Sam Kavarsky is the founder of Align Sports Therapy in Fairfield. He works with active adults who have been through PT, chiropractic care, and everything in between but still have not gotten the result they are looking for. Whether it is pain that is holding someone back or just trying to get back to the activity they love, AST was built for that person.
When he is not in the clinic you can find him at the gym on Saturday mornings with his three year old son Jackson, who has already developed strong opinions about açaí bowls.
Sam and his wife Melissa are proud parents to Jackson and Logan and are deeply rooted in the Fairfield community.
Where are you originally from and how long have you been in Fairfield?
Originally from Lawrence, NY. South Shore of Long Island, as far west as you can get, right on the border of Queens. I left in 2012 and the next decade took me through Miami, Iowa, Springfield, South Carolina, and Los Angeles. The strength and conditioning world will do that to you. I eventually landed in Connecticut to get my doctorate at the University of Bridgeport and Fairfield just made sense geographically. Honestly though? I got lucky.
Tell us about your family!
Melissa, Jackson, Logan, King, and Coco! Jackson just turned 3 and Logan just turned 1. Every older person we run into tells us how fast this stage goes so just trying to savor this season of life.
One thing people would be surprised to know about you?
My dad was my middle school principal. At the time it made for quite the experience but looking back in my 30s I have a whole different perspective on it. A lot of my leadership style with my team probably traces directly back to watching him work.
One thing you wish someone would have told you about fatherhood?
No amount of preparation will ever be enough. Just jump in. Nothing can fully prepare you for it and the sooner you accept that the better.
What’s your favorite thing about raising a family in Fairfield?
Right now my favorite thing is watching Jackson become a little regular around town. Every weekend he comes to the gym with me and somehow always ends up with an açaí bowl. It has been so fun meeting people in the community through moments like that. Fairfield has that kind of town feel where those things just happen naturally.
Best dad hack that makes your life easier?
When I ran the performance nutrition program for UCLA football I learned from coaches, colleagues, and industry leaders that health precedes performance. Back then that was about optimization. Now as a dad it is a necessity. I will throw the kitchen sink at my body to make sure I can keep training at a high level and still have the energy my family and business demand. Luckily my kids sleep great and I have taken full advantage of that.
Tell us about your business and when and why you decided to start in this field?
I had what most would consider a dream job in college football. The original staff I was on at UCLA got let go and Chip Kelly came in and kept me on. An amazing opportunity by any measure. But if you know me I am always looking for the next mountain to climb. I kept asking myself how I could do things at a higher level and build systems that are actually reproducible. I knew I could leverage strength training to change lives and rebuild athletes after injury but I wanted to get more granular. Understanding the internal environment of the body, the modalities that get people out of pain, the deeper clinical side. I realized the blend of performance and rehab would be an extremely unique skill set. So I went and got it.
What is your background in this field?
I started coaching in 2010 as a strength coach at my high school alma mater. We finished the 2012 season as the number one team in New York State and I was hooked. That sent me chasing the college ranks which took me all over the country. I learned early that to make it in college strength and conditioning you have to get lucky, know someone, or provide unique value. I focused on the nutrition side which eventually got me to UCLA running the performance nutrition program for football. I left to get my master’s at Springfield College, bet on myself to get back to UCLA unpaid, and turned it into a full time role. The next mountain was chiropractic school and a doctorate at the University of Bridgeport. While in school I ran a training business out of my garage in Fairfield, developed multiple FCIAC Players of the Year, and once I graduated I focused on blending everything together. Performance, nutrition, and clinical care in one practice. That is Align Sports Therapy.
What do you love about your job? Challenges you face?
Our typical patient is an active adult who has already been to PT, chiropractic, and tried everything. Most people never get the quality of care they deserve and I know from personal experience how frustrating that is. For a lot of our patients it is about so much more than getting back to their sport. It is about being part of a community they thrive in and feeling confident in their body as they get older. Watching someone come in frustrated with a pain problem or a movement pattern that is holding them back and then seeing them walk out ready to get back to the gym or the activity they love with confidence. That never gets old.
If you weren’t working in this industry what do you think you would be doing today?
That is an easy one. I would be a college strength coach. I truly believe that if you let young people decide what they are capable of they will always fall short of their potential. I love coaching and teaching more than almost anything. The good news is that carries directly into our practice. We are teachers first and I think that is a big part of what makes what we do unique.
Best advice for dads who experience the inevitable guilt handling a career and supporting a family?
In any business or career there are going to be ups and downs. That is just the reality. The most critical thing I have learned over the past year is separating outcome from identity. I always preached emotional stability and awareness as non-negotiables for great athletes but the truth is it applies just as much to business owners and parents. When you stop letting the bad days define you, you show up better for your family and your work.
Who has most influenced you to be the father you are today?
My parents without question. You can never fully appreciate what your parents did until you are in it yourself. Having kids changes that perspective overnight. I also think a lot of the mentors I had coming up in the strength and conditioning world had a bigger influence than they probably know. They all built systems around leadership and developing young people. My kids are not anywhere near that age yet but I can already see how much of that is going to carry over.
What advice would you share with a new dad or other dads?
Not every day is going to go as planned in business or at home. The sooner you accept that the better. The outcome at work should not change who you are when you walk through the door. Easier said than done but it is worth working on every single day.
What’s one thing you want your kids to learn from watching you work?
Consistency over time. I want them to see that building something worthwhile does not happen overnight and it does not look like what most people expect. If they can learn early that showing up every day and doing the work even when it is unglamorous is what actually moves the needle, I will consider that a win.
Favorite places in Fairfield:
Favorite spot: Joe Joes on Saturday morning for açaí right before Jackson heads to Jiu Jitsu. It has become our thing.
Dinner with family: Colony Grill. You cannot go wrong with pizza.