In a message dated 10/22/00 9:24:07 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< Netters:
As a university teacher I'd like to point out that the worst thing that an
American freshman can do
is take off a week or 2 in their first semester. Track and field ahletes in
general are pretty serious students, so I expect that they realize this. The
European academic system is very different, in that the only examinations
are given at the end of the academic year, so students are pretty blase'
about any given week at the beginning. >>
I could buy this line of thinking were it not for the many collegiate
athletes who compete in other fall sports and who must miss large amounts of
school due to athletic commitments. I also know that many of the kids could
have gone to their professors/teachers and gotten assignments they could do
while they were away. I recall going to a major competition a few years ago
and seeing virtually every member of the UVA squad working on assignments.
I think it far better to recognize the problem rather than glossing over it
with a rather lame excuse of the kids having to study and not properly
prepare themselves for the most important competition in their lives up to
this point. And, I repeat, did anyone on the caoching staffs make calls to
check on the kids and their preparation?
USATF made a major financial commitment to send a large team to Chile. Was
it too much to ask the athletes to invest some time in serious training? Was
it too much to ask the coaching staff to insure those athletes were doing the
things necessary to compete at an international level?
Due to the politics involved in staff selections, there is utterly no
continuity within the staff. Every international competition usually has a
staff totally new to the event and some have no idea as to the quality of the
competition our kids will face. I've been to almost all of the World Jr
meets, missing only Athens-'86 and Santiago-'00 so I have a pretty good
perspective as to this situation. Granted, a coach cannot do very much
"coaching" since they only have the kids for a very short time. But they
can, and should, do all they can to make sure the team is properly prepared.
To do less is to abandon their responsibility.
