For most athletes between 17 and 20 years old, work options are limited to unskilled labor in restaurants, retail stores, and warehouses. While it is honest work, it is disconnected from the skills and passions they’ve spent years building.
Training flips that equation.
Yes, being a trainer offers significantly better hourly pay. But the real value goes far beyond money.
You Learn How to Build Something
Being a trainer is entrepreneurship at its most practical level:
You manage your schedule.
You set your rates
You build your own passive income stream from referrals.
You build a reputation session by session.
You learn what it means to provide value and how consistency, reliability, and effort translate directly into opportunity. Those lessons carry far beyond lacrosse.
You Build Real Interpersonal Skills
Training is more about being able to effectively communicate and be a leader than it is about the types of drills / reps you’re having clients complete.
You learn how to:
- Explain complex ideas simply
- Adjust your coaching style to different personalities
- Motivate without intimidating
- Give feedback that actually lands
These are skills most people don’t develop until years into their careers — if ever.
You Build Relationships That Matter
Youth sports communities are unique ecosystems. The parents on the sideline aren’t just spectators — many are professionals with deep networks and life experience. Especially in the lacrosse world, the sidelines are riddled with business owners, doctors, lawyers, bankers, executives, etc.
As a trainer, you build trust with families and learn how to interact with adults professionally. Over time, those relationships can turn into mentorship, guidance, and opportunities well beyond the field.
If parents trust you with the most valuable thing in their life, their kid, they’ll trust you to do a good job in an internship or a job. Long story short, people remember who helped their kid.
You Stay Sharp as a Player
There’s a quiet benefit that most people don’t think of – being a trainer also makes the trainer a better lacrosse player. As they say, the best way to learn something is to teach it.
Explaining footwork, shooting mechanics, or decision-making deepens your own understanding of the game. Many trainers find their own play improves because they’re thinking more intentionally about the fundamentals, and their stick is consistently in their hands.
You Give Back to the Game
This is a feeling that you’ll only know from experience, but the feeling of helping a kid become more confident is one worth chasing. There are few feelings as good as hearing a parent tell you that their kid’s chest is out prouder and their chin is up higher as a result of your influence.
You get to help younger players build confidence.
You become a role model — whether you intend to or not.
You pass down lessons you once learned from others.
When you are a trainer on NextRep, you truly are part of an environment where today’s elite athletes, who are often elite people, shape tomorrow’s.
More Than a Side Hustle
Being a trainer isn’t just a way to earn money. It’s a way to grow — as an athlete, a leader, and a person.
At NextRep, we believe the best trainers aren’t just skilled players. They’re people who care deeply, show up consistently, and understand the impact they can have. The best trainers will dramatically improve the lives of youth athletes in their community, open up opportunities for themselves professionally, improve their own game, and make a pretty penny doing it.