OUR FOUNDERS

 

  • Brittni leads Strata Athletics with empathy and expertise. From playing NCAA Division I basketball, to coaching in the NBA, to using sport-specific technology & analyzing data at the highest level, her wide range of skills and diverse experiences gives her the ability to see and understand sport from the perspective of an athlete, a coach, an analyst, a talent-evaluator, and more.

    Brittni currently serves as an Assistant Coach for the Atlanta Hawks. During the 2022-23 season, she served as an Assistant Coach and the Director of Coaching Analytics for the Detroit Pistons and from 2019 - 2021, Brittni was an Assistant Coach for the Toronto Raptors.

    Prior to coaching, Brittni spent 4 years as a basketball Data Analyst — including 2 years in the Toronto Raptors’ front office and 2 years at the global leader in sports intelligence, STATS LLC, in Chicago.

    Brittni played basketball on a full scholarship at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) from 2011 - 2015, where she still holds the all-time single game three-point record (8). Although Brittni had aspirations to play professionally, she suffered a multitude of knee injuries while at UNI which required several major surgeries. Brittni continued to contribute to her team's success both on & off the court and was able to finish her basketball career in a uniform. She graduated from UNI with a degree in Statistics & Actuarial Sciences.

    During her successful high school athletic career at Sioux City North, Brittni was a three-time 1st-Team All-State basketball selection in the state of Iowa (2009, 2010, 2011). In 2009, she was a starter on Sioux City North’s State Championship team and an All-Tournament team selection. She also earned All-State volleyball honors in 2011.

 

  • Chad is our curriculum and teaching specialist at Strata Athletics, bringing over a decade of experience in teaching methodology, curriculum creation, and youth development. Chad has taught the game of basketball on all six continents and is currently the head of curriculum for PGC Basketball.

    Chad was truly an efficient and versatile point guard at Millsaps College, where he finished his career ranked in several categories: 4th in assists, 4th in three-point field goals made, and 3rd in both free-throw percentage (.836) and three-point field-goal percentage (.409). Chad led the 2007-08 Majors to the best record in school & conference history (28-4), losing to the eventual Division III national champions in the Elite Eight after Chad kept their magical season alive by hitting a buzzer-beating three-pointer to help his school reach the NCAA’s Sweet Sixteen.

    He was a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) All-Conference player and a 2009 Nominee for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award, given to the best male point guard throughout all NCAA Divisions.

    Chad is the founder of Sustainable Giving Homes which uses real estate profits from homes in Austin, TX, and Cape Town, South Africa, to fund educational opportunities for students throughout Africa. He also teaches throughout the year through a variety of projects he has founded that include stand-up comedy, cultural growth experiences in Africa, and mentoring young leaders and entrepreneurs.

  • Tim first touched a basketball at age 11, and started his basketball career playing at a club in Moscow, Russia, until he and his mother relocated to Kansas when he turned 16.

    Hoop dreams were put on an 8-year hold, as Tim didn’t play competitively in high school or college. While adapting to a new country, studying mathematics, and pursuing business, he kept wondering what his career could have looked like. That’s when he decided to find out - and he hired a private coach, Rodney Perry. Tim’s game started to improve, and after moving to Austin, he found his second coach - Rich McIver. Together, they set a goal for Tim to become a professional basketball player.

    In pursuit of his dream, Tim enrolled in PGC Shooting College, where he met Chad. The following fall, he made his first semi-pro team, the Austin Rhythm. He then signed a contract for two more seasons with the Austin Knights of the ABA. The experience of pursuing a basketball career past his prime gave him a unique insight into what type of training most efficiently translated into results on the court. He returned to PGC as a coach and an instructor for multiple sessions.

    Over the last 10 years, Tim has experimented with adapting PGC Basketball’s unique curriculum to kids. He found that asking questions, implementing gamification, and using video consistently led to better development than the instruction-oriented coaching Tim was used to as a youth player.

    The Socratic method of teaching is something Tim has extensively practiced at Acton School of Business - one of the most competitive MBA programs where Tim was named a Teacher of the Year in his first term.

OUR STORY

 

On top of their unique backgrounds and extensive experiences within and around sport, what ultimately brought Brittni, Chad, and Tim together to form Strata Athletics was a strong mutual belief that sport can serve as a powerful tool to develop the full person.

Brittni attended several of Chad’s PGC Basketball courses during her competitive playing career. She was deeply impacted - not only by the way Chad shed light on the intricacies of basketball, but also the ways in which he was able to teach her “intangible” skills that centered around topics like leadership, communication, and being a great teammate.

Tim also attended one of Chad’s PGC courses while pursuing his professional basketball career, and he was inspired in many of the same ways Brittni was. A vision emerged: rather than try to “fix” adults who may or may not possess essential social and emotional skills similar to those Chad was teaching at PGC, Tim instead saw potential to make great societal impact by equipping youth with these skills through sport.

Tim shared this vision with Chad, and although there was a lot of synergy, the timing wasn’t quite right for them to bring the vision to fruition. Years later, Chad and Tim were still having ongoing discussions around their initial desire to create a uniquely comprehensive youth sports program, and Brittni, with her wealth of experience using sports data & technology - as well as coaching, playing, and monitoring athlete development - was the missing ingredient and perfect complement to what Chad and Tim were envisioning.

Once Brittni, Chad, and Tim connected on this vision, it became clear that they were all in alignment. With divine timing, a shared passion to use sport to positively impact, and a shared belief that youth sports programs can and should holistically equip young athletes far beyond their athletic careers - Brittni, Chad, and Tim were able to collaborate and ultimately bring Strata Athletics to life.