Rui Qiang Liu joined the San Jose Earthquakes in October of 2022 as the Academy Strength and Conditioning Coach. During the last 10 years, he dedicated himself to help youths to improve fitness and sports performance in different roles (i.e., soccer coach, strength coach, and fitness coach) in the Bay Area.    

       Before Rui joined the Quakes, he was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Albany High School, coordinating strength and conditioning training for 13 sports teams for three years. He also served as the Athletic Conditioning Teacher at International High School in San Francisco and PE Teacher at San Francisco High School of the Arts

        Prior to Albany High School, Rui was the Intern Sports Performance Coach at Santa Clara University and City College of San Francisco. At Santa Clara University, he implemented the strength training program for women’s rowing and women’s golf (defending team and individual titles at the Wyoming Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate and Cal Poly Invitational in 2017).

        Rui is a USSF Licensed soccer coach and soccer referee. He was the soccer coach for the girls’ soccer team at Mercy High school San Francisco. Also, He has been a soccer referee for over 16 years in the Bay Area and Maryland.

       Rui graduated from University of Maryland with a B.S. in Kinesiology. He earned his master's degree in Sports Coaching and Strength and Conditioning at University of Denver, finishing with two published articles on soccer training in the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Coach Journal. 

       In 2021, Rui was selected in the Diversity in Strength Initiative with Men’s Health Magazine. He created and published a workout in the Men’s Health Magazine. 

Education:

1. University of Denver 2020          

MA Sports Coaching (with an emphasis in Strength and Conditioning)              

2. University of Maryland 2010   BS Kinesiology 

Certification:

USAW Level 1 Performance Coach by USA Weightlifting  

Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) by NSCA  

Publication

Liu, R.Q. Build Core Strength and Injury Proof, Your Whole Body with a Twist. Men’s Health Magazine. January-February 2022, 16-17.  

Liu, R.Q., Gearity, B., and Kuklick, C. (2020) Integrating Plyometric Training for High School Soccer Athletes Part 1. NSCA Coach Journal, vol 7.4, 34-41.   

Liu, R.Q., Gearity, B., and Kuklick, C. (2020) Integrating Plyometric Training for High School Soccer Athletes Part 2. NSCA Coach Journal, vol 8.1, 18-26.