After our fifth State Indoor Track Championship, some of the college coaches spoke with us about some of the concerns that they had about the indoor qualifying meets. Yes, the schools that allow us to use their tracks for these qualifying meets benefit quite a bit. A couple of ways that they benefit is that they can recruit our athletes and they profit financially for their programs. And, even though they benefit, their concerns are still valid.
The main concern deals with signing up for the meets. Some high school coaches sign up for more than one meet on the same day, and then simply do not show up for one or both meets without notification. This causes many problems for the colleges who are allowing us to use their facility. These colleges need to get workers and officials based on the number of entries. When athletes do not show up, it results in too many workers, empty heats, and entries that other high schools could have used. When a school enters athletes and then fails to show up, it is not good for anyone involved.
These colleges understand that winter weather may cause travel problems at times, but we need to notify them when bad weather prevents traveling to a meet. If you sign up for a meet and then cannot attend and participate, email or call the school to let them know. Even if the call or email is last minute, please go ahead and notify them so that they understand why you did not show up.
Many of the colleges are using a deadline for canceling so that they have enough time to fill the spot with another school who wishes to compete. Please honor these deadlines. This is just a more considerate way to give everyone who wishes to compete a chance to do so.
Some high school coaches are entering athletes with really outstanding times, and then failing to bring those athletes to compete, or the athletes are not truly and consistently running these times. Again, this causes unfair and unbalanced heats, open lanes, and takes opportunities away from others.
Another problem that results in athletes not showing to compete in their event is that the athlete is uninformed. They do not seem to know which events in which they are entered, so they fail to show up for the event and again we have empty lanes. The other side of the problem of the athlete being uninformed is that we have athletes who try to check in for events in which they are not entered, and it causes confusion at the check-in. Coaches - You need to communicate with your athletes so that they know where and when to compete.
Indoor track season is a good time to experiment in trying new events for a given athlete. The problem with that is there are athletes who show up to compete in an event for which they have never trained. This can be very unsafe, particularly if it is an event such as hurdles because the athlete is unsure of what to expect, so they slow down the event and in turn slow down the meet schedule. When athletes make excessive practice runs in events such as the high jump, pole vault, or weight throws, it shows that the athlete is most likely inexperienced in that event. This can also slow down the meet schedule. Make sure your athlete is confident from practice before they come and compete. do not use a meet for practice.
One very common problem that we are having is that there are still high school coaches who do not know if their school recognizes indoor track and field. In some instances, it is only a before week the OATCCC Championship and coaches are attempting to get their school to recognize indoor track and field so that they can compete. Coaches - you need to know in January if your school recognizes indoor track and field. Do not wait until March to know if your school recognizes indoor track and field. It is your responsibility to know if your school board has approved and recognizes indoor track.
If we, as high school coaches, all work together to correct these concerns everyone wins. The indoor season will be a much more positive thing for our athletes and for the colleges who allow us the use of their facilities.
