‘Level Up’ Is Looking for Athletes Who Still Believe They Have Another Shot

By Huddle & Whistle Staff
October 7, 2026

For some athletes, the hardest part of chasing a dream isn’t discovering whether they have talent. It’s figuring out what to do when the traditional path runs out before the dream does.

Maybe the scholarship never came.

Maybe an injury changed everything.

Maybe the athlete developed later than everyone expected.

Maybe they landed at the wrong school, lost their roster spot, entered the transfer portal, stepped away from their sport or simply never had the right person watching at the right time.

And sometimes, an athlete knows something that a résumé cannot explain: I’m not finished yet.

Those are the athletes a new unscripted sports series called Level Up wants to meet.

Marlo Nicole Productions is currently casting athletes ages 18 to 23 from across sports for the new series, which will bring selected participants into an environment centered on athletic development, accountability and the pursuit of a specific goal.

The production’s message is deliberately broad: All sports. All levels of grit.

Priority casting applications should be submitted by October 16, 2026.

And unlike a conventional sports competition built exclusively around athletes who have already made it, Level Up is interested in something potentially more compelling: athletes who are still trying.

What Is ‘Level Up’?

Level Up is being developed as an unscripted sports docuseries following young athletes at a critical point in their athletic lives.

The participants will be between 18 and 23 years old, an age range that can be particularly unforgiving in sports.

At 12, potential is exciting.

At 16, development is expected.

By 18 or 19, the clock can suddenly feel much louder.

College roster decisions, scholarships, eligibility, injuries, transfers and financial realities begin separating athletes who continue from athletes who don’t.

By 22 or 23, many athletes who have spent most of their lives identifying themselves through sports are confronting a difficult question: Is this still happening?

Level Up is built around what happens next.

Rather than limiting casting to one sport, the production is seeking athletes from different athletic backgrounds. The common denominator isn’t position, statistics or recruiting stars. It is that each participant has a meaningful athletic goal and believes there is still something left to pursue.

That could create an interesting mix.

A football player trying to earn another opportunity doesn’t face the same challenge as a volleyball player attempting to reach the professional level. A boxer, baseball player, basketball player or track athlete brings an entirely different set of physical and mental demands.

But the emotional stakes can be remarkably similar.

They all have something to prove.

Meet Coach Cip

At the center of the project is Coach Cip Montes, the founder of Top Notch Training Facility, better known as TNT, in San Dimas, California.

TNT describes itself as a family-owned fitness and sports-performance facility offering speed and agility work, strength and conditioning, personal and group training and sport-specific development across football, baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball, soccer and boxing.

Montes’ path to training wasn’t exactly conventional either.

According to TNT’s official biography, his own background included football before a career in law enforcement and, eventually, a transition into athletic training. TNT says Montes has worked with professional boxers, NFL players, Major League Baseball players and professional track athletes.

His strength-and-conditioning program combines dynamic warmups, speed, agility, endurance and strength work, with TNT emphasizing something that could become particularly important on Level Up: grit.

This isn’t simply a gym built around getting a good workout.

It is an environment built around athletic performance.

TNT’s personal-training program says Montes has worked with NFL players, professional baseball players and boxers, while the facility’s public testimonials include professional football players discussing their experiences training with him.

That history provides the foundation for Level Up.

But a reality series introduces something a training session doesn’t.

Cameras.

The Camera Will See More Than the Workout

Sports television works when viewers have something to care about beyond the final score.

That’s why Level Up has the potential to be about much more than watching athletes lift weights, run drills or improve a 40-yard dash.

The real story is what each athlete walked through the door carrying with them.

Why are they still chasing this?

What happened before they arrived?

Who believes in them?

Who stopped believing?

What has their family sacrificed?

What happens when improvement isn’t immediate?

And what does an athlete do when someone finally gives them another opportunity and there are no more excuses?

Those questions can make the difference between a training show and a compelling sports series.

The physical transformation matters.

The human transformation may matter more.

This Isn’t Just About Finding the Best Athlete

One misconception athletes should avoid when considering whether to apply is assuming that casting means producers are simply searching for the fastest, strongest or most decorated person in the applicant pool.

Reality and documentary television work differently.

Athletic ability matters because this is a legitimate sports environment. But television also requires a story.

An athlete who has already accomplished everything may actually have less at stake than someone standing at the edge of losing the sport altogether.

That makes the athlete’s why important.

Maybe you were overlooked.

Maybe you started late.

Maybe you made mistakes.

