Testimonials
“How has Coach Mo impacted my life? Where do I even begin… I went to Fairview High School, class of 2007 and Mo was the head track coach all 4 years I was there. Mo’s workouts were extreme, and it was clear to see the passion he had for coaching kids. From the beginning, I could tell he believed in me even more than I believed in myself and I quickly went on to accomplish more on the track than I ever thought possible. However, the effect this man had on my life goes far beyond the running. My parents were separated when I was young and when I turned 5 my mom and I moved to CO. At a time when I needed it most, Mo became the constant male figure in my life. He taught me life’s most valuable lessons: hard work, passion, dedication, perseverance, respect, integrity, faith, responsibility, consequence, humility, I could go on and on. Between long talks, (almost daily), track workouts, traveling the country together, community service, working with/coaching other kids, dinners, family time, etc. This man, Coach Mo, shaped the person I am today. He sacrificed huge amounts of time with his own family to consistently be there for me. He showed me unconditional love and became the father figure I needed in my life. I am now 31, living in California with my husband and our two fur babies. I could list off a handful of life accomplishments but what seems most important now is that I have a family I love, a successful career, financial stability, good health, great friends and I am truly happy. To this day, if anyone asked me, “who has had the single, most important impact on your life,” the answer would be easy, Coach Mo. Coach Mo, Moses, (as I like to call you), THANK YOU! Thank you, a million times over. Words are simply not enough, but I will say them anyways. Thank you, also, to Christie and your family for sharing your time with me and so many other kids that you have helped over the years. Mo, you will always be a father to me, and I love you!”
“I’m a therapist practicing in Boulder, Colorado. I’ve been around dozens of therapists, mentors, psychologists, counselors, and life coaches. And without a doubt, Coach Mo is one of the best mentors or life coaches of youth. He’s the real deal. I can’t think of a more experienced life coach, and certainly not one who gets results that Coach Mo gets.
Young people are so good at sniffing out adults who are not authentic. Adolescents today are wanting meaningful connections with responsible and caring adults.. That’s what truly sets Coach Mo apart from the rest. He’s so good at what he does because youth can sense that he’s fully invested in them.
I’ve known Coach Mo for 13 years. He’s the type of guy that you want playing a meaningful role in the life of your child.”
“Anyone who knows Coach Mo can easily say he is a phenomenal coach, yet I don’t believe “coach” is the only word they would use to describe him. Mentor, counselor, supporter, role model and friend are a few that come to mind. I ran for Coach Mo the first year he came to Niwot and it took no time at all to know we were going to be pushed to work harder than we ever had. However, I never expected those two years of having Mo as a coach would forever change my life. The first year that Mo was coaching at Niwot, my dad was diagnosed with cancer in November of 2010 and passed away five months later in April of 2011. I took some time from both school and track, but after a few weeks I was ready to get back to it. The practice before one of my first meets back, Coach Mo gathered everyone together. In that meeting he presented us with shirts that we were going to wear at Conference, bright yellow and on the back said “Bob Traxinger. No Excuses.” It was in that moment that I knew I meant so much more to him than just an athlete on a team. I knew I was going to get through the hardest time in my life with my track family by my side. At the end of the season, Mo even dedicated an award in my dad’s name. To say that was the hardest year of my life is an understatement, but I would never have gotten through that year without Mo. He was always there to talk, to provide a shoulder to cry on and most importantly to remind me that I was going to get through this. Mo brought out strength in me that I never knew I had and that I continue to remind myself of every single day. Mo was not only a coach but he was a father figure I found when I had lost mine. I went on to run track at CSU, graduate with an Engineering degree and am now working for my dream job, and he played a huge role in every part. I would not be the person I am today without his guidance, love, and support. He constantly reminded me of the fight I had inside and encouraged me to never give up, something he instills in every one of his athletes.”
“Coach Mo has made such a big impact on the student athletes at Niwot — not only on the track, but in life as well. He has the ability to get the most out of student-athletes, take them to levels they can’t reach on their own, and does it all with class and hard work. He walks the hallways and kids flock to him. He is respected statewide and the newly national recognition is beyond well deserved." (Quoted in 2015 after Niwot captured a third-straight Class 4A girls state championship and Coach Mo was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Girls' Coach of the Year.)
