Sam Acho: Welcome back to the Sam Macho Podcast featuring Cliff Marshall.
And today we have a very, very, very special guest.
And I know I wanna do this introduction, but Cliff, you
usually introduce our guest.
So I'd love for you to introduce our special guest for today.
Clif Marshall: Yes, Sam.
Today on the podcast we're talking with Bailey Wheat.
Bailey is driven by passion to help athletes thrive.
She currently serves as the regeneration coordinator at Sports
Academy in Dallas, Texas, where she helps athletes through their recovery
and restorative exercise journey.
In addition, she is an athlete herself.
For the last 14 years, she has participated in roller derby and we are
definitely excited to talk about that.
But Bailey, more than anything else, welcome to the Sam Macho Podcast and
it's special because you are the first female guest that we've had on the show.
So welcome Bailey.
Yes.
Sam Acho: We're so hyped.
Bayleigh Wheat: Yeah, so thank you so much for having me.
I'm so excited and I feel a great honor to.
Um, share my story a little bit and, you know, I love Sam.
We've had some really wonderful conversations and so I know that this
is gonna be, it's gonna be a great day.
It's gonna be a good conversation.
Sam Acho: Yes, and I, I know I don't love doing intros, but Bailey, I had, I had to
make a call before we started the podcast.
I had
Bayleigh Wheat: Uh.
Sam Acho: I had to call Vmac, you know, VMAC helps run Sports Academy.
And I said, Hey, gimme some juice.
Not just on, on Bailey.
Also on Sports Academy.
I'll give a little bit of background.
So I live in Dallas, Texas.
Bailey, you work at this facility called Sports Academy.
And, and I want to get a a little specific for the people who are are listening.
So Sports Academy, they train NFL athletes, NHL Athletes,
Dallas Cowboys, cheerleaders.
They train, uh, MLB athletes, you name it, they can train, uh, everyday athletes.
You name it, they do it.
But I'm gonna get specific, 'cause the NFL draft just happened, this last draft.
You all trained five first round picks.
Uh.
NFL there's 44 total NFL combine guys that y'all train.
Even the off season, uh, and I, I'm, correct me if my numbers are wrong, but I
heard 131 players from January to July in the off season, that's like seven to 8%.
Seven or 8% of the NFL was training.
Bayleigh Wheat: Yep.
Sam Acho: We talked about that, also talked about the, you know,
the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.
You talk about some of the, uh, the, the work that you do, even with,
uh, everyday athletes, not just pro athletes, but everyday athletes and
you are the regeneration coordinator.
So when it comes to the modalities, when it comes to getting players bodies, right,
their minds, right, that is what you do.
And so my question is, how did you get into this field of working with some
of the best athletes in the world?
Bayleigh Wheat: Yeah, so.
It's been quite a journey.
Honestly, I never would have guessed that this was where I would be at
at this point in time, but I'm, I'm happy to be here and I'm, I'm
happy for the journey that I'm on.
Um, I originally, I just liked sports.
I liked coaching, I liked movement.
And so when I went into college, I originally started out
actually in a junior college.
Um, so pretty simple.
Just wanted to get the basics out of the way.
I didn't have much, uh, guidance on kind of approaching the college.
Experience as a whole, right?
And so it was something that I was really kind of learning on my own.
And by the time I got to choosing something a little bit more in
depth, I was like, kinesiology, the study of human movement.
Like, I love to move.
Why wouldn't I wanna study that?
And so I, I dove, um, deep into that.
Um.
Track in that field and was, uh, studying kinesiology, pre-PT originally.
So I was gonna go to PT school.
Um, but then I actually did my internship with Sports Academy my final semester
of college, and that's where I really got exposed to just how vast that
the performance industry really is.
And I wanted to go to massage school.
Hold on.
I'm gonna adjust my headphone.
Sam Acho: Yes,
yes, we got you.
Bayleigh Wheat: Okay, perfect.
I'm gonna just set that, uh, that last bit back a bit from when I, uh, from school.
Sam Acho: Yes.
Bayleigh Wheat: so my final semester at college, I did, uh, my internship with
Sports Academy as a performance coach intern, and that's where I really got
exposed to just how vast the performance industry is in terms of physical therapy,
performance coaches, skills coaches, body work specialists, recovery specialists,
and all those kinds of things.
And so.
Truly that exposure there is what led me into the journey and Sports Academy
gave me that platform to be able to do that and the, the parameters to be able
to meet all of these wonderful athletes across all these different fields.
And so it's really just like history.
I feel like I somehow just ended up here.
Sam Acho: But, but you say that, but you work with the,
some of the best in the world.
What is, what is the data?
And I, I, I know that, 'cause I, I showed up, you know, I showed up to Sports
Academy, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm retired, I'm not playing anymore, but I'm over here
trying to train with these guys and run with these guys and lift with these guys.
These are like, you know, some of the highest paid best players.
I try to keep up, but also then I would meet you.
I remember it was a Thursday and it's just like unbelievable
regeneration like you think athlete, you think, okay, they lift, they run.
