Importance of track!!!

[seguinlifegate]

I came from a 5A school. When you weren't playing football you were either in basketball or track. Basketball went to track after their season was over. I wouldn't have been half the athlete i was if i didn't run track. ( makes you faster believe it or not).. so much of six man football is speed and i don't see near as many schools working on that year round as i think there should be.... it gives players the chance to stay in shape year round, see their competition year round, and get rewarded for training year round instead of having to wait until december or basketball finals (whenever those are) to show how much they have improved.... one of the best things to happen to our football team was an implemented track program a couple of years ago... talk to your Athletic Director and get a program started at your school... i know its easier said than done but its well worth it in the end....

anybody disagree??

 

[hhsowls]

Track and off-season training (if not in basketball) are by far the best things an athlete can do to become faster, stronger, and just overall a better athlete. I could not agree with you more.

 

[FalconCoach]

I have all of my football players play basketball (I like to man press full court) as well as run track. After track season is over, we use our days of spring training for football. While we aren't seeing the results in wins on the football field, we are a much more athletic team today than last year. I have 5 juniors and 3 sophomores that have been in my system for 2 years now, and I think by next year we should see the results.

Track is really the easiest of the sports to implement IMHO. Most publics have open tracks that you can use to practice after hours if you don't have one...ours allow us to train at the same time even. It is also so much less expensive than football and basketball, especially if you have to rent out gym space.

 

[txcoachttu]

I saw a great shirt at the state track meet this year. It said " we run the ring in the spring to push the ball in the fall." I thought it was a clever shirt and lets kids know why those who don't enjoy track put forth the effort in the spring time.

 

[runtheclock]

track does not translate to football......look at the small schools that go state in track and it will not mean anything.....DI...follett and strawn played in championship.....no one from follett went to state........dont know about strawn.....

the weightroom and footwork and TEAM sports like basketball and baseball make the difference.....track proves nothing more than the football field does.......schools that have fast kids are fast and schools with slow kids are slow......track is an indivdual sport which does not translate to football or basketball.....

 

[hhsowls]

I completely disagree. Look at my high school experience for example. I went to a 5A school in Kansas. I won 3 state football rings and our high school won 14 (not a typo) straight state 5A titles. Individually I went from running a 5.2/5.3 40 to a low 4.6. Obviously some of this is physical maturation and genetics, but a lot of it was hard work. If running doesn't make you faster (and throwing doesn't improve footwork) then why are there so many people who play at the next level that were track athletes. Track, and running in general make you faster, period.

 

[seguinlifegate]

not to mention.... look at the tapps level... fredricksburg has dominated in track and football... look at lifegate's record a couple years back and look at it now.... and the weight room is a big part of track... you don't see a lot of guys that way 100 lbs beat the 175 lb ball of muscle.... and going to state isn't what measures success in track necessarily... hundreds of kids run and only eight in each event go to state... only the top athlete wins it... its about improving your times, throws, and jumping heights/distances...

 

[CRSARM]

1981 to 1984 in Gordon, Coach was Campbell.....it was his first years at Gordon and if you wanted to play football next season you WOULD run track. I remember you did not have to go to the track meets and everything but you did have to show up for track pratice and work out.

I never made it past district in track but I do believe it made me a better football player.

Andy

 

[mudcat22]

When it comes to track and the other sports, track teaches one thing the others do not. COMPETITION. Track by its nature teaches athletes about competing. There is no hiding in Track and Field. You either compete or you embarrass yourself and your team. It is not about speed and winning; It is all about head to head competition. Individual sport? Have you been to a track meet? Do you know anything about track and field? That statement shows just how ignorant you are. Team points are accrued throughout a meet. The relays teams (four members of a team competing as one) are awarded double the points of those so-called individual events in Texas. That puts a large emphasis on team. If your track team is being taught properly than they are learning the key component to a team is each individual contributes to the team total in their own manner and each is counted on to achieve team success. In some cases athletes are asked to sacrifice individual events in order to earn points for the team in other events.

Sorry everyone, stupidity and especially a lack of knowledge really set me off. :evil:

 

[hhsowls]

Mudcat. I loved your post and agree with it completely. If done correctly track is a team sport. Yes there is an individual element to it, but is there not an individual element in every team sport? In football if a single player misses an assignment then the team suffers. In the same way wrestling is a great sport for football, especially in developing leverage and footwork in offensive and defensive lineman. Any sport that involves competition can be useful in any other sport. Is track essential, no. But in my opinion track can be a very integral part of any football program.

 

[seguinlifegate]

absolutely hit the nail on the head

 

[freeagent]

Regardless if your school plays track, baseball or any spring sport ... I still say my rule at small schools like ours is that we have one team ... the team stays the same, the sport just changes. Whenever I talk with coaches and hear about how they have 6, 8, or even 14 kids saving themselves for basketball or baseball (and not playing football), it makes my blood boil.

From experience, I've found that schools like ours need to focus on ONE spring sport. Someday I'll tell you about the time (the year before I became AD) that we tried to do track, tennis and golf in the spring ... PLUS academic/art and the usual spring goofiness. Let's just say if I took the money we spent on tennis, I could have sent those kids to John Newcombe's camp in New Braunfels and they could have got some REAL lessons ...

Speaking of injuries, I was told that at Lifegate, the most serious injuries we had was when we tried soccer (many, many years ago) ... Jeremy, I'll bet you never realized why those broken down soccer goals were hanging around Lifegate ...

 

[AZ2TX6Man]

Great points, all . . .
Someone needs to add this one, too: the lessons of perseverance and poise in a physically stressful situation. The experience of being fatigued to the point of feeling an imminent bodily shutdown (otherwise known as "hitting the wall", "bonking", or "having the gorilla jump on your back," etc.) and having that experience in front of a bunch of people, either at practice or in a meet - now that'll test your resolve.
Having your endurance tested and strengthened in track is going to allow yourself to be pushed harder and faster in football and other sports - not to mention the work in improving your skills to run faster.

 

[seguinlifegate]

Coach actually every saturday that i'm home i go out there and jog with some of the guys... (their thing.. i was just getting fat so they told me i have to start doing it with them) lol.. but anyway i did notice those soccer goals... never knew what they were for though.... soccer definitely makes sense....

and you brought up a great point as well AZ2TX6MAN...
Take the 400 for example... the man's race.. anybody that has ever run that race has either died or become stronger afterwords lol...
any relay... four guys giving their all for each other...
the one hundred...
the two hundred...
if you aren't dying after that race, then you didn't try your hardest...

tell me the last time you saw an athlete win one of those events at state and not be a dominate football/basketball player....

Nothing builds confidence like a successful track season... (success defined in earlier post) lol