A very good barometer of the degree to which Garry's assertion is correct is
US.
"US", as in you and me, the people on this list. Most of us can be
described as coaches, athletes, former athletes, journalists or just fans.
You have a lot of casual fans in this country of College and pro team
sports. But, to be part of this listserver, you are usually a HARD-CORE
track and field fan. I have read that there are more than 2000 on this
list.
Now, out of ALL the people on the list who are post-college but
pre-retirement age (about 22-60) how many of us ARE ACTUALLY PARTICIPATING
in track and field?
We can't bemoan the lack of opportunity, the lack of organization, and the
lack of support/ structure/coaching/etc. that fails to attract the general
public ... if it ALSO fails to attract Track's BIGGEST fans.
We have a subset (here on this list) of some of the biggest fans of T&F in
America ... who is going to have more motivation to participate?
But, how many of us DO?
It is wrong to think that "loads" of people in the general population would
be attracted to participate in T&F after HS and College are over if WE DON'T
EVEN WANT TO. It is like Garry said: Road based competition? Yes, people
are doing it. Sprinters, throwers, Jumpers? No, people aren't doing it.
Many people will post that ... "YES I AM doing it ... I am still a masters
runner (or a recreational track athlete)" ... or maybe some of you were
former elites and have had enough after 20 years of tough training and
competition. That is understandable.
Maybe you are:
- Currently training full time as an elite (K. Sullivan, Rohl, a few
others).
- Already had your elite career (malmo, Platter, Joe Rubio, many others,
...)
- Too "old" to really train for say the PV, HJ, or some other demanding
event.
- Too busy with coaching/career/or family or all of the above to really
"train".
Most of us fall into ONE of these categories ... but for those who don't ...
those that are 22-45 or so and LOVE T&F (as evidenced by membership on the
list) ...
Why aren't you walking the walk?
This is not taking a shot at those who don't compete ... just showing that
EVEN the most fervent fans are not participating in the CLUBS AND
COMPETITIONS THAT DO EXIST.
We can't suggest that with MORE grass-roots clubs, MORE developing elite
clubs, MORE Regional Club competition, and seasonal
INDOOR/OUTDOOR/XC/MARATHON/and RACEWALK CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS that T&F would be
a thriving sport in America.
If we build it ... would they come? NO WAY.
Bringing up the phrase "Sport for a lifetime" made me think of some of the
sports I have done since college ... bicycle racing, rollerblade racing,
tennis, and XC skiing.
Tennis and Bicycling are well-established sports in the US, that face the
exact same challenges track has ... declining participation and declining
interest. Skating and XC skiing are still "fringe" sports. This is
because of the training/time/and effort involved.
If you look at Americans older than 25 most of them are more interested in
seeing how many donuts they can eat than DOING ANY SPORT. For the fraction
who want to do something athletic, they are gravitating towards the truly
recreational sports; downhill skiing, snowboarding, downhill mountain
biking, soccer, Ultimate, basketball things like that. Mostly sports that
can be practiced CASUALLY. You can pick them up and put them down with
relative EASE.
You can't say THAT about track and field. The events are mostly
training-intensive (distances/throws/walks) or
technique-intensive(sprints/jumps/throws/relays/walks) ... they are not
practiced casually.
Mike Casy said to me: Other countries have competitive series available for
sub-elite athletes shouldn't America also have it? YES ... WE "SHOULD" ...
but would we have enough people interested?
If you are 22-45 and would LOVE to see a viable club system developed in the
U.S., ask yourself whether, once in place, you would make the commitment to
TRAIN AND COMPETE for those clubs. Or, whether it just sounds "good" to you
... or you think it would "feed" the elite level of competition, and you
enjoy watching that ... so why NOT?
If you honestly WOULD compete ... great ... if you would not/could not/might
not/probably not ... then why should a club system developed?
If the nation's biggest track fans/supporters won't participate ... we can't
expect that to ever work, or to attract those on the margin.
Sorry I ranted,
Brian (would love to have clubs in my town, I would even give money) McEwen
start with youth
programs. If youth programs are pervasive, then I think adult participation
will increase, at least to the point of where adult soccer is now.
It's a tough issue. Very little that has been tried to either increase
participation OR performance quality in the past 20 years has worked. From
where I sit, the biggest contributor to this is a lack of
agreement/cooperation within our sport about how to improve things. There
is even a lot of disagreement about what needs to be improved. The actions
that have been taken are disjointed and not fully suppported and cause more
bad feelings than good.
Regardless of what the eventual solution(s) are, some sort of consensus and
willingness to work together is needed among USATF, NCAA and high schools.
I don't see this happening in a meaningful way right now.
- Ed Parrot
