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It just crushes me

Started by Gray lizard, January 31, 2019, 08:59:29 am

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Gray lizard

I posted on here last season I was not happy with my boys school and the lack of support for track.  Just have to face the facts it is baseball and softball season this time of year.  My son told me last night he is not going to compete in track this year.  I hate it for him.  He has the ability to compete in several events.  He told me he would compete this year.  Then he found none of the other boys from his relay team were going out for track and he decided to not compete.  I tried to explain he could compete in the individual events. 
He said the boys felt like track does not matter.  What gets me the most is this is a direct reflection on the school support and coaching of the program.
Here are a few things that prove it.
Relay teams were never instructed on exchanges.  Ever boy on the JR high relay team was faster that the fasted boy on the high school relay, but the SR high team averaged almost 2 seconds better time in the 4x100.  Also they never used starting blocks for the sprinters.
The school does not have a usable run way or sand pit for long or triple jump.  No pole vault.
The thing that got me the most last year was what they did the morning of the district track meet.  In Football practice they ran 3 400s, 4 200s, and 4 100s put the boys on a hour and half bus ride and expected them to compete in a track meet.
They had a mile relay team that could have competed for the district.  I know the high school team was not very good in this event but the jr high team turned a time 48 seconds faster than the high school.  They were capable of a time under 4:00.
Sorry for the rant just a little down.

AT

Quote from: Gray lizard on January 31, 2019, 08:59:29 am
I posted on here last season I was not happy with my boys school and the lack of support for track.  Just have to face the facts it is baseball and softball season this time of year.  My son told me last night he is not going to compete in track this year.  I hate it for him.  He has the ability to compete in several events.  He told me he would compete this year.  Then he found none of the other boys from his relay team were going out for track and he decided to not compete.  I tried to explain he could compete in the individual events. 
He said the boys felt like track does not matter.  What gets me the most is this is a direct reflection on the school support and coaching of the program.
Here are a few things that prove it.
Relay teams were never instructed on exchanges.  Ever boy on the JR high relay team was faster that the fasted boy on the high school relay, but the SR high team averaged almost 2 seconds better time in the 4x100.  Also they never used starting blocks for the sprinters.
The school does not have a usable run way or sand pit for long or triple jump.  No pole vault.
The thing that got me the most last year was what they did the morning of the district track meet.  In Football practice they ran 3 400s, 4 200s, and 4 100s put the boys on a hour and half bus ride and expected them to compete in a track meet.
They had a mile relay team that could have competed for the district.  I know the high school team was not very good in this event but the jr high team turned a time 48 seconds faster than the high school.  They were capable of a time under 4:00.
Sorry for the rant just a little down.

Gray, I'll post more on this later, but know that I have some of the same downtrodden feelings as you do. RATTLER has built a program himself, so he can put more into this discussion.

RATTLER43

January 31, 2019, 08:44:32 pm #2 Last Edit: January 31, 2019, 09:05:12 pm by RATTLER43
Long story. 

I grew up in a big family with each set of grandparents having about ten kids.  Three of my uncles were great athletes in big high schools in Houston Texas. Track team won state every year my Uncle Kenny was in high school.  I saw all of their hardware and heard all of their stories of athletic prowess and accomplishments and developed a deep burning desire.  In high school our teams were good but not great.  Fueled the fire.  Got my degree and returned home.  Every spring, the basketball coach would ask how many kids want to go to a track meet.  They would go to district and pretty much be done.  They turned the reins over to me in the late 80s.  The flame was white hot.  I averaged about 4 kids a year.  In 1993, I had a 5'9" kid win high jump at 6'5".  I averaged 5 kids a year until 1997 when we won our first District title.  Numbers kept growing.  Finished 3rd at state in 1999 and we have never looked back.  Girls got rolling in 2006 when my daughter entered 7th grade and we never looked back. We built a culture.  Now we have about 70 kids a year in junior high and senior high. We have won every local meet except the Airedale relays.  3rd place is our top finish there.  We win District basically every year and finish top 8 in state every year.  I love the sport.   It was basically a cult sport at Magazine my first ten years.  Now everyone knows about it and kids talk about it and work on it year round.  I wanted my kids to be a part of something special that we all love. Both were state champions.  Younger ran DI.  I've lived a blessed life!!   The point is that it has to start somewhere.  It can happen where you are too. 