But with you with something different, you have these like, I
dunno what these long poles are.
You're trying to like do wanna do all these stretching?
We're on our toes, we're spread.
Like what does the day to day look like for you specifically working
with some of these athletes.
Bayleigh Wheat: Yeah, so as that regeneration coordinator, I really
oversee kind of three big areas, and that's gonna be our recovery.
So making sure that on the passive side, things like Asana or compression
booth, hyperbaric oxygen chambers, that we're really optimizing those modalities
within the performance programs.
That second part is, like you were saying, those resource sessions.
So those corrective exercise and mobility sessions that really focus
on optimizing movement efficiency, um, in those joints and in those tissues
that these guys are kind of constantly training really difficultly, right?
So when they train, you know, a max speed day, instead of coming in and
training more hips and more glutes, where they're gonna just kind of
continue to beat themselves down, we.
Take one day off and we say, Hey, we're gonna actually stretch these areas
and we're gonna do some soft tissue on the areas that need to be released.
And then we're gonna try to optimize that range of motion in those joints.
So that's a lot of times where we use the stick mobility.
Those are those kind of long orange sticks that we can use for, for leverage and
stability to kind of put these athletes in positions that they wouldn't really
otherwise be in, in a training program or in their, their football program.
Sam Acho: Hmm.
Bayleigh Wheat: So I would say that plus just overseeing and coordinating what
does their performance program look like and how are they feeling right after they
come in for a long, you know, training week, how are they feeling at the end of
the week or towards the end of the week?
And then how are we adjusting their program for the following week?
Clif Marshall: Wow.
I love that.
Bailey.
You know, my philosophy is you gotta train hard.
you have to recover hard.
And it sounds like that's exactly what you're doing at Sports Academy.
Uh, one of the things that I thought was really cool um, I was on the
Sports Academy Instagram page, I think, and I saw that you got to
actually travel to Indianapolis and you were a part of the NFL combine.
can you talk about that experience and how you kind of prepped the players before?
You know, they run the 40 yard dash and everything.
Bayleigh Wheat: Of course.
Yeah, so it's a, it's been an awesome experience getting to be
a part of the Combine program.
This year was my fourth combine program my third year getting to
go to Indy, so leading up to them, the athletes going to the combine.
Really our goal is to have a bit of a education piece to these athletes.
A lot of these guys coming out of college programs have never.
Had training like this or been put through sessions where they're stretching
and then activating and creating range, and doing all of those things.
So for those eight to 12 weeks that we have those guys, it's a really
awesome time to really just instill in them how important it is for
them to take care of their body.
Because ultimately we don't wanna just prepare 'em for the combine.
We wanna prepare them for the next five, 10, however many years that
they're gonna be playing in the league.
So I would say during the, the eight weeks of the program, it's a little
bit of that and educating them as well as taking them through, um,
these programs and these movements.
But then when it comes to actually being at the combine, um, it's a
little bit more hands-on approach.
So once the guys drop in, we have a full protocol from the day that they drop in.
We have a speed prep day, we have a power prep day.
We have all of these different preps based on what they're going to do.
Kind of in the following day to get their bodies ready.
Very similar to what we do in that eight week program.
Um, but then as well, these guys are going to combine and
they're sitting around, right?
They're doing their interviews, they're doing medical, they're waiting around.
And a lot of times, like that's not what their body is used to doing, right?
They just got off an airplane.
And so the body work side of things is where that comes into play.
So once these guys get done, whether it's at five or I've had guys
come in, um, as late as, you know.
10, 11, 12 o'clock at night.
Um, after their sessions, they've done their interviews and just an
opportunity to kind of calm their nervous system down a little bit.
Any of those areas that are tight or kind of sore, achy, we're able to
then address those things so that when they do go to do their performance,
their 40 yard, they're able to perform and do what they need to do.
Sam Acho: Hmm.
Clif Marshall: Wow.
Go ahead, Sam.
No, I, I just gotta share.
It's pretty cool.
I just, I'm just remembering from 2011, know, uh, I was
with Sam at the NFL combine.
I was blessed to train him for, for that event.
the night before, uh, as you said, I remember Sam coming to my room
and there's a lot of nervous.
Feelings, there's a lot of anxiety.
But to have him in the room and just, uh, talking with him and
praying with him, and then we kind of walked through every drill together.
Um, then the following day, watching him go out and dominate the combine
and breaking all time record there.
I remember watching it on tv just remember the thrill that I had.
It was almost as if I was out there running with him.
Bayleigh Wheat: Yep.
Clif Marshall: I'm anxious to know.
Do you experience similar feelings, like when your athletes have success like that?
I.
Bayleigh Wheat: Oh, 100%.
I'll tell you right now, from this year, probably our most notable, um,
reaction, and I wish I would've got it on camera, was Armand bu So when he,
uh, ran his 40, he is noted as the guy who was essentially screaming down the
40 yard dash the whole way through.
And when he did that.
Everyone in the room was absolutely stunned.
