At just 25 years old, Conor Given is on the younger end of the high school coaching spectrum. He served for two years as assistant coach of the cross-country teams at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School in Gainesville – and is in his second year as head coach.
Given began coaching while pursuing his master’s degree studies in biochemistry at the University of Florida, after having already earned his bachelor’s there in biomedical engineering.
In college, he competed for the Florida Running Club, after doing the same in cross country and track at the Canterbury School of Florida, a high school in St. Petersburg.
Given succeeded Larett Dietrich as the Blue Wave’s head coach in 2025. Under Dietrich, the boys’ team qualified for Florida High School Athletic Association regionals in 2022 and 2023; the girls’ team made it to regionals in 2023, a year after going to the state championships.
Jefferson Packer was the head coach for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and is now the assistant coach under Given. Packer said of Given, “He’s done a great job with everything. Communicating with parents, getting paperwork done, training, connecting with kids, etc.”
On Friday, the girls’ and boys’ teams will compete at the regionals meet in Jacksonville.
Given, who said he intends to apply to medical school, spoke to WUFT News recently about how he got into coaching, what he does when he’s not leading the Blue Wave, and his expectation for the team going forward.
This Q&A has been edited for clarity
Q: What made you decide to go become a cross-country coach?
A: I actually work with a friend who had a daughter on the team. He let me know they were looking to expand their coaching staff. I figured it would be a great opportunity to pass on my enjoyment for running and help the kids develop as student-athletes.
Q: Is there anything from your degrees that you use to coach cross-country?
A: Not really. Everything I picked up from coaching has been through my own personal coaches. There is a lot that goes into it in terms of timing when we are doing certain workouts and what efforts we are going for. But I have picked all of that up through various coaches who have coached me throughout my life.
Q: What do you do outside of coaching?
A: My primary job is as a clinical pacemaker specialist for Abbott, who which I have worked three years. I’m involved in helping check and reprogram patients that have pacemakers and other cardiac devices, and I’m also involved with the implantation process. I’m in the room with the physicians, assisting with our products that they are using. I am also an NCAA and U.S. Soccer referee. Between those two it takes up a lot of my time.
Q: What is the expectation for the rest of the postseason?
A: We moved up to Class 2A two years ago, so it’s a bigger challenge. We are one of the smaller Class 2A schools, but the kids have taken that challenge head on. We have a couple of great leaders on both the girls’ and boys’ side.
Q: Tell me more about coaching the Blue Wave.
A: One of the advantages is that we get kids in sixth- through 12th-grade. We are not solely a high school program. Throughout the last four years, I have coached kids from sixth-grade through their sophomore and junior years. They’ve carried on their training, progressed really well, and we’ve got a lot of young, raw talent that we’ve been developing.
Q: What made you get into refereeing soccer?
A: Soccer was my primary sport growing up. I’ve been watching and playing since I could walk. I was 14 and at that age where I was looking to have some more independence and get a first job. I thought, “Why not get into refereeing?”
Q: What else can you say about it?
A: At first, it was just a way to make money, but the more I grew into the role, I realized I really enjoyed it. It’s a great team atmosphere; I get to be a part of the game. I get to help and develop some of the younger guys, and as you get into the older and more competitive divisions, it’s really enjoyable and exciting to be a part of those games.