If you\u2019ve read many essays here in \u201cOur America\u201d, you\u2019ll know that I spent a big portion of my life as a track coach. I kind of fell into that. I was done with track when I started student teaching at Watkins Memorial High School back in 1978. But I learned a quick lesson about public school teaching in those first weeks. If you want a job, you\u2019ve got to offer more than \u201cjust\u201d a classroom teacher. My mentors, Bob Cramer and Gary Madden, suggested that I help out with an extra-curricular program in order to \u201cenhance\u201d my resume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I ran track, freshmen through senior in high school, and my freshman year in college. But my interest in politics and off-campus study moved me off the team. When I started at Watkins, it was two years since I\u2019d been on a track. But it was late winter \u2013 the kids were practicing track in the hallway down by the cafeteria. The track coach, John McGowan, had sixty boys and with only himself and Bob as the coaches. So I wandered down to watch some sprint starts after school. The blocks were bolted to a big piece of plywood and set on a mat on the tile floor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A little technical detail: the better your sprint start out of blocks, the closer you are to falling on your face. I watched the kids, and decided to \u201cshow-em\u201d by taking one myself. There\u2019s an art to sprinting on tile \u2013 even back in my high school, the halls we practiced in the were carpeted. So I took my typical \u201cpower\u201d start \u2013 it was always one of my strengths. Two steps out — and I fell flat on my face. Getting traction on tiles just isn\u2019t the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was \u201cthe test\u201d with the 1978 track team. When I laughed at myself as hard as they laughed at me \u2013 the kids knew that I wasn\u2019t too \u201cstuck-up\u201d from Denison University. I got back in the blocks and tried it again \u2013 modifying my drive to stay on my feet. And then we had a few short races to see who was fastest. I was about two years older than the seniors \u2013 and still had my \u201ctrack speed\u201d. So we were soon good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had no idea at the time that track and field would be such an important part of my life. In fact, I really didn\u2019t think teaching would be my life. Law school, political campaigns, getting back to Washington DC were all my goals at the time. Teaching and coaching was fun, exciting, and fulfilling, but not really on my career trajectory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But that spring of 1978 I got to know John McGowan. John knew a lot about track and field, in fact I was always amazed how he could move from one event to another with technical insight to help kids. And he did that a lot: John coached all the events but the throws (shot and discus) when I started. But more importantly, John knew about kids. He was able to reach them, to find out what motivated them, and to make them feel important, whether they were the best on the team, or just better than they were the day before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I joined John and Bob as the unofficial sprint\/hurdle coach for the \u201978 season. And by the time May rolled around and I was ready to graduate from Denison myself, teaching and coaching were definitely an option. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I \u201ccrossed the stage\u201d at Denison, and went back to Cincinnati to work on a political campaign. We lost the primary in June, and I decided not to go to law school right away. When Pete Nix, then the intimidating Principal of the high school called and offered me a job, I decided to take a year and teach at Watkins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That year stretched into two and then three. John retired as the track coach, but remained as cross country coach. And I joined him in the woods and learned about a whole new world of athletic competition, cross country running. That was something I had little experience with. Running distance for me was always punishment. I was that kid who would think about quitting when I was told to run two miles, but had no problem running sixteen 220\u2019s in a row (that\u2019s two miles by the way). It was all about sprinting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And those years with John and Bob framed my entire coaching philosophy. It was about caring for the kids as much as the performances. The cross country and track teams became families: that had fun, worked hard, they got in trouble, and always fought to achieve. That\u2019s a powerful combination: family and competition. It pulled us all along through the years of the kids\u2019 high school careers, and the decades of coaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I fell in love with two sports, cross country, and track all over again. That was all forty-three years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I left coaching track and field after the 2017 season. For a year I stayed away almost completely; going to a few meets and helping out, but giving the team and coaches some space to build their own family. Two years ago I decided to take up officiating track and Cross Country again (I let my license lapse back in 2000). Officiating isn\u2019t the same as coaching. Your role is that of the neutral arbiter, providing the opportunity for fair competition. As vocal as a coach as I was (and I definitely was) I try to be a quiet official. I\u2019m not \u201cthe show\u201d, I\u2019m just the person making things happen efficiently and fairly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as far as Watkins is concerned \u2013 it\u2019s been four years. There\u2019s no kids left who knew me as a coach. Most on the team just think I\u2019m another old \u201cofficial dude\u201d with a loud gun, if they know me at all. Of course the coaches know me, some I coached myself, some I worked with for decades. But I don\u2019t have a problem \u201cofficiating\u201d fairly \u2013 that\u2019s what I do, and that\u2019s what those coaches, my friends, expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I will say \u2013 seeing teams that are families \u2013 Watkins or otherwise \u2013 reminds me of why I coached in the first place. Last night was a long one, a \u201ctri-meet\u201d that went almost four hours. I fired so many \u201cblanks\u201d from the starting pistol my hands were darkened with gunpowder. My ears are still ringing as I write this morning. But out on the track you could feel the camaraderie, the family, from all three teams. It reminded me of why I stayed for so long, and what was so special about life \u201con the track\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s weird to be an \u201cobserver\u201d rather than a \u201cparticipant\u201d, and sometimes hard to keep my mouth shut. But it\u2019s good to be \u201chome\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"