“Coach Mo has been more to me than just what his title says. Yes he coached me through high school and helped support me through collegiate track and field. But the most important thing that Coach Mo ever did for me was teach me how to be a man. Between his words and his actions, I can’t think of someone outside of my family who has had a bigger impact on me as a young adult. From the moment I met Mo, he always instilled in me that the most important thing in life isn’t sports, it’s to be a well rounded human being. He always held me accountable on and off the track. He was always there for me to celebrate my wins, and help pick me up when I lost. He taught me that it’s not only important how you handle success, but it’s also important in how you handle defeat. Mo may have been my track and field coach, but because of him I felt equipped and ready to get a masters degree in London, and leave a very high paying brokerage job because it didn’t align with my personal morals and ethics. He is a big reason why I felt confident enough to start my own company to help teach kids about the importance of financial literacy. It would take me a long time to explain how Coach Mo has helped me outside of sports, but the biggest thing I took away is that it’s not okay to be average, you have to strive for more in everything that you do.”
“Mo has been both a coach and mentor in my life for six years. He always has my best interest in mind. He’s not afraid to tell me what I need to hear, and that honesty has created a solid foundation that allows me to trust his guidance, especially in difficult times. When I moved out of Colorado to attend college, Mo was right there with me in the toughest moments of that transition away from home. Mo believes in the potential of every person, even when others can’t see it. He has spoken confidence and faith into my own life at the time when my self-esteem was at its lowest. He has always challenged me to pursue my goals, while holding myself to the highest standard of good character. To have someone who would never give up on me in my corner has been invaluable through the ups and downs of life. Mo started as just my track coach, but I know he will always be my life coach – ready to listen to, guide, and challenge me whenever I need his wisdom. For anyone who has the pleasure of even a short conversation with Mo, this much is clear: his passion and commitment to working with youth, no matter their circumstance, is unmatched.”
“Mo has changed my life in more ways than I can put down on paper, but what I’ve learned from him shows up in how I live my life every day. I first met Mo going into my junior year of high school, and while I was a motivated person, I was lacking direction and a positive attitude. Mo helped guide me not by telling me what to do, but by teaching me what to value in life. I learned about the importance of commitment, loyalty, sacrifice, respect, and responsibility. I learned that having a negative attitude wouldn’t ever help me get anywhere, and it wouldn’t make life very enjoyable either. I learned how to look at challenges and failures as opportunities, and I started to push myself to take calculated risks and become more self-aware.
While I moved out of Colorado after high school, what I’ve learned from Mo has carried over into my life as a college student. During my time as an undergraduate, I became more serious about becoming a leader. I was a captain on my track and field team, and received multiple awards for work I did in partnership with the athletics department and local youth community. I am now starting graduate school to get my Masters in Education with an emphasis on athletic leadership. I don’t think any of this would have happened without Mo. Above everything else, Mo inspired me to become a leader, and was the best role model I could have ever asked for. While I have career goals to become a top strength and conditioning coach, if I can do for someone else what Mo did for me, I will feel accomplished.”
“Listening to everyone talk about the reasons as to why they ran track this year made me think about why I ran track and still continue to run in general. To find that answer I had to go way back to sophomore year when Mo first walked into my life.
The thing is, Mo came into my life at the best possible time in my life. I was doing a lot of reckless teenage things. Sneaking out, getting brought home by the police, among other things. I had struggled with depression through middle school and high school, and honestly, I still do from time to time. But Mo changed everything for me.
From sophomore season of track to last summer, I spent almost everyday with Mo it seemed. He got me into indoor track, summer track, and off-season workouts in addition to the spring season. He saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. Mo believed in me when no one else did, not even myself. I didn’t understand why someone was putting so much effort into me, but I accepted it. Soon after that, my confidence in myself began to surface.
Track changed my life. Mo changed my life.
Coach Mo has been in my life since 2010 and began making an impact on me from our first few interactions together. One of the first times I spent with Mo, we shared stories about the loss of our fathers and how that has impacted us. Seeing how he had turned something so traumatic into productive work with kids showed me how to turn the bad in life into something good that can benefit others. He is always one step ahead of the game even when people do not expect him to be. His memory is impeccable, and he has at least one story for every person he has ever met. I got to witness this all first-hand as one of his athletes, his intern, and his co-worker. He puts a lot of investment into his relationships with everyone he comes in contact with. He will remember the smallest thing you did not even think was important. This value of relationships has fueled the way that I coach, do mental performance work in the field of sport psychology, and how I act with my co-workers.