And I think also being an athlete myself, just feeling those nerves and that tension
kind of build up leading up to them actually hitting that, that performance,
it, it is absolutely exhilarating.
And so it's really exciting to see these guys overcome those feelings and, and do
what they ultimately just know how to do.
Sam Acho: No, that's so good.
And even Cliff was talking about it, Bailey, it didn't
hit me till he talked about it.
Now I'm thinking about you talking about it.
When I was training for the NFL combine, I mean, there are these
nerves, like it's, it's, eight weeks or eight to 10 weeks, like so focused,
so dialed in for one day for to
Bayleigh Wheat: One moment.
Sam Acho: you're gonna peak at the right time.
And like, it's hard.
I remember, I remember with when I was training with Cliff, so he
did my off season combine training.
It's at Ignition and the facility that he started, the founder of it.
And, and I remember idea of, he told me, he said, Hey Sam, when
you go and when you run your 40, uh, I want you to like, to pray.
Like, you know, you gotta wait in your stance for like two seconds.
He says, in those two seconds, pray that he, I said, pray.
He said, yeah.
I said, pray that God will give you the strength and the courage
to run your fastest times ever.
That like goes to this idea of, man, it takes courage to perform at the highest
level on the biggest stage potentially of your life, at least for at, at
that moment, for that opportunity.
You talked about seeing Armand Armand get his, his pretty much
record setting performance.
What were your emotions like leading up to watching him perform?
Bayleigh Wheat: Man, I would just, I would just stay up with rack.
Let's just say that like totally just like, um.
Wrecked excited, right?
Obviously there's a bit of those, you know, is it gonna go well?
You know, on my side of things, I'm always just hoping don't pull a hammy.
Right?
Especially when as long as you don't do that, I'm happy, you know, um,
performances, you know, prs are great, but at the same time, I just want you
to be healthy at the end of the day.
And so I think that there's a little bit more of those feelings
tuned in and hoping, like, did we do everything right in our program?
Right?
Did we prep them in the right way?
Did we.
Did we loosen the right tissues?
Right?
Did we, uh, take them through that, um, that regression period or that taper
phase in the program at the right time?
Right?
And so that's something that's constantly evolving.
I think year after year, even what we did last year has changed and
evolved what we did this year, right?
And so I think each year we're almost a step closer and a step
closer to giving these athletes.
The exact formula of what they need to be able to go out there and perform.
And like you said, peak at the, at the right time when they need to.
Clif Marshall: Yeah, Bailey, you know, it's also, uh, pretty cool
that you get to be a part of the NFL draft experience, right?
You're at the combine, you're with these players, you're watching them perform,
and then you have to wait about a month, um, until the NFL draft rolls around.
And, and, um, can you just talk a little bit about.
draft experience, and I know that was just this past week and kinda, the, the
feeling that you get when you see one of your clients being drafted on national tv.
Bayleigh Wheat: Man, it's just so absolutely wonderful.
You know, like these guys train sometimes their whole life for this moment.
Right.
And there's always, I think, moments of of doubt, right?
In.
Everyone's kind of journey, maybe some more than others, right?
It could look a little bit different for each athlete.
And so I think as somebody who has a very close and intimate touchpoint with these
athletes, it's critical that we can.
Kind of remain steadfast for them, right?
And be somewhere that when they do have these doubts, we can kind of
help to settle them and, and give them the confidence that they need
without over boosting an ego, right?
So it's all about kind of maintaining that balance.
But then of course.
Being able to celebrate the wins of, you know, of being drafted and
maybe being drafted, you know, higher or being signed, you know, lower
than what you think your pick was.
Like, no matter what it is, it's a, it's a win ultimately because it's
that next step in their journey.
And so, you know, it's, it's a lot of feelings and a lot of of joy
really getting to see these guys earn what they've worked so hard for.
Right.
And it's a, it's an honor to be a part of that journey, I think all.
Sam Acho: And Bailey, you talk about the experience of those athletes,
of the ups and the downs, the joy, the doubt, you are an athlete
yourself, an elite athlete at that.
What was your experience like?
Into roller derby.
I wanna get into that journey, uh, a bit.
Bayleigh Wheat: Yeah, we can switch it up a little bit.
So my journey into roller derby is quiet.
Peculiar.
Right.
It's definitely not your everyday sport.
You know, when I tell people that I'm a roller derby athlete, I usually get
the initial response of, oh, you roller skating and you like punch people.
Not quite right.
You know, so, or I've seen that on, you know, tv.
It's probably not like you've seen it on tv.
Right.
Um, but I actually got into it, um, just growing up at the roller skating rink.
So my family, uh, my mom and dad had gone to a little skate party with some of their
friends and my dad went and saw that he could bring the family to a skate night.
They had a bargain night on during the week where you could come in
and skate for a couple of bucks, a person plus your skate rental.
And my dad's like, why would we not bring a family of four and to have a couple
hours of entertainment for just 10 bucks?
Right?
We can go spin in circles and, and have a good time.