RATTLER43

Did I mention that we had no weight room, track, or equipment when I began?   We have built it from the ground up.  Booneville and Danville donated their old pits for vault and high jump.  My agri and maintenance folks built us a track (old school red dog type), throwing areas with cages, long jump and triple jump pits, runways for jumps and vault, etc.   Danville donated old hurdles which were refurbished by my agri kids.  Starting blocks donated.  And so much more.  Our community rose to the occasion to help our program.   There is so much more to the story.  I'll end by saying that one of my biggest successes was holding elementary meets every year.  Exposed kids to it at a young age so that they wanted to do it in junior high and high school. 

RATTLER43

I am so sorry he is not participating.  It is a great sport....a pure sport. 

sevenof400

Quote from: Almatrackster on January 31, 2019, 10:24:34 am
Gray, I'll post more on this later, but know that I have some of the same downtrodden feelings as you do. RATTLER has built a program himself, so he can put more into this discussion.

Gray,

I feel your pain - albeit from a different sport.  I wish there were solutions I could offer, but the only one that can help quickly is this: your only solution would be to move.  Might you have a relative in another school district where a decent track program is offered? 


sevenof400

As an aside, I'd love to sit and listen to Rattler43 and Coach Stout talk track. 

RATTLER43

He and I had some great battles when he was at Stamps.  Great coach.   

RATTLER43

He won two titles and we finished 3rd at state back to back years. 

RATTLER43

Gray, have you spoken to coaches, admin, other interested parents to see if there is a viable solution?

athletic supporter

No need in talking to the admin where his kid goes to school.

RATTLER43

Surely, if there was enough interest shown, admin would at least listen...

beach bum

January 31, 2019, 10:24:49 pm #12 Last Edit: January 31, 2019, 10:36:45 pm by beach bum
Quote from: athletic supporter on January 31, 2019, 09:50:17 pm
No need in talking to the admin where his kid goes to school.


Shots fired from 6 miles to the east of Pottsville  ;D .... Maybe we can all meet on Crow Mtn to settle the dispute. When I lived in Russellville  I used to run up there from my house to some church and back (wish I could remember the name of that little church) for my long runs. It was 8.1 miles to be exact from where I lived up to that church.

alaskanstorm

When 43 started,  the long jump pit was literally a heal mark on the ground and the sand pile used to dry the baseball infield,  behind scoreboard down the first base line. 

RATTLER43

Quote from: alaskanstorm on January 31, 2019, 10:39:27 pm
When 43 started,  the long jump pit was literally a heal mark on the ground and the sand pile used to dry the baseball infield,  behind scoreboard down the first base line. 

Truth  ^^^^^^^^

   We had no money for track and field (Gray, it is or was like that in lots of schools.)  The high school baseball team paid for the original sand, I believe.  Then we used it.  I dug a hole and we filled it overflowing each year.  I would haul in a load in my pickup.   Little League would use most of it up during summer ball.  It served its purposes well.     The dirt "runway" tilted from side to side so you ran on a slant for the approach to a giant pile of sand.   Somewhere in my archives, I have pictures of a few kids in the early 90s jumping there.    So many stories from 30+ years ...       Good times!

Gray lizard

Thanks for all the replies.  School change was an option and I spoke to my son about it. We live in the Dardanelle school district. His mother teaches in the district he attends school and he started school there for ease of transportation. I explained why I thought it would be good for him and told him if it was to happen it had to happen prior to the 10 grade.  He thought about it and decided he did not want to leave his friends.
As for the long and triple jump.  Larry the athletic director at Dardanelle allowed me to take my son to use their pit any time as long as their tract program was not using it.
I have talked to the coach as well as my wife.  They stated kids have no interest in track.  I feel track coach is like cheer coach duty at the school. No one wants to do it.  To have a good program it needs support and it does not get any. 
I talked to another parent that son was on the relay team.  He said it was a embarrassing to watch his kid line up for the 100 standing up when all the other kids were in blocks.
Last time I worked with him on his jumps he was right at the 19' mark on long jump and 36' triple. He has never tried high jump but can stand flat footed and jump up on a 40" counter top. The young man has 1% body fat.
I do know that if my son really wanted.  He would work with what he had to be successful.  I guess that is what bothers me the most.
Anyone want to buy a $150.00 brand new pair of track shoes. That have every color know to man on them.

RATTLER43

So sorry.   Hate it for you, him, and any other kids interested in track there.   

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