There is a lot to be learned from this man, and I have been able to learn from him in many ways and in many facets of my life. But a lesson from the track can be applied to my day job and vice versa. His advice, his words of wisdom, and his storytelling transcends sport and carries into life so well. It is no surprise he is revered as much as he is in track and field, in the school district, and in the community.”
“Lauren and I just finished listening. This was an incredible podcast. [Please note: Rachel is referring to a recent podcast I appeared on as a guest. It’s called Perspective for Parents and you can listen to my episodes here.] You and your family have been in Lauren and my conversations these past few weeks. To hear your story in this podcast is a different lens than we had being on the team. We never realized why it may have made you safer running with us or about how it affected your feeling of needing to be great. You shared such an honest story and we were certainly in tears at times. Lauren and I have been immersed in movies, books, and attended a protests and have been in constant conversation about this all week. These stories and what it reflects about our country (and the progress every system still has to make) can feel heart-breaking and overwhelming. What inspired us most listening to your story is that change can start with each of us. It makes us wonder what we can dedicate our lives to that is lasting. We never knew you had a foster child or the magnitude to which you have dedicated your life to supporting, mentoring, and guiding young people it's incredible.
Lauren and I talk about you and what track has done for us all the time. You taught us to lead with kindness, to be resilient, and most importantly - you saw leaders in us when we did not see that in ourselves. At the time it all felt track-related, but you shaped who we are as human beings. We will never forget the after-practice speeches or the season of goodie. You think of that one coach that impacted your life and how far you've taken that to extend that to thousands of others.
I just started a full-time job as an engineer in a hands-on design lab that supports 6,000 undergrad/grad engineers at CU. When I took that job, my “why” was because I wanted to make sure that those that might initially feel they don’t belong in engineering see that they do. I nearly quit engineering my first year because I deeply felt I didn't belong as a woman in engineering. I would have quit if it weren’t for the resilience I learned while being on the team or for the mentorship I got from my female role models. What hearing your story today made me realize is I help manage 20 support students in our lab, many of which come from low-income backgrounds and are underrepresented in engineering. They are gone for the summer....but that doesn’t mean that we couldn’t be reaching out to those students to check in with them and have conversations. Hearing you talk gives me hope because it is your mentorship that sticks with Lauren and me. Lauren and I will be continuing to learn, grow and have these conversations.... We can and need to be doing better. Miss you and thank you for being there for us when it mattered most. We were lucky to have you as a role model. “
“When I met Maurice I was a broken, abused and lost boy on the cusp of becoming a man by way of age.
Mo helped guide me, mentor me, taught me countless lessons about life, love, adversity, and perseverance. Some of these lessons weren’t easy for me to learn at first, but his belief in me never wavered. I grew up and came from a vey unhealthy, difficult and dark environment and navigating these tough waters on my own was no easy task. Sports through childhood kept me straight and thankfully focused me on something positive with a unifying environment. It taught me teamwork and it taught me how to push myself and compete as a young man. That fed my young soul with hopes of one day becoming a professional athlete, to play a sport as a profession and just maybe I’d be great at it.
Maurice and I developed a working relationship through the Prep School I was attending in Boulder. Mo was aware of me and what I was going through, him and I would talk here and there but no real engagement with one another occurred for several reasons. Mainly, Maurice doesn’t put up with any bullshit, he’s real, keeps it 100 and I didn’t know what that meant back then. I wasn’t a heathy young person. I was 16, super talented, smart, arrogant, entitled as many white kids in Boulder, Colorado are, I was super lost, I had no discipline, knew little about what accountability even was and I have zero guidance, love or encouragement at home. So I was always in awe of Maurice for his football accomplishments where he played at The University of Colorado, a school and football program I grew up watching and dreamt of playing for.
Maurice saved me in a sense that I will only let him speak on but he set me up with a school to walk on and play football at in Chicago.
I was able to achieve my first dream in being a professional athlete. I started playing in Europe. I started my career in Germany then Austria, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Hungary and Italy. It’s not the NFL but that’s okay. I’m a good man and I’ve fought through my issues and faced myself, I’ve taken the guidance of a few men in my life that have made immeasurable impact on my life along this journey; Maurice is one of those men and if not for this man I wouldn’t have been able to live my dream, to seek out the world and in the deepest and most truthful, real and intimate ways. I’ve been able to see myself and as a young person I hated who I saw in the mirror, whereas now I love the man I see. Maurice’s guidance and love has been uncanny to anything I’ve come to know along my journey living around the world and I make sure to pay it forward however I can whenever I can in the same ways he’s taught me for years.”
