The Mission
The mission of Make Yourself is to see Alaska's people find personal, lifelong fulfillment in learning to stretch beyond their limits, embrace discomfort, and create positive change within themselves and the people around them."
The Founder
Alysa Horn is a former collegiate and professional basketball player known for her toughness, competitiveness and selflessness. As a coach these qualities are at the forefront of her message to the athletes she works with today.
A Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist with a Bachelor's of Science in Health, 4 years coaching experience at the collegiate level and a born and raised Alaskan, Alysa brings an experiential and science based approach on how to train mental and physical toughness. The founder of Make Yourself, Alysa is committed to helping Alaskans make themselves the absolute best they can be.
Alysa offers Basketball Skills Training as well as Strength & Conditioning. She loves doing camps and clinics across the state! Keep scrolling down for testimonials, and to read more about Alysa's story and how Make Yourself came to be.
A Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist with a Bachelor's of Science in Health, 4 years coaching experience at the collegiate level and a born and raised Alaskan, Alysa brings an experiential and science based approach on how to train mental and physical toughness. The founder of Make Yourself, Alysa is committed to helping Alaskans make themselves the absolute best they can be.
Alysa offers Basketball Skills Training as well as Strength & Conditioning. She loves doing camps and clinics across the state! Keep scrolling down for testimonials, and to read more about Alysa's story and how Make Yourself came to be.
Heath Day | Rally Alaska
|
“Alysa is a fantastic human being and a superstar coach. In my twenty years of coaching and training coaches I have not encountered a coach with as much passion and desire for the success of their athletes. Alysa goes above an beyond all expectations to give her best and inspires those around her in the process. Her knowledge, commitment, and work ethic are top notch. From training collegiate athletes to basketball camp with kindergartners to adult strength and conditioning, and everything in between, Alysa is a one of a kind coach that makes people around her better." |
Frank Ostanik | Alaska Basketball Academy | Monroe Catholic High School Athletic Director & Head Boys Basketball Coach
|
I have had the pleasure of working with and getting to know Coach Horn over the past few years. I have been coaching and running camps for the past 27 years and Coach Horn is one of the best clinicians I have worked with. Her unique combination of knowledge and ability to teach separate her from others. As great a trainer as she is, she is a better human being. Coach Horn genuinely cares about those she works with and is committed to helping everyone reach their full potential from a physical, mental, and skill standpoint. Her compassion, sense of humor and concern go far beyond helping a person get into better shape or dribble a basketball better. More than most people I work with, she has the ability to help others reach their full potential as a person. I can give Coach Horn no greater compliment than to say she is the one person I would most want training my child.” |
Myra Harris | Unalakleet Head Girls Basketball Coach
|
Rural Alaskan athletes have talent and come from families that support their traditional values. Rural Alaska also comes with it's hardships associated with isolation. Coaches are people who share the value of hard work, bringing families and communities together through sports and ultimately helping improve the health and well-being of rural Alaskans. I met Alysa Horn when she flew to Unalakleet to conduct a K-12 basketball camp. She has personable traits that motivate athletes, while communicating critically with care and candor. This is an art that is crafted through many hours of interaction and is at the heart of helping others become overcomers. Because of this, Alysa is living proof, that Alaskans with specialized training, can attain physical and mental skills to realize their potential." |
The Pederson Family | From Nome, Alaska - Now Anchorage Transplants
|
Our family has known Alysa for over 2 years and since then, our children Sienna and Levi have loved training with her in both basketball and strength and conditioning. From the very beginning, Alysa has shown a genuine interest in improving all around health and wellbeing. Alysa cares for each individual and makes sure to express that every time we see her. She teaches that life in not only about winning or getting better at sports but being a good person in the process of all the highs and lows. Knowing that she grew up in a smaller Alaskan community like us, we appreciate her understanding of the challenges we face there, and value the solutions she offers to tackle those issues. In addition, she truly is passionate about giving opportunities to kids from all over Alaska, and from all walks of life, that might not otherwise have it. On top of being a stellar human being, she is one of the top trainers in Alaska. Alysa is full of knowledge regarding injury prevention, the importance of stretching, strength, skill development, and proper nutrition. She makes sure to ask questions, get answers, and encourage community, kindness, hard work, and dedication at each session. We feel confident in recommending Alysa to every student or life athlete." |
|
Taylor D. - read his review on GoogleAlysa has been doing my individualized Fitness programming for a long time now. My lifts have improved, my cardiovascular endurance is the best its ever been, and on a daily basis I feel like I have someone in my corner that wants the best for me. This is not one size fits all. Alysa listens to your needs and goals and does everything in her power to make them a reality. I highly recommend." |
The story behind Make YourselfI believe every single person on this planet has the innate ability to make themselves into whoever they want to be.I feel so strongly about this, because I was once a nobody from a small town on the remote island of Kodiak, Alaska. Like many other kids, it was my dream as a little girl to some day play college basketball, and maybe even professional basketball. At the time, I was one of the best players in my community, but that didn’t mean much at all as I transitioned from a small town high school to college basketball for the University of Alaska Anchorage.
|
|
My first year at UAA, I wasn't prepared for the drastic change in level, so I red-shirted.