And it was all good.
So I actually started out as a figure skater.
We started taking skating lessons there at inter skate roller rink,
and once you get to the end of their lessons, it kind of transitions into
a figure skating group or class.
And so I actually did that for about a year and a half, two years.
And once it got to the point where we started doing performances
and whatnot, I was a little bit more of a tomboy back then.
And so they would pop out these, um.
Dresses, these figure skating dresses.
And I was like, oh, there's no way I, I wanna wear that.
It's just not really my style.
And so it wasn't long after that that I just started going to the rink.
It was a bit of a rink rat.
I just enjoyed going and spending the weekends there.
You know, like most young kids, I feel like back in the day used to.
Right.
I, I hear people, you know, uh, the next generation, they're like, we
spent all the time at the skating rink.
Right?
And so it was.
A little bit less popular, I feel like in the early two thousands for people to be
spending that time at the rink like that.
Um.
But I loved it.
And when roller derby kind of spread throughout VFW, so there was the
original league, Dallas Derby Devils was one of the original 13 leagues, um,
in the W-F-T-D-A, which is the Women's Flat Track Roller Derby Association.
Um, we also had two other leagues pop up.
One is in and one in Plano.
And as those leagues started popping up, a lot of these girls.
That were getting into the sport, just needed more time on skates, ultimately.
Right.
And so they would come to the skating rink where I had been spending years
already, you know, just going and playing around and skating, having a good time.
They would come and see me and I was quite tall, kind of lanky.
Lanky then.
Um, but they approached me and they were like, wow, you're such a good skater.
You should definitely get into roller derby.
And I was like, okay, yeah, this, this sounds like a good idea.
Sounds like something I would like.
I'm liking the vibes.
What do I gotta do?
Well, you gotta be 18.
And I was like, well you guys have like five years.
'cause I was only about 12 or 13 years old at that time, so I was still pretty young.
But I was like, if you guys come up with a junior league, call me.
I'll come through.
Right.
And it wasn't probably about six months later, I had somebody that approached me
was like, Hey, we started a junior league.
We're getting started next week.
You know, you should come out to our first practice.
And so that's ultimately how I became one of the founding members of one of
the first junior leagues in the DFW area.
Uh, the Rolling Rebellion, which I continued to play for, uh, throughout
the rest of my junior career.
So I was about 13 years old, so I was 18.
So I spent about five, five years playing for the league.
Um, and we.
Traveled and played internationally or nationally.
Um, so it was a very, very cool and fun experience kind of getting into it.
Sam Acho: I gotta follow.
Up real quick.
Hold on.
So like, what, what, so you say roller derby people say, I've seen now that what,
what, what does roller derby look like?
Describe to us what a, what a, what a game is or tournament.
Bayleigh Wheat: Yeah, sure.
So we call our games bouts.
The roller derby bout is typically what they call them.
Um, played against two teams.
Uh, you have about 15 people, or you can have up to 15
people on a roster, both sides.
On the track or on a particular play, you can have five people from each team.
On the track of those five people, you've got four people who are
offensive and defensive blockers.
They make up what is the pack?
Um, their goal is to kind of stay together and play offensively and defensively based
on the person who is scoring the points.
So that fifth person on the track is called the Jamer.
They are the person who scores the points.
So for every person on the other team that the Jamer passes, uh,
you score a point for your team.
So when you're playing, essentially your goal is to get your
jamer through the pack, right?
While keeping the other jamer within the pack or not letting them pass you.
And so there's a lot of moving parts when it comes to how many players are playing
offense, how many are playing defense, when are you kind of doing those things?
And the game is broken down into two 30 minute halves.
Um, and those halves are broken down into plays that can last up to two minutes.
And so then at the end of the game, whoever scores the
most amount of points wins.
Um, these can be, you know,
upwards of 300 points sometimes, depending on, you know, how, um, well, a team
is skating or maybe even the mashup.
You can see two really, really high level teams that are both really good.
But maybe they're both doing poor defensively, so they both
score a lot of points and it's a high scoring game, right?
You can have the opposite happen as well, where they're both doing well defensively,
the jammers aren't able to get through and it can be a very low scoring game as well.
Clif Marshall: Bailey, I have to ask you, as the regeneration
coordinator at Sports Academy,
Bayleigh Wheat: Say that one more time for me.
Clif Marshall: I said I have to ask you, as the regeneration
coordinator at Sports Academy.
We're talking about your roller derby here.
What muscles are most often injured or what's the overuse
injury with roller derby?
Bayleigh Wheat: Hmm.
Overuse injury is probably gonna be a bit like, probably hip flexors,
maybe glute, maybe low back a lot of times in terms of overuse.
But I would say, and uh, I would say for the, um, an injury that's very
common is, is gonna be an ACL injury and as well as, um, like ankle.
Breaks or sprains as well.
So, but I think acls specifically because of the position that our
body's in when we're playing, we're in a lot of flexed positions.
