Okay, now that everyone outside and inside the USA borders has had their turn
at "beating a dead horse", I still say that most of you are missing the
point. There is nothing on the horizon that will replace the 100 years old US
public high school system of athletic competition. Yeah, a strong club system
sounds great, and where is the huge financial support that public schools now
contribute going to come from? For most American kids high school is THE
FOCUS of their universe. That's not going to change. For most American high
school athletes track and field is introduced as their "second" sport. A
World Championships in October just isn't that important compared to
football, volleyball, basketball. If it's in July or August, yeah they'll get
excited, provided they can be back time for preseason. Anyone remember the
name Tory Mitchell? If any one could have beaten Chris Malcolm in '98 he
could of. But getting ready for football was more important. Mitchell of
course isn't playing anything now, he back home in Big Spring, Tx (another
story entirely).
The truly surprising thing to me was the fact USATF sent as "big" a squad
as it did. I seem to remember talk in '98 about skipping the meet completely.
But then there was the feeling that we needed to support the IAAF (or that
there was some penalty for not going, such as housing availability at future
championships) I can't say for sure.
The bottom line is every country has it's own set of circumstances to
deal with. Here's and opportunity for the world to beat it chest and crow
that theirs is a better system. Go right ahead; but, you can't decree
something is important. I love the Juniors probably more than I do "seniors".
I've coached in high school going on 32 years now, it's the best. But the
ultimate bottom line is that in the USA junior competitions don't hold the
same aura as the Olympics and what happened in Chile has little to do with
what will happen in future Olympics for the USA. That is not the case every
where. I trust that the Britons are looking with relish at the future of Mark
Lewis-Francis and Chris Malcolm. If they were Americans they would probably
be playing football (no not soccer) right now and dreaming of Bowl games and
the NFL. Different place, different aspirations.
My biggest problem with this whole tread is the "oh we're terrible and
we're going to get worse" on one side and the "hooray our way is better, you
guys just cry sour grapes when things don't going your way" on another side.
Maybe some of you have noticed but the world isn't so clear cut. Tolerance
isn't a strong point of this list and dissecting a topic is usually
accomplished with the deft touch of a sledgehammer.
Andy Ferrara
Ass't Men's Coach
1998 USATF Junior Team
