Why Track
and Field is a good thing for ALL athletes from fall and winter sports
*NOTE* This is a personal essay intended to interest
prospective athletes in the SJA community in considering joining the track and
field program. It is intended to get
athletes to think about their goals and the best way to achieve them. For some, joining track and field may be a
better fit. For others it may not. The trend towards specialization is well documented
and track and field coaches have to work harder than ever to keep their teams
competitive and relevant. A lot of
research has been done before writing this.
As with any debate, it is up to the reader to study all the facts and
choose what is best for her/him.
Absolutely no malice or negative intent is directed toward any athlete,
coach, or sport – this is meant to be pro-track and field. Thank you, Fred Kieser
I have been a coach at SJA
for over 20 years now. In that time a
lot has changed in the world of Jaguar athletics. In the late 90’s there was no track in the
front yard. Crew, rugby, lacrosse, and
indoor track were not varsity sports, and very few students specialized in one
sport. Also, the level of
competitiveness of all SJA teams has greatly improved. The coaches have gotten better, support from
the administration has been enhanced, and the quality of athletes has gone
up. Before the era of specialization
(this is a current buzz word that refers to athletes who focus on only one
sport all year-round) track and field used to be an obvious choice for the best
athletes in the school to participate in if they weren’t on the softball
team. It was a chance to stay fit, work
on certain physical skills, and help one of the more successful programs in the
school. In today’s athletics, there are
a lot of choices and demands placed upon high school athletes at SJA and across
the nation. SJA has 5 spring sports to
choose from now, plus athletes from the fall and winter sports who may be good
enough to significantly help track and field (or any one of the spring sports)
have the option (pressure?) to play some version of their sport in the spring
whether it is AAU, travel, Juniors, etc…
The purpose of this essay
is to get the athletes who are currently specializing to strongly consider the
value of doing “an off sport” like track and field in the spring. To those of you who are specialists and feel
the need to do “club”, “aau”, or some other off-season travel league in the
spring....I really hope you’ll give
my pitch a fair shake.
First, if you’re good
enough to specialize in any particular sport, then chances are you have some
very good athletic potential. At the end
of this essay are links to articles about the success of multi-sport athletes –
how the NFL is full of them, how college coaches prefer them, and how many
professionals believe specialization is both mentally and physically
detrimental to youth athletes. I have no
doubt you love your sport and don’t mind doing it every day of the year, but
have you taken a step back to see if that is really in your best interest? I have personally seen too many athletes burn
out this way. They become numb to the
traveling, costs, games, and constant practices. There are so many scholarly articles that now
warn parents against specialization for these reasons and more. It is recommended that doing different sports
to use different muscles, have different coaches, and broaden your athletic
background actually helps your
primary sport. You may think I’m a hypocrite
because I coach cross country in the fall, indoor track in the winter, and
outdoor track in the spring, but I actually don’t mind if a student does a
different sport in the winter. As a
coach, I just want to make sure my athletes are doing something athletic in the winter and not sitting around on the
couch getting out-of-shape.
I really believe track and
field is the PERFECT complement to sports like volleyball, basketball, and
soccer for many reasons. While at its
core track and field is indeed a team sport, the effort and results can be
individually measured. Your effort, your
skill, your results all come down to you.
If you are fast the watch will prove it.
If you can jump, the tape measure will show it. We spend a lot of time working on basic
skills other sports need…pure speed, strength in the weight room, coordination,
footwork, etc…The head football coach at St. Ignatius IS the head track and
field coach also. Where do you think his
football team is during the spring?
Winning state titles on the track!
Joe Thomas was a Big Ten
champion in the shot put.
RG III was an all-american
in the hurdles just a few years ago.
Kenny Lofton was national
class in the long jump.
Eric Metcalf was also
national class in the long jump.
Ted Ginn Jr. was a state
champion in multiple sprints at Glenville before going to OSU (where he ran
track) and the NFL.
The Buffalo Bills have a
wide receiver (Marquise Goodwin) who is one of the top ten long jumpers in the
world.
Herschel Walker, Bo
Jackson, and countless other athletes in football and basketball did track and
field as well either in high school or college as well.