And so I think that there are some compensations that happen there, uh, that
end up causing a bit of maybe knee valgus as well as women, um, in general have a
higher risk of non-contact ACL injuries.
And so I think that that's why we see that injury in particular a little bit more.
Than we do any other injury, truthfully.
Sam Acho: Hmm.
So you're, we're talking Bailey about your time in roller derby,
Bayleigh Wheat: Yeah.
Sam Acho: also some of the connections when it comes to your time training.
Other athletes.
We were talking a couple weeks ago and you had mentioned how, or it came
to me, I dunno if you mentioned it or I just was asking and probing,
but people in the roller derby world are coming to you for advice.
I was talking to someone else who trained at Sports Academy.
They were like, no, she's the goat of roller derby.
Like, she's like, people say, she said she's her
Bayleigh Wheat: Yes.
Sam Acho: derby.
What does, what does it feel like?
To be, obviously NFL is established, but what does it feel like to be in this
derby world and have people look to you for whether it's advice or wisdom, or to
somewhat be, uh, this, this, this light.
Bayleigh Wheat: Yeah, I'd say it's a combination of feelings, like in some
ways it can wear on you a bit, right?
It can be a little bit overwhelming at times.
Right?
But at the same time, it also brings a lot of joy to know that the.
Wisdom and experiences that I've had in my professional field have been able to
benefit not only myself, but athletes all over in the roller derby field.
Right?
And.
Really be able to push the needles towards legitimizing roller derby as a sport so
that it is a little bit more well known.
Right?
Right.
Now when a lot of people hear roller derby, they think
Saturday morning wrestling.
Right?
They don't think a legitimate, a legitimate sport that should be
broadcast somewhere like ESPN, right?
And so doing and taking certain steps towards.
Legitimizing the sport, whether it be using your real legal name
rather than a derby name or Right.
Bringing approaches to training and programming that allow the roller derby
athlete to truly perform like an athlete.
Right?
So.
Sam Acho: I, I know Cliff got a question, but you brought up, okay.
What, do you have a, what's your derby name?
They, or, or do you want my real name?
What's the, you know what I mean?
the, what's the derby name?
What's the
Bayleigh Wheat: Yeah, so my roller derby name, I picked this when I was
like 13 years old, so it's baby girl.
So I kind of picked it off of a couple of different things.
One, I was the first girl born into my family, and so I
thought it was kind of cool.
I was always called everyone's baby, baby girl, right?
I was mom, dad, aunts, grandma, that kind of stuff.
So I'd kind of gotten used to hearing that right?
As a nickname.
And so then in Derby we wanted to have something that was kind of spunky,
you know, a little bit more like that.
And for whatever reason, that's kind of what ended up sticking with me.
But when I turned 18 and I started playing with the women, um, and it was
the first time that the roller derby, uh, sport as a whole had been on the docket.
I wanna say it was the 2016 Olympics.
It was on the docket to potentially, or uh, to bid for.
Becoming an Olympic sport.
And one of the things that kept it from being chosen as that, you know, the next
sport up in the Olympics was some of those things like derby names, right?
Mine is a little bit more innocent, but some are not quite so, and it
wasn't something that was really family friendly and ultimately.
You know, conducive probably to some of the values that
the, you know, Olympics hold.
Right?
And so that's when I started saying, okay, I'm just gonna skate
under, you know, Bailey Wheat.
And, you know, now most of my teammates call me Bay for short, um, on the track.
But, um, yeah, so that's the story of the Derby Day.
Clif Marshall: Bailey
Sam Acho: you baby girl, I shouldn't be freaked out.
I should say, okay, that's her.
That's, they know her from somewhere else.
Clif Marshall: Bailey, who has had the greatest influence on your life?
Bayleigh Wheat: Hmm, that's a good one.
That's a great question.
I'm probably gonna say my grandmother,
Clif Marshall: Hmm.
Bayleigh Wheat: truthfully.
Uh, her steadfastness I think in life and her faithfulness to the
Lord and just how she has always been who she is since the day.
Um, I was born truthfully.
Um, I can't think of anybody else who has always.
Maintain that stability, right?
Not only in their life but for their family members.
And so, such a high respect for, for her as a woman and
you know, as my grandmother.
So I would have to say her.
Clif Marshall: What, um, as you reflect on your career, uh, as an
athlete and also where you're at now, you know, at Sports Academy as
a regeneration coordinator, um, what would you tell yourself at 18 years old?
Bayleigh Wheat: This is a good one too.
Clif Marshall: I.
Bayleigh Wheat: These are reflective questions.
If I could tell myself anything at 18 years old, it would be to put away any
self doubt and to just dive all in.
And don't be afraid of making mistakes, because I think, at least
for myself, as kind of a very type a perfectionist driven person, sometimes
the thought of failure can keep.
From that opportunity to really succeed, right?
So it's like when I, when I think of those moments where, okay, I,
I might fail at this and I didn't do it, I failed anyways, right?
So I didn't even open that door for opportunity to succeed.
