Youth Running

I found an unfinished blog from Sept of ’07, prior to getting opportunities to coach at the high school level. I thought I’d share it with you and I’ll probably follow up with some rant on modern athletes and athletics…

As I have mentioned before, I grew up running. There are pictures of me at age 7 holding a trophy for some run I did around a block. I actually remember bits of that day, and if you know me and my memory skills, that’s impressive. I can’t remember names of people I just met 3 seconds after they told me. Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, running. Recently I had a brief conversation about running at such a young age, what I use to wear, how involved were my parents, etc. And watching young children run today makes me shiver about what it must have been like for me. Granted, I recall never being pushed by my Dad to do anything I didn’t gravitate toward; I guess I was just a naturally good runner and enjoyed being good at something (I think most kids feel that way). But when I see kids coming out to summer track meets wearing Underarmour shirts and Nike spikes (seriously? At age 8?) I wonder about how much of a say they had in that decision. We have High School kids breaking 4 minutes in the mile and sprinting faster then at any point in history and you wonder why many athletes are turning to performance enhancing drugs. Is the pressure too great in High School sports? Kids are getting started younger and younger and parents are demanding more and more. It makes me reconsider going into the coaching profession all together. I remember my running career as being rather enjoyable (until I got to college); interacting with teammates and coaches, running at races, long-slow runs spent throwing rocks at power lines. I honestly believe that sports must be enjoyable for young athletes, particularly if you want them to continue in the sport beyond middle school. Success certainly makes sports more enjoyable but what does success cost? Sports are institutions that foster positive environments for the young and old, but when sports are driven by results, success, winning, then the environment turns to pressure, frustration, cheating, and money…just ask O.J., McGuire, Sosa, (Lance Armstrong) and an endless number of athletes that didn’t even find wealth and popularity but suffered the ill effects. Sports have become an economic beast but does that need to trickle down to 6, 7, 8 year olds? Running provided me an outlet of stress, an inlet of sportsmanship, life long friendships, and a perspective on the world that most miss. It paid for my education at a top University but once it became a necessity and not a desire, it became a burden. 

And here's proof (aren't I adorable?)