Andy McDermott

Andy grew up in the Chicago area, and graduated from Northwestern University in 1998. As a soccer player, he was named All Big-Ten 3 years, Team Captain 3 years, and finished as the all-time assist record holder and NSCAA All Midwest Region. While playing seven seasons of professional soccer in Germany, Chicago, Indianapolis, and Charlotte, Andy spent time training in the martial arts, earning his Third-Degree Black Belt and was the head instructor of a tae kwon do school. After 9/11, he served on the Tactical Response Unit of the Phoenix Police Department for 9 years. Besides tactical ops and pro-active community policing, he also served as a certified translator in Spanish and in French, a Peer Counselor for PTSD and other trauma, and as Subject Matter Expert and Physical Training Instructor for all Arizona Law Enforcement Agencies. While there, he competed in the World Police and Fire Games and in 2012 won the Gold Medal at the U.S. National Championships in the event called Toughest Competitor Alive. He became known as a Sports Performance and Fitness Expert- with over 100 published articles and videos for national media including Men's Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, and USA Today. His training/nutrition content on YouTube has been viewed by 4.5 million people. He was discovered as an actor when he was cast in a movie with Will Ferrell called Everything Must Go. In 2012, he moved to LA where he appeared in over 30 Films and TV shows and many more commercials and photo campaigns. Andy relocated to Northern California in 2017 when he was recruited to help create and lead a $50MM Sports Technology and Entertainment startup in the Bay Area called COPA Soccer Training Center. As his "5 to 9," Andy serves as Director of Coaching for Palatine Celtic Soccer Club where he is responsible for the development of roughly 1500 student-athletes, four of whom are his two sons and two daughters. He has been coaching soccer at all levels for 25 years, and in 2019/2020 passed a year-long exam process to earn US Soccer's National A-Youth License; the highest youth coaching badge in the country. He and his wife Julie were married in Chicago in 1999, and along with their four kids and lazy bulldog George, they have returned to the Chicago area after 20 years of adventures to create and lead Intentional Sports- a charitable org created to bring professional-level sports facilities, coaching, and athleticism training to under-resourced communities. Andy's passion in life has always been storytelling, and he's grateful to be a working actor in Chicago on some terrific productions recently.