And so to set any of that aside, and don't be afraid of making mistakes,
don't be afraid of, you know, potentially making a fooler yourself or
stepping outside of your comfort zone because otherwise you're not, you're
just gonna stay in the same space.
That's not what anybody wants to do ultimately, or I would hope not.
Sam Acho: Yeah.
baby.
Uh, I Girl Bailey.
Oh, uh, Bailey.
You're talking about not being afraid to make mistakes, but you actually
took a pretty big risk not too long ago in getting back into roller derby.
What happened?
Why, what?
Like, I want to hear like what, what happened for you to get out
and then what made you get back in?
Bayleigh Wheat: Sure.
Um, so I was a junior in college.
Um, had been skating, working, going to school essentially, um, and had been
doing that right since I was a teenager.
So I was pretty used to that flow and it was great.
Um, I had some different gate sponsorships and was traveling, doing,
um, offsite boot camps for roller derby teams and stuff like that, so it
was a really good opportunity there.
But as I was in school and nearing my graduation point, I realized
that I really had not figured out what I wanted to do with my life.
In terms of, uh, a financial standpoint, what was I gonna do, um, to take
care of myself And roller derby at that point in time, was not shaping
out to be something that was gonna be the end all, be all for that.
And so I had ended up taking a step away from my sport.
I think that was late 2019.
After our season ended, I just said, Hey, I'm gonna take a couple of months off.
We have tryouts in January.
If I think I need to come back, I'll come back.
January rolled around and there was just something in my heart that
said, it's just, it's not time yet.
You don't need to, um, get back into it.
And so I didn't, I, and it was difficult at that time to
forego going to those tryouts.
Like at that point in time, you wouldn't have missed me being at a Derby event.
Right.
So stepping away from that really gave that separation
of my, myself from my sport.
And, uh, not long after that, a couple weeks.
Covid ended up happening, and so everything shut down anyways, so 2020
through early 2021, not much happening in the derby scene, but once things kind
of started popping back up early 2021, I started going to these scrimmages
and some pickup games and just kind of dropping into some practices and whatnot.
But I really hadn't committed to a league or to a team or anything like that.
And it wasn't a couple of months after that, and only really a couple of handful
of times being back on skates in that setting that I was at a pickup game.
It was a going away game for one of my good friends who was
moving from Texas to California, just a scrimmage co-ed scrimmage.
And I went in for a hit on somebody, um, that ultimately
ended up leading to me tear my ACL.
And so it was May, 2021 that I, I did that.
Really kind of took me, I would say, out of that ecosystem and away from
my sport for that period of time.
Um, 'cause after that, after spending 25 years of my life fully healthy
and able to do all of the things, it was really difficult to then have
this, you know, short term disability that, that kept me from being able
to do the things that I've been so used to doing for the last 25 years.
And it was really a mental challenge to.
Know that that was gonna be only a short term, you know, situation and experience.
Right.
But in the moment it can seem very daunting and overwhelming in the terms
of, am I ever gonna see a, a light of day that's different than the days that I was
experiencing during that season of life?
Um, yeah.
So I get into it, huh?
Sorry.
Sam Acho: No good.
It's all good.
Clif Marshall: no.
I just wanted to ask you, you know, dealing with the ACL injury, how has that
made you a better coach or a regeneration coordinator at Sports Academy?
Bayleigh Wheat: Yeah, I think experiencing that injury, um, really gives me the own
personal experience of what it's like to deal with setbacks, to deal with injuries,
to deal with not being able to, you know, um, experience and approach life the way
that we sometimes want to be able to, whether that's physically or otherwise.
And so being able to relate to my athletes and to relate to people who everybody
experiences setbacks in some ways, and being able to approach those and let
people know that it, sometimes it is, it is a short term, uh, setback, right?
Some people obviously experience certain things in life that they
carry with them for the rest of their days, but ultimately it's their.
Mental wellbeing, um, their attitude, if you will, that they have control
over, and it can really shape their outlook on whatever that situation
might be that they're experiencing.
Right?
And that it's okay.
This is, this is part of real life.
And I think that that experience in my own self allows that connection
to happen and be kind of a, uh, oh, I totally lost the word, but it
allows that connection to happen.
Sam Acho: Mm.
Just kind of continue on that path, like makes Bay Bay.
Bayleigh Wheat: Hmm.
I think just being real, being, um, in the moment, looking for those real
and genuine connections as well, I think makes me, me ultimately right
Sam Acho: Hmm.
Bayleigh Wheat: I'm connected with myself, when I'm connected
with other people in those.
Moments, whether they're really good or they're, you know,
more of a poor situation.
Being able to have that true connection with those people, that's,
that's what makes me, me, because if I were anybody else, right, it
would not, it wouldn't be the same.
Right.
Sam Acho: Yeah.
That's so good.
Um, I wanna go back real quick.
Cliff asked a really good question about who's had the biggest influence and, and
you, you paused and you said your grandma,
Bayleigh Wheat: Yeah.
Sam Acho: what was she like?
Bayleigh Wheat: Yeah, she is still around and she's an absolute spitfire.