At SJA we have recent and
current athletes who do a fall or winter sport, then greatly help the track and
field program in the spring. There are 2 sophomores in the basketball program
now who also competed at the state meet for the track team as freshmen. Their basketball coach was a multi-sport
athlete herself and they have her blessing to play other sports. Brittany Morrison played spring AAU and did track and field at SJA. She was a state-qualifier in the shot put and
discus, and is now excelling in basketball for University of Buffalo. Obviously her experience on the track and
field team did not hold her back. Beth
Grzybowski, now in the SJA hall-of-fame, was state runner-up in the high jump
her senior year and was team MVP at John Carroll for her volleyball team. Oh, and she was national champion for JCU in
the high jump! Her time with track and
field did not hurt her volleyball (and her volleyball did not hurt her track –
they complemented each other). We’ve had
athletes come off surgery who weren’t allowed to participate in contact sports
use track and field as a great confidence builder as well as a speed-builder.
There is an event for
everyone. Sprints for the true
speedsters, hurdles, high jump and long jump for the athletic-types, throws for
the taller and stronger athletes, and of course distance events for the
well-conditioned. You may say to
yourself “but I don’t like to run”. While
at the core of track and field sprint training is a big part, there is much
more to do. Shot put (for you strong
types), discus (for the tall, athletic types – basketball players!!), high jump
and long jump, hurdles, and pole vault.
In the end, it’s like anything in life – you get out of it what you put
into it. We will coach you in your events,
so even if you have no experience you can still be great. Brittany Morrison never threw shot until
sophomore year of high school. One of
the sophomores referenced above never ran track until freshman year and she is
already one of the fastest athletes in school history!
Track and field is
essentially a 10-12 week season – shorter than any other. It is the perfect amount of time to work on
other aspects of your athleticism, take a nice mental health break,
learn some new skills, make some new friends, and perhaps grow a better
appreciation for other sports. Every
girl who has ever come out for track after having done years of other
team-oriented sports was very appreciative of their experience, often saying “I
wish I had started doing this sooner”.
And what about your
parents or coaches who really want you to play spring AAU or other travel
leagues? Read the articles below and do
your own homework. There are AAU coaches
who prey on your fear (and your parent’s and teammate’s fear) of less playing
time, other players making big improvements while you’re not, less chance of
colleges looking at you, etc…Again, ask yourself the question – do these AAU
coaches really have MY best interests
at heart? This is always the question
you should ask yourself regarding any coach (including me). There are plenty of good club coaches, but do
you have one of them?? What about the thousands of $ you’re spending
on fees, travel, hotels, uniforms, etc…??
If you want to know more
about the track and field program, what you might be able to do as a new
athlete, or if it would be a good fit for you – please ask! Send me an email – fkieser@sjastudents.org
Don’t be afraid to try
something new. Don’t be afraid to tell
coaches you need a break after two, three, or more years of the same thing day
after day. If anything, doing a
different sport will re-invigorate you for your next season because you’ll have
had a break. More times than not,
athletes who have done other sports and come to track and field later in their
careers are very happy they did. They
often wonder why they hadn’t come to the sport sooner.
Articles about
specialization:
Articles about multi-sport
athletes and track athletes in other sports
Articles about AAU
money-making machines
2 comments:
There are several girls who excel as individuals in multiple sports at SJA. As a parent I have been disappointed in the lack of support for my daughter to excel to her potential when the seasons overlap. In fact girls have been faced with opposition from coaches for participating in other sports besides their own. I never thought this school would discourage a child from wanting to push limits and challenge themselves. It use to be a time when coaches were mentors, when coaches did not take things personal, when youth could confide in a coach, now athletes walk on eggshells.
I don't think it is policy of "the school" (meaning administrators, teachers, etc...) to have any opinions about what sports the girls do, how they overlap, and if they specialize or not. The athletic director has tweeted many articles citing the value of multiple sports.
The OHSAA has done a good job of creating three distinct seasons. The only way they overlap is if a team makes a deep push into the playoffs (like vball last fall). That might interfere with basketball tryouts and the first week of practice. However, I believe there is a policy in place that allows an athlete to take a break after one season before the next starts without penalty. I made that offer to the basketball girls that run track. Some, if not most, prefer to jump into the next season quickly.
I don't mind if our athletes do other sports - as a matter of fact I'd prefer they do SOMETHING rather than sitting on their behinds until March comes!!!
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