HQ TEAM

Charlie Graves

As a freshman at Iowa State University, Charlie transformed from a swim team walk-on to a full-ride scholarship athlete because of his achievements in the pool. It was the team's dry land training that helped improve his explosive power, strength and stamina, which created the advantage he needed to achieve All-American status. With his Olympic dreams ending with the U.S. Team's boycott of the 1980 Moscow games, Charlie turned his competitive talents toward the business sector in sales and marketing while challenging his athletic skills with endurance sports.

As an early pioneer in the sport of triathlon, he tested multi-sport and cross training techniques in order to balance the heavy training load and reduce over-use injuries, which are common practices for today's competitive athlete. After climbing to the top triathlon ranks, Charlie would apply his passion for sports and business and start Inclyne Sports. For ten years, managed the careers of professional athletes and developed events and sports programming for CBS, NBC, ABC and ESPN.

Prior to becoming the majority owner in Athletic Republic in 2007, Charlie was an Executive Vice President with shopping center owner / operator General Growth Properties and served as CEO of Connor Sports Court, the leading sports flooring company. He lives in Park City, Utah, with his wife, an active triathlete, and two sons, who play football and alpine ski race.

Steve Swanson

As the Chief Science and Technology Officer and Vice President of Athletic Republic, Steve is an integral part of the organization’s ongoing research efforts. He’s trained numerous professional and Olympic skiing, bobsled, skeleton and speed skating athletes.

From 1996 to 2008, Steve was a biomechanist at The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (TOSH), an official sport science provider for the USOC. Steve was also a biomechanics consultant for Frappier Acceleration^®Sports Training from 1996-2000 as well as the Director of Research and Development since 2000. His biomechanics knowledge has benefited a number of organizations in competitive environments: Steve was chair of the Technology Section for the sixth IOC World Congress on Sports Science and Medicine held in conjunction with the 2002 ACSM Meeting in St. Louis. He served as a NCAA’s Education and Outreach Division consultant for the online Injury Surveillance System development.

Steve is completing his PhD in biomechanics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with Dr. Graham Caldwell. His studies focus on sprinting biomechanics and musculoskeletal modeling in relation to the limitations of sprinting speed. Steve earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., and a master’s degree in exercise science and biomechanics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Steve is a professional member of the American College of Sports Medicine, International Society of Biomechanics, Canadian Society of Biomechanics and the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He resides in Park City, Utah, with his wife and two children.

Brad Gorder

Brad has been a member of the Athletic Republic team since 1994. After a successful college football career, Brad served as a marketing specialist. During his final two football seasons he trained with Athletic Republic and developed the speed he needed to finish a successful career. After his training, he could run fast enough to get anywhere he needed to be on the field.

After graduating with a degree in Business Administration from Minot State University, he reinvested his success into the business as a young professional with the passion to help aspiring athletes find the same gift. Throughout his career, he’s served in various roles within the company and has been the Vice President of Sales since January 2007. In this role, he oversees and manages the franchise sales process from inquiry to new site development. Brad lives in Fargo, N.D. with his wife and two wonderful daughters.

Tad O’Had

As the Vice President of Hockey for Athletic Republic since 2008, Tad oversees the hockey development at the more than 160 training centers across the U.S., Canada and Russia. Tad currently is the Senior Advisor of Hockey for BlueStreak Sports Training in the Northeast. Tad has overseen and trained athletes at the BlueStreak training centers in Stamford, Ct. and Chelsea Piers in NY for the past six years.

In 2006 Tad co-founded Hybrid Hockey, an interactive recruiting and promotional service for hockey players seeking the best way to advance their on-ice skills and secure a spot at the college/university level. Tad has had extensive hockey experience that includes an invitation to Yekaterinburg, Russia in 2009 to work with their professional program and Olympic development academies. His primary focus at Athletic Republic is skill advancement, strength and conditioning and overall speed and technique training. Tad played at Connecticut College and trained and directed teams and hockey schools in Ontario, Alberta, Michigan, Minnesota, Long Island and Connecticut. Tad has worked with students who have gone on to play in the CCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, WHL, AHL, and the NHL.

In the past four years, the National Hockey League drafted 12 of his students and works closely with the USA hockey selection committee for the Select Festivals. He’s a certified Athletic Republic Level III trainer, Sports Potential, Sport-Quest and SPARQ trainer. Tad also oversees the Athletic Republic-Germain Arena Training Center. In 2007 Tad earned the “Dick Vraa Award“ for his contributions to the Athletic Republic Network. Tad is a graduate of Connecticut College with a concentration in Sociology. Tad resides in Estero, Fla.

Jen Davidson

Shortly after her U.S. Women’s Bobsled Team #1 reign in the World in 2000-2001, Jen Davidson joined the Athletic Republic network in 2009 after training on the SuperTreadmill. Jen retired her bobsled spikes after the 2002 Olympic games, and stepped to the left side of the treadmill IN 2002 as a Level III trainer. Jen later worked for several years as both the Sports Science Technical Coordinator for USA Track and Field and served as the Dartfish USA Director of Training Services.

As the Business Acceleration Manager, Jen is the primary source for new centers as they work through the start-up phases with Athletic Republic. She earned a Master’s degree in Health, Physical Education, and Exercise Science from Utah State University and lives near Park City, Utah.

Steve White

A Certified Public Accoutant and Utah native, Steve earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Utah. After graduation he was recruited by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) LLP, in San Jose, and subsequently worked in the Sacramento and Salt Lake City offices, where he specialized in audit and assurance services for various Fortune 100 Companies such as American Express.

Steve’s passion for snow skiing led him from PwC to Powdr Corp., one of the largest ski and summer resort owner and operators in North America, where he served as the Corporate Controller. In 2008, Steve became Athletic Republic’s CFO, where he is responsible for the financial planning, reporting, and accounting processes of the company. In his spare time, Steve is an avid mountain biker, trail runner and backcountry skier. He lives in Draper, Utah, with his wife and five children.

Matt Parks

As the Accounting Manager since early 2010 for Athletic Republic, Matt joined the team to unite his two passions: sports training and business accounting. Always first to arrive on the baseball and football fields and the last to leave, Matt understands the importance of effective training and hard work. It’s this knowledge that led him to several years playing competitive baseball and football and to become the prestigious recipient of awards such as First-Team All-Region and two-time Receiver of the Year. In addition to his experience on the field, Matt has had his share of experience in the business industry. Having earned a bachelor’s degree from Utah Valley University in Business Management with an emphasis in Finance & Banking and worked previously as the Accounting Manager for Harman Realty & Property Management, Matt understands the business and accounting principles required to run a successful business. This experience has assisted him in shaping an effective and organized financial business approach to Athletic Republic accounting. He works daily with facilities to assist in product orders, royalty and revenue reporting and overall accounting responsibilities at the corporate headquarters in Park City, UT.

In his spare time, Matt continues to play football and softball, is an avid fly fisherman by summer and enjoys tree-dodging on his snowboard by winter. He resides in Heber City, UT with his wife and young son and has high aspirations of turning his first-born into an Athletic Republic star.