Sam Acho: hmm.
Bayleigh Wheat: She is, um, in her eighties and she runs a private school
actually out in Big Spring, Texas.
Um, Mar off of Baptist Academy has for.
As long as I've known her.
Um, and she is, she is probably the best example of like the
ultimate lord servant, truly right.
And just living her life in such a way that truly spreads
his life and his love, right?
And he, she's able to do that.
Right through, um, her school, that is her ministry, right?
But then even in just every interaction that I watch with her, she's always
got that, that in mind, right?
Which is how can she share the light of Jesus and share his word and share that
redemption to everyone that she meets?
And I think that that is probably one of the most admirable attributes of her.
It's always been that way.
It's never not been that way.
Like that's a crazy thing to think about.
Like we think about people who are, are Christians and people
who are, you know, um, you know, pastors, this, that, whatever.
You know, and not always do you meet people who are reflective of what they
say that they are right within that truth.
And this is somebody who I can't ever even think of a moment
where she was anything less than.
And that to me is absolutely outstanding,
Sam Acho: mm.
Clif Marshall: Bailey, really cool to hear you say that she's a servant
Bayleigh Wheat: Yeah.
Clif Marshall: that is a generational blessing because I
see you as being a servant as well.
working at Sports Academy as a coach or.
Regeneration coordinator, you are serving athletes every single day.
So can you talk a little bit about that mindset of how you go into working
with these athletes and, and how, just like your grandma was a servant,
you're being a servant as well.
Bayleigh Wheat: Yeah, 100%.
I think every day, and in each interaction that we have, it's, it's kind of our due
duty to live the truth that we wanna see.
Right.
And so I think being that servant and having that servant mindset, whether
it is your highest paid NFL athlete or it is your, you know, John Doe that
you know is working in construction and simply wants to get better, right?
How do we approach every person that we make contact with the
exact same way and ultimately help.
Not make them better, but to help give them the tools and the guidance
that they can then take that journey on their self and to be kind of a
support system for them so that they can get to where they wanna be and
ultimately they earn it on their own.
Right?
I don't do anything.
I have so many times that clients are like, oh yeah, I'm just this way.
Like this is, this is body by day.
And I'm like, no, I didn't do this.
I didn't do the work.
I wasn't running the sprints or, or doing the stretches, or whatever the case is.
I just showed you how to do it.
And so, you know, I think having, having that mindset is, uh, it crucial
to being able to approach any of these athletes in any of these moments,
no matter what situation or state of physical capacity that they might be in.
If they are looking to enhance their human performance, then.
In front of me is right exactly where you wanna be, because that's what I'm
gonna help you achieve is whatever your most optimal capacity is within
your, within that physical capacity.
Sam Acho: And you do that, you do that.
I, I, I'm not, you know, I don't want to go too deep, but, uh, I mean, not too
long ago, last week, I was watching you train a 69-year-old woman named Nancy
Bayleigh Wheat: Yes.
Sam Acho: and tell, tell me about Nancy.
Bayleigh Wheat: I absolutely love Nancy.
She is an absolute sunshine.
Anyone who meets her would say the exact same thing.
There's never a day where the sun is not shining with her.
Um, but she is an absolute.
Beast of a woman, beast of an athlete.
You know, I could not imagine running sprints the way she
does at almost 70 years old.
I think it's absolutely crazy.
Um, I always tell people I don't train her, I just keep her reed in, right?
So she is somebody who has really earned.
Her phase in life right now, which is she has built two multimillion
dollar companies, right.
That she has sold off and she's, you know, now able to experience
life off of her investments.
Right.
And she does have some physical limitations.
Um, I'll say she has a pacemaker, right.
Which can.
Change the way that we have to approach training just a little
bit because it makes it so that her heart rate can only go so fast.
I wanna say it's like 140 beats per minute.
So we're not able to go over that, and we're also not able to maintain
that heart rate level for long periods of time without her needing rest.
And so there's certain training, uh, things that we have to kind of consider
when it comes to doing her workouts as well as she also deals with a bit
or has been diagnosed with vertigo.
So when it comes to kind of double vision and feeling dizzy, like those
are things that are all, um, we, we have to keep a close eye on because it
can go south really fast if we, if we don't stay cognizant of those things.
Um, but otherwise, every day that she walks into the facility, when she walks
in for training, she's always happy.
It doesn't matter if it's a good day, a bad day, she's
feeling good, she's feeling bad.
She's always excited to be there.
She's always smiling and excited to see everyone.
And so.
That you can't help but be happy when you're around.
Miss Nancy.
Sam Acho: Hmm.
so good.
Well, well, I know we're coming to a close, uh, but before we close, I have
a question and then Cliff's got some cliff notes, uh, that he wants to add.
Uh, my question and ask this to every guest,
now I'm asking you this specifically because seen.
People get the highest contracts in the world.
You've seen people go down the opposite path.
How do you win without losing it all?
Bayleigh Wheat: Hmm.
