Chris Ronald

Chris Ronald joined the Virginia strength and conditioning staff in 2016. He spent the previous four years at Kentucky as the director of sport science and assistant strength and conditioning coach. He worked directly with the Wildcats football program.

Ronald is considered a top authority on the use of GPS tracking and monitoring systems to enhance student-athlete performance. He helped to develop numerous athlete-monitoring databases designed to analyze and compare data from tracking modalities including GPS, wellness questionnaires, RPE, body composition, athletic performance, and neuromuscular readiness tests.

In his role at UVA, he is responsible for contributing to the successful development and execution of the sports conditioning and training programs, as well as assisting student- athletes with achieving their identified goals. He participates in the planning, design and implementation of effective strategies to maximize the physical capabilities and athletic performance of team members.

During 2012, he worked for the Jacksonville Jaguars as a strength and conditioning seasonal coach. He was responsible for set-up, execution, data collection and analysis, and reporting of Catapult GPS tracking system. Ronald worked closely with the Jaguars’ football research department in creating GPS tracking database designed to analyze long-term performance results. He also developed a wellness questionnaire database designed to interpret and produce immediate and cumulative reports regarding players’ health and wellness throughout the competitive season.

He has provided athlete tracking consultation for both the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills.

Ronald had previously worked on the strength and conditioning staffs at South Florida, Detroit-Mercy, Memphis and North Texas. He was a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach at Marshall where he earned his masters degree in sports administration in 2010. He received his undergraduate degree in recreation and leisure studies from Brock University (Ontario, Canada) in 2007.

He is a certified strength and conditioning specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association and has a level one precision nutrition certification.