Last updated 6 days ago
Education programs across the country are feeling the brunt of budget cuts. Unfortunately, athletics are one of the first programs to be downsized after a funding decrease. The consequences are especially relevant for track and field teams.
Lost Programs
Funding cuts to a track and field program may do more than scale back the events. Many track and field teams across the country are being cut completely. Read a story of one example. Some cuts are for budget reasons – others are due to Title 9 compliance. Unfortunately, the impact of these cuts on students is dire and the long term impact on the sport is not good!
Lost Jobs
Track and field meets consist of several competitions. These events also require a diverse coaching staff since running, jumping, and throwing events require vastly different skill sets. When spending cuts hit track and field programs, a dedicated event coach is a likely candidate for a layoff. The coach’s event can quickly fall into decline without their expert guidance.
Worn Equipment
The different track and field events also need special equipment. Student athletes need functional javelins, hurdles, batons, and other items to train effectively. If the equipment is worn or malfunctioning, the students can’t hone their techniques for competition. Therefore, without sufficient funding, students are unable to compete at the same level as their better-funded peers.
Limited Opportunities
A large number of student athletes depend on their sport for scholarship options. Gutted track and field programs are unable to mold the competitive athletes that attract university scouts. As a result, short-term funding cuts also hinder academic success in the long term. Also, it will make it more difficult for the U.S. to be competitive in the Olympics and international competitions.
Everything Track & Field is dedicated to assisting track and field programs by providing affordable, high-quality track and field gear, camps & clinics, and training and coaching information. Athletic programs in need of assistance are welcome to contact us by phone at (888) 556-7464. Our experienced, knowledgeable staff is ready to help!
Last updated 6 days ago
Observations based on 60+ years in the world’s greatest sport.
By Bill Falk, M-F Athletic Founder
Read Thoughts about Track and Field #1
How to Win In High School
Back in yesteryear – 1952 to be exact – I was hired by Attleboro HS, MA as Track Coach, Asst. Varsity Football & Basketball coach plus Jr. High Basketball coach (on days of night HS basketball games) plus full-time teacher. Salary was $2,700 – including $200 because I had an M.A.
Things were a lot different then. Meals for teachers were 25 cents, and Mrs. Ryder put aside a meal for me to grab when I had afternoon and evening basketball games.
One night before a basketball game at Braintree HS, MA I got talking with the AD from the host school. He explained how to win as a high school coach. I was all ears, since I was inheriting a track team that finished the previous season with six members. He said for every 100 high school students there were 2 that possessed excellent athletic ability, and coaches that successfully recruited these budding stars would be successful. He said those coaches unsuccessful would be losers.
I hadn’t realized that coaches had to fight for the good athletes, but it seemed like a good plan. Since teachers had to stand outside their rooms between classes, I saw an opportunity to talk to kids who looked like athletes. I was successful, and I rounded up about 50 candidates for my track team. Most of the kids I talked to were flattered that they were picked out, so everybody was happy. Sure enough, many of my recruits helped us win the MA State Championship two years later.
I moved on to Hope HS in Providence, RI after four years in Attleboro and I followed the same recruiting procedure. One day while standing outside my classroom I spotted a huge guy walking in front of me. I stopped him and asked what his name was. He told me he was Albert Santio, a sophomore who played basketball. He was 6’7” – gigantic in 1956. He didn’t know what to make of me when I told him I expected (ordered) him to come out for track once the basketball season ended. He had never heard of track, but he was scared to say no to me.
Sure enough Albert reported to practice in the spring, and I began to indoctrinate him about throwing. We tried the javelin first. He threw the implement and it did a loop-the-loop and landed with the top of the javelin sticking into the ground. Albert was hilarious – thinking this was supposed to happen. He didn’t look natural throwing the javelin, but I had high hopes that he would be successful in the shot and discus. He seemed to get the basics of those events, but he couldn’t turn in the discus circle. Albert scaled the discus extremely well from a stand, but it took him the better part of two years to get any kind of effective turn. Finally he was able to turn fairly well, and the discus began to fly. By his third year Albert was the U.S. record holder and National AAU Jr. Champ in the discus. I should mention that we were throwing the 2k college and international weight in those days. We also ran college high hurdles in RI high schools at that time – and only the talented survived that ordeal.
