Coach Ryan Ping has been an Assistant Coach of the Desert Vista Girls Cross Country Team since 2020. He and his family (Megan,
Grace (Class of 2020),
Lauren & Jamison) moved to Ahwatukee in 2019 from Minnesota. In his own words...
I’ve been coaching for 30+ years. It all began with soccer, ski racing and then progressed to track and cross country. My passion is for optimizing performance in myself and facilitating others to be their best.
A transformational experience happened for Megan and in 2010 when we had the opportunity to learn from two coaches responsible for supporting the women’s US Nordic ski team and ultimately leading to the recent overall World Cup title.
Through physiological testing and training in alignment with heart rate we learned so much. To keep it really simple, “when you go easy, go easy and when it’s time to go hard, go at the right hard pace.” “Train at your level.”
Personally I’ve coached Cross Country and track for 6 seasons. It’s pure joy to see athletes feel the sense of accomplishment of doing their best and also when they discover their best is better than they originally thought.
In 2016, our family started Project Gold Running, a camp designed to bring great people together to inspire and lift others up, encouraging each and every athlete to break through limiting beliefs and commit to a bigger vision, and to have a growth mindset and commit to adopt a few strategies to pursue their vision.
My goal is to promote a love for our sport and inspire our athletes to be their best.