Our core mission at Praxis Elite is to instill “Unshakeable Confidence” in our students.
Meet Our Founders
Praxis Elite Sports Academy was the brainchild of founding member, Nick Barnett. Nick has an extensive history with many genre of sports and an unwavering belief that sports creates the “best fraternity on the world”. Nick leads the athletic department at Praxis Elite and brings his signature high energy that his student-athletes gravitate towards.
Nick was the first-round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2003 but was initially a standout track star in high school. Nick harnessed those skills to catch the eye of recruiting scouts and garner a football scholarship to attend Oregon State University. After blowing away the competition at the collegiate combine, Nick took the Packers top spot in 2003. Nick spent 11 years in the NFL before making San Diego his home. His accolades include a Super Bowl, the Rookie of the Year nomination, a Pro bowl selection and numerous Pro Bowl nominations.
Since moving to San Diego, he has been the head coach of many youth championship teams across multiple sports. Most recently, he was the head coach of the La Costa Canyon Pop Warner 14U team, winning the WestCon championship in his first year as head coach. He was hired to head the football program at Del Norte High School in 2023, winning a CIF title in his first year as the head coach. Nick brings his experience as a professional player, a student athlete, and his incredible ability to develop and cultivate talented student athletes.
Praxis Elite Sports Academy is led by Director Amanda Barnett, who holds a Master’s Degree in Strategic Communications from Washington State University. Having grown up around professional sports her entire life with both her parents working for the Portland Beavers minor league baseball team, the Portland Trailblazers basketball team, and her dad also working as a high school football ref, most of her early childhood memories revolve around being somewhere on a sideline.
Her first job was at age 14, in the concessions stands at Civic Stadium, now Providence Park in Portland. In undergrad at the University of Oregon, Amanda was a cheerleader and president of many on-campus organizations. She held internships with HBO Sports in NYC and NASCAR Digital Entertainment in LA. Upon graduating, she was an active board member of the Packers Women’s Association in Green Bay for several years, chairing and implementing a program with a local domestic abuse shelter for women and children that still exists to this day. Most importantly, she’s a mom to five kids, and is still most often found somewhere on a sideline.
Our Staff
Amanda Barnett
Amanda is the Executive Director. She brings a love for montessori-style learning and collaboration to keep expanding the vision of Praxis Elite. She truly believes that the success of Praxis is measured by the students’ individual success.
Amanda is a former sideline cheerleader (Go Ducks!) but is a new competition cheer mom—and it’s a whole new world! She spends her free time still cheering on the sidelines, or catching up on Bravo.
Nick Barnett
Nick leads the athletic department at Praxis Elite and uses his experience at the professional level to help train and motivate students. Nick brings his high energy and attention to skill development that he consistently translates into athlete development, which we often joke is his superpower.
In his spare time, he has been known to hit the competitive amateur bowling and golf circuits. Once a competitor, always a competitor.
Tyler Nix
Coach Tyler is our lead teacher, recovery expert and training coach. Coach Tyler recently returned back to San Diego, where he was a standout receiver at San Marcos High School. Coach Ty spent the past few years playing professionally in Australia and Spain. He loves all things recovery, nutrition and self-improvement. You can always catch him with a book in his hand and a new podcast recommendation.