Around the world
successful sports and sporting nations know that that the following paradigm
must be in place and fine-tuned. That paradigm is simple: 1) A system must
Athlete Centered – they are the ones who perform in the competitive arena. 2)
Coach Driven – they prepare the athlete, provide stability and continuity, they
are the cornerstones. 3) Administratively Supported – This is pretty self
explanatory, get out of the way and support the athlete and the coach. For
years USAT&F and it’s predecessor TAC has had it backwards. For them it is
administratively centered, athlete driven and oh by the way, as an after
thought, we have somebody out there called coaches, lets crap all over them.
The events of the past several days in regard to the Coaching Education only
serve to underscore this. I was fortunate, along with Dr. Joe Vigil and Gary
Winckler to be one of the three founders of the program. I also served as the
first director for the formative years. It was a program designed by coaches to
raise the standard of coaching through education and to empower the coach
through knowledge. There were no political agendas, but immediately there was
very powerful and vocal; opposition form the old guard left over from the AAU
days. They saw it as a threat to their little fiefdom, but thanks to Berny
Wagner who pushed it from the inside we got it off the ground. And it really
took off, much to the oppositions chagrin. I was not involved for a period of time,
although I followed it quite closely. I got back into it in 2001 as a teacher
at some of the schools. It was apparent that the program was a great success;
in many ways it was the most successful program in USAT&F. It raised the standard of coaching, it trained coaches whose athlete's won medals in international competition. Despite the success I knew that the
opposition was still there from1983, they were just waiting until they could
get at the program and compromise its structure and integrity. Well it took
until this year with the reorganization and the committee to study USAT&F
to finally begin to undue all that had been done. There is no question that the
new regime has a very strong political agenda that is resistant to change and innovation. Their agenda is to feather their nests and protect
their constituencies, make it administratively centered and keep coaches in the dark.
This demands a strong
call to action. All of us who are concerned about the great sport of Track
& Filed and coaching must stand up and do something. Flood the national
office with emails and letters, even phone calls, coaches must be heard, the
coaching education program must go on in the vision of all those who labored so
hard to build it to where it is today. If you have a blog write about it. If you
are on Twitter, Tweet about it. I am not a politician, but I am pissed, this is
an insult to coaches and coaching. EVRYONE WHO HAS GONE THROUGH THE PROGRAM GET
INVOLVED AND SAVE THE INTERGRITY OF COACHING EDUCATION.
Ryan West
Could you be more specific as to how the program is changing?
I just emailed Terry Crawford, Director of Coaching Education at Terry.Crawford@usatf.org.
phillip bazzini
Looking at the USATF website, it appears only the L3 course has changed. Is this what you are referring to? I took the L1 course and thought it was great.
Jay Johnson
I do not claim to understand USATF – though Peanut Harms gave me a quick synopsis at the Colorado HS clinic last friday – but coach’s education was the only thing in USATF that seemed to do what it was intended to do. Obviously I don’t need the messy details to write a post about this and will do so tomorrow, but I am curious as to what the people “in power” think they’ll improve over the old system?
Should all attendees have passed level 2? No, but again, did that fact – that someone who took 10 days out of their life, not to mention the money out of their pocket (or their school district or athletic department’s budget) – that everyone would pass, keep people from learning a ton? That was the only consistent complaint I heard regarding the program – that everyone passed level 2 – and to me it simply didn’t matter. Personally, level 2 provided me the opportunity to learn from Gary Winkler for 5 days and to me that was the crux of the school – learn from coaches who know more than you and have the opportunity to ask them questions (often casually over a meal).
That said, and I was thinking of emailing you privately, but no doubt a GAIN program focused on track and field would be a amazing. I can’t make GAIN this year due to running camp obligations, but if I’m honest, I’d rather get “Vern on Track & Field” for 5 days and for that, I’d pay more than GAIN tuition. If yourself, Gary Winkler, Jim Radcliffe and Mike Young could put together a curriculum that would carry the spirit of TAC/USATF coaches ED forward, with a 21st century bent you would be full every summer. Spreading the word in this day and age would be easy with blogs and tweets. I’d happily put the logistics of housing, meals, track access, weight room access and lecture halls together in Boulder/Denver (where flights in and out of our airport, DIA, are cheap). I share this publicly because the reality (irony?) is that blogs like yours put more pressure on a system/curriculum like USATF’s to evolve and improve. Maybe the next logical step in coaching education is outside USATF.
Thanks for all you do.
Glenn James
Vern, I’ve been through both the Level 1 and Level 2 USATF coaching classes. I think they can both stand improvement; however I think both were good courses and go a long way toward raising the level of athletics coaching in this country. As it stands now, there are no barriers to entry – anybody can call themself a coach.
You need to be more specific about the “events of the past several days” if you really want people to rally behind you. I don’t know of anybody in the organization who was also there in 1983 – there could be some folks, I’m not an expert on the organization – so I don’t understand your contention about institutional resistance. One could also argue that your blog represents institutional resistance on your part, since you’re one of the original authors. Until you get more specific, I think grassroots support is unlikely.
Lastly, I don’t know Doug Logan personally but I am very impressed by his ideas and what he has done thus far. I think it’s definitely a move in the right direction. I agree with your point that the organization should be athlete-centered and it hasn’t ever been that way previously. Nevertheless, it is moving in the right direction though that may be a low standard.
Dwartenburg
I concur with elements of what both Jay and Glenn had to say. As a USATF coaching school participant I benefited from the exposure to great coaching minds that allowed me to shape my own thinking while ‘taking and leaving’ pieces from the USATF curriculum, as I imagine everyone else did during those coaching schools.
There are always ways to improve upon the status quo, but the framework and basic structure were not dysfunctional. I also think that the venue, organizing body, etc. matter less than the chemistry and content of such undertakings.
I too am largely unaware of the political machinations at work to undermine(?) the current system, although it remains clear that a chasm has widened between the USATF powers that be and the USATF Coaching Educ leadership/old guard.
Some guidance as to how rally behind the cause would be welcome. I’m not quite sure how to direct any comments to Doug Logan, Terry Crawford, etc. unless we know more about the underlying mechanisms at work.
Hopefully something equally, if not more, valuable, can emerge from the current flux. If nothing else, USATF coaching education programs were predictably scheduled and patterned each year, and they provided a point of conversion for coaches to gather every summer. It would be a shame to lose that fundamental component of professional growth for the many coaches that have passed through USATF schools.
Ashley Mort
So most of the USATF teachers quit? Why does that make me outraged?
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