Sky Stephens, “the personal growth and development of her students is unparalleled…”
July 15, 2020
To whom it may concern:
I’d like to offer my letter of recommendation for Linda Hughes (YEA) as a highland games coach. I have worked with Linda as my coach in-person and online since 2016. I can not recommend a better person for the safe and effective introduction to the highland games than Linda. Her passion for the highland games and the personal growth and development of her students is unparalleled.
I took a hiatus from highland games competition and training in 2015 during a complicated twin pregnancy. Returning to the sport was a high priority for me in 2016. I returned with a fair amount of strength loss, weight gain, and a significant reduction in available time as I balanced my athletic pursuits with my young family and my professional career. Linda crafted specific training programs that utilized specific exercises, work flows, and technical drills to improve my strength, flexibility, and performance. The ability to access training programs with Linda in-person and online allowed me to readily incorporate my training into my life and work, which typically includes a lot of travel.
From 2016 to 2018 working with Linda I saw significant improvements. I was a more consistent competitor and my individual event performances improved by at least 10 percent. In 2019, my first eligible year, I qualified for the Master’s World Championship. I qualified again in 2020. I continue to improve under Linda’s coaching. In addition to the physical growth I experienced I also found a coach who helped me shift my internal dialogue from “I can’t” to “I will”. Linda’s coaching is about more than how far can you throw this stone. Her approach requires that you put forth your personal best effort and that you measure your self against your best self. She asks you to grow physically and mentally.
While working with Linda I have also observed her instruction to a diverse set of students and seen them grow in ability and confidence. Linda takes people from all walks of life and has students that have been life-long athletes – track and field collegiates, power lifters, cross fitters – and students that have no ‘sports’ background. Her students include teenagers, middle-aged moms, average Joes, and the oldest male (85) and female (71) highland games athletes in Colorado. Linda meets people where they are and regularly designs specific adaptations to training programs to accommodate injury recovery and to maximize a persons existing skills and strengths. In recognition of her work Linda was awarded a 2019 Sportswomen of Colorado Empowerment Award and it could not have been better deserved.
Lastly, COVID-19 has had the opportunity to be everyone’s biggest excuse to stop participating, to stop coaching, to stop growing. In the early days of COVID-19 Linda moved all of her instruction online for the safety of her students. She utilizes two-way communication including video to work with students remotely. She also loaned equipment previously used in group classes out to individuals. As various restrictions related to COVID-19 were lifted Linda established safety protocols for students to come together for in person sessions and competitions. Her dedication to her students safety is paramount.
I without reservation recommend Linda Hughes, YEA, and her training packages to everyone. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Sky Stephens
Testimonial transferred from email attachment to site by Linda M Hughes, 1/21/2022