I think the way that you continue to win no matter what, even if you're losing, is
to ultimately have a winner's attitude.
You're the only thing in life that you can control is your attitude.
We can't control the weather.
We can't control how people respond to us, right?
But we can control our attitude.
I would say too, we can't always control our response because sometimes
I think our responses to certain things may, um, come from a little bit of
a neurological programming, right?
If we always respond to a certain stimulus in a certain way, whether
it be good or bad, our bodies kind of become used to responding in that way.
But then after that response, time happens.
What is your attitude about that response?
Is it a winner's mentality or is it a loser's mentality?
And a lot of times with people with that choose that loser's mentality either
perpetuate the cycles that they're in or they, they kind of stay stagnant, right?
Whereas the winner's mentality, even when they find themselves in
that place of loss, in that place of maybe stagnant, no movement,
they're always gonna find a light.
They're gonna find that next step.
They're going to initiate that journey, right, to continue
staying on the winner's path.
And I think truthfully, it is a constant battle and choice that you
have to make as an individual, whether or not you're gonna be the winner's
mentality or that loser's mentality.
Sam Acho: Mm.
And I
Clif Marshall: That's,
Sam Acho: I I
Clif Marshall: uh, go ahead.
Sam Acho: Sorry, cliff.
Clif Marshall: Go ahead.
Sam Acho: one more.
Okay.
Actually, no, I'm a cliff.
You ask and I got, I got one more little follow up at the end.
My
Clif Marshall: Alright.
Sam and Bailey, let me get my cliff note in today.
My cliff note today is from Pastor Billy Grant and he says a coach
will impact more people in one year.
Then most people will in a lifetime.
And Bailey, what I respect about you is you're impacting so many people
in your job at the Sports Academy.
You talked about first round picks.
I know you're even impacting NBA players who are coming out there to train for
the NBA combine then the 69-year-old Nancy that we're talking about.
just wanna know, um.
As you're talking about the impact, uh, what brings you the ultimate fulfillment
when you're working with either a client or a professional athlete?
Bayleigh Wheat: Hmm.
That fulfillment, I think comes from seeing their wins.
So whether it's a combine athlete who wants to run a particular time at the
40 and then they beat that time, or it's a Miss Nancy who is just excited
to come to the session and run, right?
Whatever that win is.
I've even had clients who, um.
Have come to me and said, you know, this is the first time I've ever gone
to the park and been able to chase my grandson around, or this was the
first time that I was able to put on a pair of pants without sitting down.
Like I think any of those life achievements, whatever, big or small,
that, that's the ultimate fulfillment is knowing that I was able to help push
them to achieve what they ultimately.
Probably already had in the tank, but they just needed someone to
nudge them in that right direction.
Sam Acho: All right.
I know I lied.
My last one, Bailey, uh, why do you skate?
Bayleigh Wheat: Oh, I skate because it brings me joy.
'cause I absolutely love it when I am on my roller skates That is, I
think, the ultimate version of Bay.
Like there is no denying.
Me, whether I'm at a skate session and I'm dancing around the skate
floor or I'm on the roller derby track and, um, you know, taking people out.
I think no matter what, it's, it's the most fluid and adaptable version of me
that I get to do both and have, you know.
the dance side, which is a little bit more, you know, artistic, right?
And then I have this roller derby side, which is more of that athletic
piece and kind of that athletic, um, finesse, right, to being an athlete.
And so, um, I do it because it brings me joy.
Sam Acho: Mm.
That's so good.
Yes.
Every time we talk, every time we talk, we start talking about skating.
You just light up.
You light up.
And for me this time has been a joy just hearing some of your, your story, but
also just hearing Cliff who's been in this training world for almost three decades,
see you and just speak that life into you.
Like I get so excited 'cause it's like, man, this is real.
Like y'all just met virtually.
But it's like, man, there's something about you.
You're a servant.
something about you.
You are impacting people's lives.
You're not worried about if they're the number one overall
pick or if they're a 69-year-old who, who wants to as a pacemaker.
you're just making people better.
And that's one thing I saw in you Bailey that just made me want to get to know you
more, is, okay, who is this person that is literally laying down their pride?
Like you, you just competed against a team in, in, uh, from Mexico City
and apparently y'all dominated, right?
I apparent y'all one.
You know what I mean?
So like, and you're the captain your team, co-captain of your team, yet you
spend so much of your time serving people.
And so that servant's attitude, I think you got a lot of
that from your grandmother.
And Bailey, keep on serving.
Keep on serving.
'cause you're making a huge impact.
Bayleigh Wheat: Yes.
Thank you Sam so much.
I appreciate it.
It's been an absolute honor and blessing to, uh, to have this time
here with both of you, so thank you.
Sam Acho: Uh, thank you.
And thank y'all for joining the Sam Macho podcast featuring Cliff Marshall, AKA
Cliff notes, and joining Bailey Wheat hearing about her story and her journey.
We can't wait to hear from you soon.
Go to sam macho.com
to listen to this podcast and so many more.
We'll see you soon.