This is where the smiling stopped for some..
Article submission by:
Lance Lenard Head Coach
North East Kansas Track ClubWhat started out as a great idea to emphasize the team aspect of Track and Field, and address the question; Who is the best team? Resulted in more questions about the legitimacy of the meet, it’s director, the National Youth Chair, and left many scratching their heads, wondering why the AAU would allow a meet director to be convinced by one coach into breaking the rules set forth in the AAU Youth Athletics
Handbook, Section III on page 32.
The rules of the Amateur Athletic Union in regards to Track and Field very clearly state that the authorized individual events for indoor track and field shall be the 55 meter dash, 200 meter dash, 400 meter dash, 800 meter, Long Jump, and Shot Put. This rule would preclude the athletes in the Primary age division from participating in the 1500 meter run.
This rule was put in place to keep over-zealous coaches and parents from jeopardizing the mental, emotional, and physical health of the sports youngest participants. The handbook that it comes from was adopted by the AAU Youth Athletics committee at the 2007 national convention, and reviewed at the last national convention in 2008, where no changes were made effecting events in any age group.
When asked of his decision to allow the disregarding of this rule, meet director Marchan Adkins stated that “Several distance coaches petitioned for this event”, yet only one coach; Bob Pleticha of the Elgin Sharks, decided to enter his kids in either the Boys or Girls Primary 1500 meter run.
This resulted in many spectators and coaches alike wondering why grown men and women would deliberately disobey a rule that is designed to protect the health and safety of very small children, some of whom are as young as five.
The team championship was further tainted by the fact that according to Adkins, Pleticha sent him an e-mail with a Primary 4×400 relay entered into both the boys and girls divisions. All other clubs were forced to enter via the Coach O registration system, and submit the processing fee that is added to every entry.
It is assumed that most thoughtful meet directors would have simply replied to Pleticha’s request with an explanation that the AAU does not recognize the Primary 4×400, and would ask the coach to correct and resubmit his entry. But not Adkins, he accepted Pleticha’s entry and further circumvented the rules when he bypassed the Coach O system, and entered the kids directly into the Hy-Tec meet management program. This meant that not one other of the seventy-three remaining teams that registered for the meet was even allowed to oppose the Elgin Sharks, allowing the team to add another 20 points towards their quest for a team title.
It also called into question which of the Sharks even ran on the Primary 4×400 relay, and since there is no record of their participation listed on the Coach O website, were any of the participants even entered into the meet, and did any exceed the limit of three events as mandated by the AAU? The result of all this was that by receiving the 82 unopposed points the Sharks were able to post a victory by a mere 33 points.
Another troubling aspect of this obvious intentional oversight is that the meet was under the watchful eye of the National Youth Athletics Chair, Robin Brown-Beamon, who addressed the gathered coaches in a pre-competition, Sunday meeting imploring them to embrace the changes in the new and “improved” AAU.
This would lead one to question not only the competency of meet management, but also the appointed head of the Youth Athletics program. Many in the crowd of thousands braved the cold snow packed roads of the upper Mid-West, paid the forty-dollars per athlete entry fee, spent their hard earned money not only on gate fees of five-dollars per day, but also the market place that is AAU at its money grabbing finest, asking for only one thing; a level playing field, where all teams were given a chance to compete in a fun, safe, and most importantly fair competition.
TrackMom response: REALLY, Does AAU want to take the postion that they can do what every they want regardless of rules set in place. This situation disregards the sense of fostered sportsmanship and fairplay in the youth arena. I wasn’t at the meet and don’t know the details first hand ,but I do know that parents pay a lot to attend all meets ,and to brave the cold , travel hundreds of miles in many cases of miles to find out your child teams might have missed out because of well….basically cheating.That just doesn’t sit well with parents,coach and especially the children that have been pushed aside. I welcome a broader perspective of the story to be submitted for fairness sake .I hoping there is one ..
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