03/25/2026
When Chris and I met, he was just transferring from TFA to LAFC academy. A young kid with a dream and a hunger you could feel the moment you were around him. He was looking for a trainer who could take him to the next level. I was early in my journey too. But I showed up the only way I knew how. Weighted vest. Beep test. K-bands. Every single session. Every single minute of that one hour we were locked in. Drills I built from scratch just for him. Timing him. Pushing him. Watching him dig deeper than he thought he could. He improved. I improved. We were not just trainer and athlete. We were two people chasing the same dream.
I never take credit for the journey of my athletes. That is not my place. I only give what I have and share what I know. I am not the best. I do not know it all. But everything I learned as a player, as a trainer, as a lover of this game, I poured into every single session. Not because it was my job. Because I genuinely cared about this kid and where he was going.
But here is the truth. Chris did not need me. He was always going to make it. Some people carry their destiny in the way they move, in the way they compete, in the way they get knocked down and stand right back up without a word. Chris was one of those people. From day one he had a mentality and composure I had never seen in someone so young. No excuses. No shortcuts. Just session after session, quietly building something the world was not ready for yet. That is Cracks Only. And Chris lived it before it ever had a name.
Sometimes in life you pour everything into your own dreams and it does not always come together. That is just life. But then there are moments like this one. Watching someone who never once took the easy road finally get what they always deserved. Something inside of you breaks open in the best way. It does not feel like watching someone else’s moment. It feels like yours too.
Chris, I am so proud of you. Not just for making it, but for how you made it. For the work nobody saw. For every hard session and every moment you chose the grind over comfort. You did this.
Enjoy every single second. You earned it more than you know.
Love always, Chuvy