This means I practiced every day with the team but did not play or travel, and therefore retained that year of eligibility. This was a developmental year through and through. My second year, excited to see all the work from the year prior translate to playing substantial minutes on the court, I was met right away with a bad bout of mono that hospitalized me at the beginning of the year, and wasn’t able to recover quickly enough to come in to the year and make an impact. I played limited minutes the entire season, only being put into the game when we were up by at least 25 points.
At the end of that year, having put in extra time on my own, having gave everything at every practice that I could, having done my best to have a great attitude and be a good teammate; my coach looked me in the eye and told me “If you do not get better, you will not play more than 5 minutes a game next year.” The cold, hard truth. She still didn’t think I was good enough to play at that level.
This felt like the biggest slap in the face anyone could have given me.
It wasn’t a “This is what you need to work on to get better.”
It wasn’t, “Hey we see how hard you’re working; keep at it, it will pay off.”
At the end of that year, having put in extra time on my own, having gave everything at every practice that I could, having done my best to have a great attitude and be a good teammate; my coach looked me in the eye and told me “If you do not get better, you will not play more than 5 minutes a game next year.” The cold, hard truth. She still didn’t think I was good enough to play at that level.
This felt like the biggest slap in the face anyone could have given me.
It wasn’t a “This is what you need to work on to get better.”
It wasn’t, “Hey we see how hard you’re working; keep at it, it will pay off.”
She was essentially telling me, "Quit. You are not good enough."
As I left her office, I felt devastated. By the time I got to my car in the parking lot, I was angry. That summer, with a chip on my shoulder, I completely transformed myself physically, mentally, and developed my skills. I said no to parties. I said no to eating junk food. I said no to accepting that I was only ever going to be a nobody. And I became obsessed with lonely journey of improving myself.
I went to open gyms at 6am with old men, because there were no other options in Kodiak. I would then put a rock in the door, and go back when I knew no one was going to be around, and work on my skills. I would go to the track, and run track workouts, having no idea what I was doing, but just knowing that if I ran hard it would have to make me faster and better conditioned. I went to the local gym to lift weights and get stronger, again having next to no idea what I was doing, but just knowing that it would have to make a difference. I gave up excess sugar and process carbs, and I leaned up. I read books on how to strengthen my mind, and my confidence expanded.
I went to open gyms at 6am with old men, because there were no other options in Kodiak. I would then put a rock in the door, and go back when I knew no one was going to be around, and work on my skills. I would go to the track, and run track workouts, having no idea what I was doing, but just knowing that if I ran hard it would have to make me faster and better conditioned. I went to the local gym to lift weights and get stronger, again having next to no idea what I was doing, but just knowing that it would have to make a difference. I gave up excess sugar and process carbs, and I leaned up. I read books on how to strengthen my mind, and my confidence expanded.
The next fall came around, and my teammates and coaches were shocked.
The relentless storm of work that I had put in that summer had paid off, and I found myself not just on the starting line up, but being one of the leading scorers and rebounders on the team. The next three years of college I continued to work hard and eventually earned a contract to play professionally in Germany for two years and another contract to play a in Australia. Part of me couldn’t believe it.
Had it not been for the two years of failure and adversity, and my summer of obsessive improving my mindset and habits, I would not have made it.
It was not an easy road, and I didn't have too many people to help me. I had to help myself.
This is why I love what I do now. I understand what it’s like to not know how to do something, and how to figure it out when your back is up against the wall. I know what it’s like to have a soft mindset, and transform it into an unstoppable mindset. I know how it feels to commit to making myself into who I want to be, and realize how much of that has to be done on your own.
I want this for everyone else who wants it as bad as I did. They could be basketball players in a rural village, or a big city. They could be athletes of any kind. They could be average Joes or Janes coming off the couch who simply want to reclaim their quality of life. It doesn’t matter. I want to help, because I know what it takes.
This is why I love what I do now. I understand what it’s like to not know how to do something, and how to figure it out when your back is up against the wall. I know what it’s like to have a soft mindset, and transform it into an unstoppable mindset. I know how it feels to commit to making myself into who I want to be, and realize how much of that has to be done on your own.
I want this for everyone else who wants it as bad as I did. They could be basketball players in a rural village, or a big city. They could be athletes of any kind. They could be average Joes or Janes coming off the couch who simply want to reclaim their quality of life. It doesn’t matter. I want to help, because I know what it takes.
