Juan Plaza - Co-Owner/ Head Coach / PE Program Coordinator
Juan E. Plaza earned a B.A. and M.Ed. in Exercise Science & Wellness from Louisiana State University-Shreveport. He is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) by the NSCA and is a certified Health & Physical Education instructor for K-12 in the state of Louisiana. He is also certified as a Level 1 Track Coach by USA Track and Field.
Plaza was an Exercise Physiologist for 10 years at Christus Schumpert Health Systems and a Health & Physical Education teacher in Caddo Parish and in Bossier Parish for 8.5 years. For the last 13 years he has trained athletes in the area of sports performance. He has helped hundreds of athletes in a variety of sports at all levels and ages, professional to youth sports.
Plaza founded the River Cities Track Club, a youth track & field summer program, in 1995. RCTC has helped develop multiple USATF National Junior Olympic sprint finalists and National Champions. Four of those athletes were selected to represent Team USA at international competitions and one was a World Champion sprinter.
In 2004 Plaza was selected by USA Track & Field as the Sprints Coach for Team USA who competed at the 2005 IAAF World Youth Championships in Marrakech, Morocco. In 2009 Plaza served on the Team USA staff again, this time as Head Coach. The 2009 IAAF World Youth Championships were held in Bressanone, Italy. Team USA 2009 collected the most medals ever won by any country ever and outscored second place by 59 points. Another highlight in Italy was the World Record in the Boys' Medley Relay.
In November 2010 LAHPERD (Louisiana Association of Health, Physical Eduation, Recreation and Dance) selected Plaza as Physical Education instructor of the year. Plaza was scheduled to recieve this award in Baton Rouge, LA during the LAHPERD convention.