Run gooder-er

So every activity, job, hobby has it's words and phrases. It has it's own language. For instance, high jumpers have these big landing cushions so they have a soft landing. They're called pits. They're not in pits they sit on the ground and are actually about two and a half feet thick. There is nothing pit like about them.

Likewise, certain stretches and drills have names. Most of that is OK to deal with as you say what you know and dodge around terms that you're not sure of until someone else says them. In this way 22 years away has left some rust. The real problem comes when kids are in the heat of an activity and you have to provide some useful guidance in a fraction of a second, like as they run by or are floating in the air during a jump. It's at this time it's good to have a natural command of the lingo. Otherwise you just sound like an imbecile and not the leader you're suppose to be.

Today i was positioned at the last part of what are called back loaded intervals. Basically they run a certain distance at moderate pace and at the end part run harder. so I was there to inspire them to run harder in better form. i could not get cohesive phrases out of my face.

So now I may be the crazy dumb coach, although they did seem to respond by running faster...and gooder-er, so at least I may have been effective. There's a certain amount of deference you give to unstable folks, so it's not all bad.

Apparently my workout yesterday looked like a bit of a cluster. It was, the teams are a little smallish but for some reason I'm getting a lot of new kids trying the high jump. It's difficult. I've usually worked mostly one on one but with this many kids I need more of an organized team approach. The High jump also has the added difficulty of different levels of athlete being at different heights. In a long jump you can have different kids working on different things, and mix different levels but not in the high jump. So the coaches spotted this. they handled it diplomatically and we're going to find a way to split them up so I don't have so many at one time. I don't know if i had them scratching their heads or not, but i fully acknowledge i don't have a way of dealing with so many kids. I did come up with some drills that could be done away from the 'pits' but really someone gets shortchanged every day, either the new kids or the experienced.

I know I have very limited readership on this blog, but i want to put a call out to those with kids, or everybody i guess. Schools some time ago began requiring fees to participate in after school activities. At first they were small but now more and more schools are charging higher and higher fees. Where I'm at they charge a kid $220.00. If a kid is on reduced lunch their fee is cut in half. They cap the fees at $1000 per family for the year. We had one kid who's mom wouldn't pay the fee. she probably couldn't. and another long time athlete not show up, when asked why he said his dad was just laid off. The coaches said participation is declining. who's not coming out? Kids from families that don't value athletics, kids from families who can't afford it, and most importantly kids who just want to try something out, and kids who do other sports during the year and just want something to do in the spring. Our numbers are way down. My personal belief is that this is a civil liberties issue, and a community issue. After school activities are an important part of the total education and crucial in being a part of a community. The call, is that in involvement with community leaders and elected officials we need to express our dissatisfaction at how this is evolving from a small fee to one that creates an exclusive participation. I believe the practice should be illegal in a public school. If a community doesn't want athletics, drama etc, fine, but the finances of kids and families should not be the determining factor. Free participation for all or none at all. That's how i see it. I believe when tested with those choices each community will go for free.