How Fiberglass Vaulting Poles Came About
We used bamboo vaulting poles until WWII came along. Then bamboo became hard to get so aluminum and steel were used. Neither was good. Aluminum was light to carry but it fell apart if dented and steel weighed a ton. There was only one size and weight for aluminum and steel poles. Everybody used the same pole no matter what the athlete weighed or how high he jumped. One day a father wondered if there was a better material for vaulting poles. He sought out Herb Jenks, the developer of fiberglass fishing rods who produced the first fiberglass vaulting pole. It was much heavier than today’s models and not as sophisticated – but a great advancement. There were several lengths available but the resistance was rated the same no matter what pole was used if the vaulter maintained the same grip with his top hand. Let’s say the top hand was gripped at 11’. As long as the top hand stayed at 11’ the pole’s resistance was rated the same whether the pole was 12’, 14’ or even 15’ long. But resistance was actually lowered when vaulters moved their top hand up higher when using longer poles. A 140 lb. vaulter could start with a 12’ long pole rated at 140 lbs. resistance, but if he moved to a longer pole and raised his grip, the pole became easier to bend. This fortunately has been rectified. Now pole vault poles have weight resistance ratings for each length of pole. In fact poles today are lighter to carry but stronger and have much more accurate resistance ratings.
See you next time,
Bill
bill.falk@mfathletic.com
Read Thoughts about Track and Field #1
Last updated 28 days ago
The track and field events and equipment that we recognize today have their roots in Ancient Greece and Rome. In fact, many of the field events held at the first Olympic Games—including the long jump, discus, shot put, and javelin—are still practiced today. Below, you will find information on the development of track and field governing bodies as they professionally sanction the sport in the United States.
- IC4A – The first college track and field event occurred in 1864 between Oxford and Cambridge in England. Around this time, professional track and field events were also beginning to take shape in the United States. In 1873, the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A), the nation’s first national athletic group, held the first collegiate track and field in the United States.
- AAU – On January 30, 1878, runner William B. Curtis founded what became the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) in New York City. The AAU (which governed the sport for nearly a century) held the first track and field championships. In 1979, the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 declared that the AAU could no longer hold international franchises for more than one sport.
- TAC – Shortly after the AAU was disbanded, The Athletics Congress (TAC) emerged. In 1979, TAC held its first annual track and field meet in Las Vegas in conjunction with that year’s AAU Convention. The first stand-alone meeting occurred in Atlanta in the late fall of 1980.
- USATF – In 1992, TAC changed its name to USA Track & Field (USATF) to increase awareness of the professional organization of the sport in the United States. The USATF inherited 57 regional associations from the AAU, which are responsible for organizing and promoting the sport in a particular state or locality.
While the above organizations were/are the official governing bodies in the U.S. (subsidized by the U.S. Olympic Committee), the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Association (USTFCCCA) is a private organization funded through sponsorships and coach memberships. The USTFCCCA is a driving force in track and field – they represent the interests of coaches and they have become the biggest influence in track and field education, leadership and public relations in the United States. The USTFCCCA represents about 94% of all NCAA track and field programs.
Whether you are a professional track and field athlete or an aspiring amateur, Everything Track & Field has the equipment you need to perform at your best. We also have a terrific selection of training aides and equipment to help you improve your track and field abilities. If you are looking for a particular piece of equipment, please call us at (888) 556-7464.
Last updated 27 days ago
Observations based on 60+ years in the world’s greatest sport
This column will appear sporadically in the M-F Athletic blog as a combination of ideas, observations and plain Track & Field chatter. I welcome your contributions – please send them to bill.falk@mfathletic.com.
The World Championships on TV
A track lover’s heaven – if you get Universal Sports. I was lucky, since Direct TV includes it in their menu. They presented two segments, each 2 hours long, showing semis and finals with quite a bit of every event. There was practically non-stop action, with only a few interviews with out of breath athletes. Several athletes skipped the meet, but there was a load of talent. The announcers were in the U.S., and the station picked up a European feed and did voice-overs. Universal Sports is an NBC station covering Olympic sports, so track meets sometimes are included. If your cable system carries Universal Sports – make sure to check out their offerings.
Starting Block Memories
Watching the sprinters and hurdlers set their blocks reminded me of my first years of coaching. There were no starting blocks then – instead we used a trowel to dig out the cinders so the athletes could place their feet against the back of the hole. We tried to make the back of the hole firm enough so athletes could push off with force without slipping. Then wooden blocks came into use. These had spikes extending down from the wood to stick into the cinders. No more digging! Usually teams did not have enough wooden blocks, so only the best sprinters and hurdlers had them. The rest of the athletes continued to dig out holes in the track.
