DANIELLA MUNOZ

I have been jumping for about 7 years now. All of which I have spent at KTC with Coach Munoz (Coach Munoz at the track, dad at home). However, given that I am his daughter I have been around KTC and the sport in general my entire life. Because of that I feel like I have an interesting perspective that not all KTC athletes have. I get to see every aspect of the club day in and day out just by being around my dad, coach munoz every second of every day. In addition I can speak to my own experience as his athlete at KTC.

I started competing internationally when I was 16 years old. Which would not have been even remotely possible without his mentoring and coaching. Even though that’s when things really started taking off for me there was a lot that built up to that. He formed me from day one.

For me to accurately explain my experience with my coach I have to start by asking you this question. What is a coach? There is a huge disconnect forming in the high jump community with what the term coach actually means. It is becoming a term that is being thrown around way too lightly. All too often I hear a “coach” talking about “his/her athlete” who is most likely a very talented jumper, but when you start to dig a little deeper you start to realize that they just started working with them recently and they came to them with competitive marks but they aren’t improving. To me a coach is someone who forms and guides athletes from one stage to the next. A coach is an artist that takes a misshapen ball of clay and molds it into a spectacular piece of art. A “coach” who doesn’t form athletes isn’t a coach, they are just a recruiter disguised as a coach. I can assure you that my coach (Hugo Munoz) is exactly what he claims to be. A real coach, and an amazing one at that.

Many of you may think that I may only be saying this because I am his daughter but that’s the exact reason why you should believe every word that I am saying. I am living proof of his ability as a coach. He took me from a scrawny 11 year old who didn’t even know how to run an approach to representing a country in only 6 years. You can watch the countless number of before and afters of other kids that have come to KTC and left as different jumpers, you can read the countless other testimonials. If people weren’t leaving KTC improving we wouldn’t still be here after almost 15 years of coaching athletes. The fact is that my coach is KTC.

There are 2 things that have been consistent throughout the history of KTC. The first is the quality of coach that my father is. His experience with the event and lighthearted nature is what allows him to work well with just about any jumper. He also finds simple ways to explain technical concepts. As all us jumpers know high jump is challenging enough as is, when someone is using long drawn out scientific explanations with large vocabulary it can make things a bit more confusing than they need to be. Coach Munoz loves to use analogies, tell jokes, stories, and draw pictures to make one of the most complicated events in track and field as easy as 1+1. The second consistent factor is that I have been here watching everything for 15 years. Many athletes have come and gone. Some are still jumping, some have moved onto successful professional careers, others have started families. The improvement is not only shown in a new PR but in their successes beyond high jump.

I know that the coaching and mentorship that my father and coach, Hugo Munoz, provides at KTC will continue to help me grow into the jumper I know I can be and help all of our past present and future kangaroos. Once a kangaroo always a kangaroo.

Addendum 09/12/2022:I wanted to make an update given that my previous testimonial is a few years old. I am no longer jumping because I switched events and am now throwing javelin. I know that might sound like a pretty drastic change and you must be thinking. How did that happen? What does this have to do with KTC? We’ll let me tell you. The reason why I decided to switch events was because when I was 16 I was diagnosed with a condition that affected the depth perception in my left eye. When the doctor notified me a lot of things started to make more sense. Many people have told me that I had very good technique which is true however one thing I could never do was accelerate at the end and take off farther. 2 corrections that I had battled with for years. I had a hard time gaging how close or far I was from the pit and standards and this made me unsure of where I needed to take off therefore I would not accelerate due to me trying to figure out how close or far I was from the pit. As you can imagine this is pretty much the kiss of death for a high jumper. I was able to improve my technique in other areas and get stronger and faster but I continued to take off close and not accelerate through the jump so none of my physical improvements were ever able to show. After a few frustrating years trying every method under the sun to figure out how to deal with this new revaluation I decided to take a mental break and play with some other events per the recommendation of my father (Coach Munoz). This is when I found javelin. My decision to leave high jump behind was purely based on my lack of depth perception. However I wouldn’t trade my time high jumping for anything. One thing coach Munoz preaches is how almost everything we learn at KTC will be applicable beyond high jump. Performing under pressure, discipline, coordination, body awareness, and positive attitude just to name a few. I have carried everything I learned from my time at KTC with me into the javelin. I wanted to take a moment to discuss this because at the end of the day our bodies will only allow us to continue with athletics up to a certain extent but the lessons I have learned through my time at KTC will stay with me for the rest of my life. KTC helped me evolve into a better and stronger version of myself. I am now currently training with a group in Europe and getting ready the upcoming season while finishing the last few courses in my undergrad since I am projected to graduate a year early and move onto Law school in the fall of 2023.

NOTE: To see Daniella’s video when she was young (before and after), please click HERE and to see Daniella’s PR jump, please click HERE