It may sound asinine, but it is completely
accurate in my experience. And I don't consider it an insult. Most
(say, 80%) high school coaches are solely focused on the 2 or 3 high
school seasons. They don't want their kids racing out of season, so they
very reasonably don't bother to learn about what else is out there. Many
high school coaches have more background in other sports than track, which
simply adds to it.
We are NOT talking about people who coach
sub-4:10 milers or sub 10.4 sprinters here. We are talking about the
masses of coaches who work with the vast majority of the youth numbers that
everyone cites as a sign of our sport's health. Most of them never have
a kid break 4:30 or 11.5 and are more concerned with having someone in every
event and manging their team with limited resources than with worrying about
opportunities outside high school.
When I was coaching ten years ago, certainly less
than half of the 50+ coaches in my district knew the name of any organization
that sponsored the junior olympics, except for some vague knowledge of the
pre-Amatuer Sports Act AAU.
- Ed Parrot
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2001 10:19
AM
Subject: Re: t-and-f: Junior
qualifying
In a message dated
7/19/01 9:07:39 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
my experience that most high school coaches are oblivious to
anything
that occurs outside the high school framework or even outside
their own
conference. I wonder if half of them even know there
is such an
organization as
USATF, let alone know that USATF is
responsible for selecting international
youth
teams. In
addition, most seem to have no knowledge of or interest in the
sport
at the national or international level
This is the
MOST asinine statement ever made on this LISTSERV. And
that's saying a
mouthful, to anyone who's been on it for longer than a month.
Do you
really think high school coaches are just a bunch of dumb-***ed
know-nothingings just fumbling though the season? Open up Jack Shepard's
HS
Annual and look at what HS coaches are doing with the talent in the
USA. I
used to think you had something to contribute to this list. If
this is the
depth of your insight in what's happening in our sport I
guess you're other
instant delete candidate. Please reread your written
thoughts before hitting
Send Now. Save everyone from wallowing in the
shallow end of the pool.
Andy Ferrara
HS Track Team Power
Ratings
www.hstrack.com
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Eisenhower HS
Houston, TX
