OGDEN — Emmett White is sharing his passion for football with athletes who want to take their game to the next level.

His business, Optimal Performance, helps athletes of all ages and abilities be the best they can be through speed and agility camps, football camps, and private and group athletic training programs.

Braxton Porter, a 2016 Fremont High School graduate who will be playing football in the fall at Montana Tech, has been training with White since he was a boy.

“About two years ago, I started training pretty heavy with him, and I like it because he really pushes you and he knows what he’s talking about. He does position-specific training to make you better at what you do,” Porter said.

White played the sport he loves for 24 years. At the early age of 6, the Ogden native knew football was in his future.

“I started playing about a year early, but I just really wanted to play,” White said. “My dad played football, he played up at Weber State, so I just wanted to get on the field, too.”

Brian Wolfer/Special to the Standard-Examiner

He continued playing Little League football and went on to play and letter all four years at Ben Lomond High, winning just one game his first three years and playing in the state football championship his senior year.

“It was good having a great group of guys around me that were able to help turn a losing program around,” he said.

After graduating from Ben Lomond in 1998, he headed to Logan on a football scholarship at Utah State University, where he played four straight years, becoming one of the best running backs in Utah State history.

“Man, four awesome years. It was the experience of my life,” he said.

Although he was a college football standout, a professional career in the NFL wasn’t an option. White was born without anterior cruciate ligament in his right leg. After college, he went as a free agent to the New York Giants, but because of the rare condition, he failed his physical and was released from the team.

Brian Wolfer/Special to the Standard-Examiner

But that didn’t stop him from playing the game. He went to Canada to play for the BC Lions. After one season, he was injured and came back home to Utah — and fell in love with arena football.

“It was fun. After you play college and professionally, sometimes it can be a job — because that’s exactly what it is,” he said. “The Warriors were just fun. A lot of great guys, I was surrounded by. We won a lot of games.”

When his football career ended, he wasn’t ready to give up his passion for the sport. He had been training young athletes between seasons and truly enjoyed it. Each year, his clientele would grow and eventually led to the creation of Optimal Performance. He wanted to help kids perform the best they could, regardless of what level they were at.

“It’s been awesome being able to see kids go from junior high all the way up to college — some even making it to the NFL,” he said.

Brian Wolfer/Special to the Standard-Examiner

He often can be heard telling athletes to “Make it happen,” teaching them that nothing is given to them, that if they want it, they need to make it happen.

“It’s more than making them just faster. One of the main things we do is teach them how to control their speed, how to pick it up and how to set it down,” he said.

He also works on running mechanics, explosiveness and power. “We’re giving them different tools to be more explosive, ways to gain speed, yet keeping their bodies in a position that is mechanically correct,” he said.

White talks highly of former coaches and trainers and the positive impact they had on his life. He hopes he can have that same influence on the kids he trains. He not only wants to teach them the mechanics, but also give them the confidence they need to succeed in their sport.

“When they see it in themselves on the field or when they feel it, it’s 100 times better than when I see it,” he said.