now serves as the Associate Director for Olympic Sports for the strength and conditioning department. He is responsible for the men’s lacrosse, men’s golf, women’s golf and volleyball teams. In his time at Carolina he has had the opportunity to oversee several other teams including the women’s lacrosse team during their 2016 and 2022 NCAA Championship seasons.

Before Carolina, Hernandez was a graduate assistant strength coach at the University of Tulsa, working primarily with football and basketball.

Hernandez interned at Arizona State University and Niles North High School, along with serving as a student intern at Loyola University (Chicago).

A 2010 graduate of Loyola, Hernandez competed in the shot put for the track and field team and still holds the school record. He received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Loyola and his Masters of Education in training and development from N.C. State. Hernandez is CSCS certified through the National Strength and Conditioning Association and holds Titleist Performance Institute level 3 fitness certification as well.

A native of West Chicago, Ill., Hernandez resides in Durham with wife Jessie and their two children, Lily and Elliott.

Nicholas Hill

Pro Elite Performance Strength & Speed Coach at EXOS

Nicholas Hill is Pro Elite Performance Specialist for EXOS Arizona. He is a Southern California kid, born and raised is San Diego. Nic grew up playing a wide array of sports but spent most of his youth skateboarding. He didn’t play football until college but quickly fell in love with the game from walking onto the team to being a full scholarship athlete.

After college Nic naturally gravitated towards coaching and built a business in personal training working with mostly youth and adult populations. After being introduced to EXOS in 2015 he knew immediately what my next career moves would be.

After an internship in Spring of 2016, Nic was hired at the EXOS HQ facility in Arizona where he have been for the last 7 years. Today, Nic oversee the EXOS NFL Combine Prep Program as well as the NFL and NBA Vet Off-seasons Programs.

Athletes Acceleration Inc - Copyright © 2025