Eric Michael Amkraut was born on September 18, 1967 at Magee Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. From the very start, Eric began spending his summers at Cejwin Camps in Port Jervis, NY (click HERE for more information on the Amkraut's at Cejwin).  At age 2, he moved with his parents to New York City.  For the next 8 years, they lived in the Stuyvesant Town section of New York at 277 Ave C.  During that time, Eric got two brothers (Brian, born in December of 1969 and Daniel, born in October of 1974).  He went to nursery school  and Kindergarten at the 14th Street Y, then went to Ramaz Yeshiva for grades 1-4. While in New York, Eric took piano lessons (that lasted for only one year; the teacher had a cat whose hair was all over everything, including the piano keys) and later switched to guitar (a venture that would laset for 6 years, but yielded progress only for the first three). Eric got his first taste of organized sports playing Little League baseball at the local ConEd fields.  He would also play basketball in nearby Murphy Park and would ride bicycles with Brian and their parents along the East River.  Eric and his family would often spend weekends in Brooklyn with his grandparents (Sarah and Hyman Amkraut), where they would often walk to Avenue J or Avenue M, go to the Midwood High School field to play with a football or go to the nearby park to shoot baskets (Grandpa Hyman would promise Eric an Brian Yoo-Hoo chocolate drinks for every made basket!). 
In 1977, Eric moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio.  His sister, Fran, was born in October of that year.  The family lived in Cleveland Heights and Eric and his brothers went to the Agnon School.  Eric participated in a number of school extra-curricular activities and also took part in the Cleveland Heights town recreation program.
After the summer of 1980, Eric and his family relocated to Providence, RI.  On September 1, he celebrated his becoming Bar Mitzvah at the Touro Synagogue in Newport, RI wearing a talit hand-made for him by his mother, Ruth (the talit was made form a black and gold fabric, the colors chosen to recognize the city of Pittsburgh where Eric was born). He went to Providence Hebrew Day School for 8th Grade and Classical High School in the heart of Providence.  During that time, he met Mark Robbins and Eli Neusner, who would be two of his closest lifelong friends.
In 1982, Eric moved with his family to East Brunswick, New Jersey. After graduating from East Brunswick High School, Eric attended Rutgers College (Rutgers University).  He earned his degree in Health, Physical Education and Sports Studies (along with his licence as a teacher of Health and Phys. Ed.) while also playing baseball (Freshman year) and trach and Field (Hammer Thrnow and 35-lb. Weight - he captained the throws events his senior year). After earning his B.S. from  Rutgers, Eric was soon appointed as a Strength and Conditioning Coach for Rutgers University where he was directly in charge of the training programs for all the universiy's athletic teams except for football.