Maybe money limited the opportunities you could pursue.

Maybe your recruiting process didn’t unfold as expected.

Maybe you were injured at exactly the wrong time.

Maybe you’ve been training quietly while everyone around you assumes you’ve moved on.

Or maybe you’ve already had some success, but you believe you’re capable of considerably more.

Those are stories.

And the best applicant may not be the person with the longest list of accomplishments.

It could be the person viewers cannot stop rooting for.

What Casting Is Looking For

The production is seeking athletes ages 18 to 23 across multiple sports.

Applicants should be prepared to explain more than what sport they play.

They should be able to articulate the goal they’re pursuing and why achieving it matters now.

That distinction is important.

“I want to get better” isn’t much of a story.

“I have one year left to prove I can play professionally” is.

“I want another opportunity to play college football after losing my roster spot” is.

“I’ve spent years trying to get noticed and this may be my last serious attempt” is.

The athletes who make Level Up interesting will likely arrive with something concrete at stake.

And because this is an unscripted production, personality matters too.

The audience needs to understand who you are when the workout ends.

Expect Competition, But Also Expect Community

There is another element that could make the series interesting.

Put ambitious athletes from different sports into the same environment and competition is almost inevitable.

Who works hardest?

Who complains?

Who surprises everyone?

Who handles criticism?

Who becomes a leader?

Who cracks when expectations rise?

But athletes also understand something outsiders sometimes miss.

The person competing beside you can become the person pushing you forward.

That means Level Up has an opportunity to capture the camaraderie that develops when athletes with completely different backgrounds recognize the same hunger in one another.

The football player may understand the volleyball player’s disappointment better than expected.

The basketball player may recognize the boxer’s fear.

Different sports.

Same uncertainty.

Same ambition.

One more opportunity.

That can be fun television.

It can also become meaningful television.

The Stakes Are Real Even Without a Guaranteed Ending

There is an important distinction applicants should understand.

A reality series cannot promise that someone will become a professional athlete.

Neither can a coach.

What an opportunity like this can provide is an environment in which athletes are challenged, developed and given another platform to show what they can do.

What happens with that opportunity remains up to the athlete and, ultimately, the realities of their sport.

That uncertainty may actually be what makes the concept work.

There is no reason to watch a sports story if the ending is predetermined.

Some athletes may make extraordinary progress.

Some may discover an opportunity they didn’t know existed.

Some may realize their original goal needs to change.

Others may discover that the thing they thought they were chasing isn’t what they actually wanted.

And a few may find themselves closer to the opportunity they’ve spent years pursuing.

The audience gets to experience that uncertainty with them.

Why 18 to 23 Matters

The casting age is one of the more interesting decisions behind the series.

There are countless programs devoted to developing children and high school athletes.

Professional athletes already have access to elite coaching, agents, facilities and networks.

The space between those two worlds can be far less structured.

Athletes in their late teens and early twenties can disappear from the development pipeline surprisingly quickly.

A college athlete transfers and doesn’t find the right landing spot.

A high school standout doesn’t receive the expected scholarship.

A junior college athlete needs exposure.

Someone leaves school.

Someone gets hurt.

Someone simply develops two years later than everybody else.

Talent doesn’t always disappear when opportunity does.

Level Up appears interested in that gap.

And that may be where some of the best stories are hiding.

Think You Know Someone? Send Them the Casting Call

Not every athlete who belongs on this show is going to find the casting announcement themselves.

That is why the production is also asking people to spread the word.

If you’re a coach and immediately thought of a former player while reading this, send it to them.

If you’re a parent who knows an athlete who refuses to give up, send it.

If you have a teammate still working when almost everyone else has moved on, send it.

And if you’re the athlete reading this and thinking, This sounds like me, don’t wait for someone else to nominate you.

Apply.

Priority casting applications for Level Up should be submitted by October 16, 2026.

Applicants can visit Marlo Nicole Productions⁠ for casting information and application details.

The production is looking for athletes ages 18 to 23, across sports, who have a goal worth chasing and a story worth telling.

The opportunity is not a promise that you’re going to make it.

It’s an opportunity to show what happens when you get another real chance to try.

And for the right athlete, that may be exactly what they’ve been waiting for.

Know someone who fits that description? Send them this story. Priority casting closes October 16.

Huddle & Whistle covers athletes, recruiting, opportunity and the stories that exist beyond the scoreboard. Read more original sports coverage at HuddleAndWhistle.com and subscribe to Huddle & Whistle on YouTube and Substack.