Speaking of Old Equipment
We had only wooden hurdles way back – and they weighed a ton. At the second high school I coached at hurdles were stored in the sub-basement after the season ended. There was no one to take them up the stairs and put them on the track except athletes and coaches. (I should say coach, since there was me and 90 boys). I made sure the first practices of the season were easy, so nobody quit or was cut from the team until we carried all the hurdles up the stairs onto the track. When hurdlers hit these babies, they did not forget it - the hurdles didn’t move – they stayed in place and inflicted pain. It was easy to pick out the tough kids – they would come back for more after cutting themselves on the hurdles.
Hats Off
The success achieved by a local school here in little RI was gratifying to observe – especially since Coach Bill Habarek ran for URI while I coached there. His Chariho HS (a regional school from Charlestown, Richmond and Hope Valley, RI) 4 x 1 mile team broke the National Scholastic Indoor Meet Record recently with a phenomenal record-breaking effort. Considered a good group – but not a favorite to win, the Chargers not only won the race – they broke the National Record with a sensational 17:20.20. Splits were: Dan Kilcoyne 4:24.1; Bryce Kelley 4:15.6; Jake Kilcoyne 4:28.8 and Mike Marsella 4:11.7. Also Chariho won the 2011 RI State Outdoor Championship and the 2012 RI Indoor State championships on the strength of these runners winning all races and relays from 800m up. Coach Habarek will tell how he developed this terrific group at M-F’s U.S. All-Star Track & Field and Cross-Country Clinic in Atlantic City next December.
See you next time.
Bill
bill.falk@mfathletic.com
Last updated 1 month ago
From: Rob Lasorsa, M-F Athletic (President - National Throws Coaches Association)
The general thought process people use when purchasing a discus is the more advanced the thrower, the higher rim weight discus the athlete should be using. This is not always the case. The type of discus an athlete uses is primarily "personal feel." The type of plate and rim is as important, if not more important, than the amount of rim weight distribution on the discus.
Years ago there were very few choices: rubber discus and wood discus. The Hollowood Discus came along with wood sides, steel rim, and a more efficient aerodynamic construction and proved to be a tremendous breakthrough in discus production. These days there are many choices to consider when purchasing a discus.
Let's first take a look at plate construction: Many plates are currently produced using Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, commonly known as ABS Plastic. Without getting too technical, ABS Plastic is a copolymer made by polymerizing styrene and acrylonitrile in the presence of polybutadiene. To produce 1kg of ABS Plastic actually requires about 2kg of petroleum, so if you ever see discus prices rise when oil prices go sky high, that is a reason. ABS Plastic is used in many products such as luggage, piping, musical instruments, canoes, automotive bumpers and trim, Legos, golf club heads, and even tattoo ink. The most important mechanical properties of ABS are impact resistance and toughness. ABS PLASTIC IS DAMAGED BY CONSTANT AND EXTREME SUNLIGHT - so, do not store your ABS Plastic discus outside!
Other discus have ABS Plastic Pates that are reinforced with Fiberglass. Fiberglass is a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced by fine fibers of glass. It can also be known as GFK (from the German term Glasfaserverstärkter Kunststoff). Fiberglass is a lightweight and very strong material. Common uses of fiberglass include boats, automobiles, baths, hot tubs, water tanks, roofing, and pipes. Discus' that have Fiberglass reinforcement in the plates, such as Cantabrian, UCS Flyers, and some Polanik models tend to have an "ever so slightly" rougher feel than a discus with an ABS Plastic side plate (i.e. - First Place models). I would say that most athletes, but not all, like this "feel" better.
Next up is Aluminum Sides. Aluminum is the third most abundant element (after oxygen and silicon), and the most abundant metal, in the Earth's crust. Aluminum is known for its ability to resist corrosion due to the phenomenon of passivation. Aluminum is lightweight and is found on several OTE discus models.
Carbon Reinforced Polymer side plates (i.e. Polanik Carbon and Pacer Carbon ) are a very strong and light fiber-reinforced polymer which contains carbon fibers. The polymer is most often epoxy, but other polymers, such as polyester, vinyl ester or nylon, are sometimes used. The composite may contain other fibers, such as Kevlar, aluminum, or glass fibers, as well as carbon fiber. Depending on the properties used, Carbon "Fiber" plates are generally considered the strongest; however manufacturing capabilities and attention to detail are still keys to producing a quality discus.
Of course, there are still Wood Plates that are as consistent as they have always been through the years. Each plate (Wood, ABS Plastic, Fiberglass Reinforced, Aluminum, and Carbon Reinforced) have a different "feel." As stated before the feel of the discus is what is important and not necessarily the rim weight distribution.
Please
feel free to contact me directly with your discus (or throws) questions.
Thank you,
Rob Lasorsa, M-F Athletic
(888) 527-6772 FAX (800) 859-4335
rob.lasorsa@mfathletic.com
