Hello, my name is Freddie Garcia and I am the Coach at Lab Academy. I graduated from King University with a minor in Psychology and a major in Exercise Science. I am currently completing a Masters degree in Special Education. I attended King on a wrestling scholarship. 

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When I was younger, my goal was to make the US World team and to represent the United States at the international level. During my High School career I was a two time CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) champion. I won Masters Championships, placed 8th in the state Folk Style tournament. I was a Greco (another Olympic Style of wrestling) California State champion and came in 2nd at Reno Nationals (one of the national wrestling tournaments)

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Unfortunately, at the age of 19, I was involved in a car accident and fractured my back. This seriously derailed my wrestling career. Although I was still able to wrestle in College at a high level, the three years I took to recover set me back. My goals had to shift and I beca3me focused on becoming one of the best wrestling coaches in the US.

I took on coaching with a scientist’s mindset. What were the aspects of a specific technique that made it work, why, and what approaches would neutralize it? What are optimal ways of gaining fitness for wrestling? How do we nurture an ability to embrace failure, which is where we often learn the most? How would I like to be treated as an athlete?

Over the past few years I have applied my understanding of wrestling to coach both boys and girls to California State championships. I Coached my own sister to 3rd at nationals and also California State title. I have coached multiple California state placers. Multiple Masters Champions. Coached a girls team to 5th in the California state tournament and coached a Girls team to a CIF championship. Most importantly, a number of students that I have coached have gone on to major universities such as Oklahoma University, Harvard, Duke and Oregon state. I have also coached at the collegiate level.

I am a firm believer that wrestling benefits children in a way that no other sport can. It will shape every aspect of a child’s being in a positive way and provide them with physical, emotional and intellectual tools that they will carry for life. I help each of my students to identify challenging goals and then I work with them to reach those goals. I set out to establish a fun and safe environment in which each child can develop a strong body and a strong mind.

I believe that losing is one of our greatest teachers and I work with children to stop being afraid of failure. The fear of failure is one of the biggest obstacles our children will face, and I want to help them understand that failure is not only acceptable, it is something we should accept as a natural part of moving forward. Only through failure can we achieve long-term success.

At the same time we are learning specific wrestling techniques, we also work on character development. When we encounter and overcome challenges, we work with each student to help them transfer what they learn on the mat, into other areas of their lives, whether academic, social or emotional.