This article by Coach Jeff Arbogast of Bingham XCountry highlights the challenges that ocur when our youth athlete makes the transition from youth track to high school track. Parents are you ready for change?
Jeff Arbogast August 2008
One of the greatest thrills for a high school coach is the prospect of working with a new season full of eager and talented athletes each year.
Student-athletes with hopes and goals mix annually with the ‘old guard’ . . . juniors and seniors who can forge the excitement into the reality of what it takes to become a contributing member of a competitive team. The incoming athlete may have had some experience at a youth track level, perhaps even some success, but this new environment in high school offers challenges that every young athlete, whether recreational participant or JO Champion, needs to understand.
Hopefully, you are about to enter a program which will allow you to continue to develop to your fullest in a physical and competitive sense. Most high school programs have solidly trained and interested coaches who will allow you to excel, but their goals for you will change to a higher step, reflecting their understanding of newer and loftier opportunities to run, throw, and jump at performance levels you may have not yet dreamed of! So . . .what can you do to make this experience the best you can? Here is how you must adapt to your new coach and school:
1. Understand that for perhaps the first time, the concept of ‘team’ will enter into many aspects of what you do competitively. You may need to work on a secondary event, run a leg of a relay you have never run before, or adjust some of your workout to fit into a larger plan. This is normal and an honor in most cases . . . athletes at an international level do it often.
2. The joy of performing well is now shared by the team you train with that represents your school. Individual performance and personal bests are still important, but you also have fun contributing to a team score, a team record, and a team history.
3. The competitive nature of high school track or cross country is much higher. This presents opportunities to demand more of yourself on the track and the field, but also gives you chances to make long-lasting friends with competitors on your team and others who you might see for up to four years while competing. Expect that no competitor will give you an advantage on the track or field, but most all will share an energy bar with you after the event.
4. Your physical workouts will step up in intensity to match the higher level of competition, but your school and social demands will increase as well. Learn to balance and manage your time as well as set priorities to accomplish school goals, family goals, and competitive goals.
5. In youth track or cross country your parents could devote their entire attentions to your career. In high school, to get the same type of attention you will need to initiate communication often. Don’t be afraid to talk with your coach. Communication is the best key to improvement in the high school environment.
6. Re-structure your personal goals and evaluate them often and honestly. Set ‘stair-step’ goals with realism and reward yourself when you attain small achievements. Try to score in a JV meet . . . clear an opening height in a varsity competition . . . or throw far enough to get measured in a regional meet. High school athletes have far more fun when they confront the ‘learning and training curve’ with reality, and delight in small successes on the way to big achievements.
7. Become a student of your event! The days of relying on adults to direct your every move in athletics are now gone. An intelligent athlete who understands his or her sport is an asset to a high school program. She or he can self-diagnose minor injuries, communicate difficulties in training, or respond with suggestions based on understanding elements of training which have been left up to others until this time. Study, read, and ask questions often!
8. Become self-reliant in your preparation. The large nature of many teams requires a coach to focus attentions on a bigger picture. Keep a checklist of all your pre-race necessities, set multiple alarm clocks, tape a meet schedule and order of events to the inside of your locker, and keep plenty of essentials in your gym bag for any eventuality. Your coach will value your preparedness since Mom and Dad are now watching from the stands, behind the fence.
To see the entire article go to YouthRunner.com
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