Some of Illinois top football players competed in the state track meet this past weekend. Two who stood out the most were Lakes DB/Northwestern committ Cameron Ruiz along with Edwardsville DE/Iowa committ AJ Epenesa! Ruiz went 24'/50'/48s in long jump/triple jump/400m which is no joke, that LJ is US#17 and his triple jump is US#2. Epenesa went 60ft in the shot put and set the state record in the discus and ranked #2 in the USA for that event. I have no idea why more football guys (basketball too) do not come out for the track team in the spring. AAU hoops, selfishness from coaches, & 7on7s are ruining the nation's most popular sport to some degree in this great state. Can someone offer an idea on how to fix this or give a little insight, with this being a football forum I'm hoping to get a conversation started? Get on IL.Milesplit.com or DyestatIL.com to see how some of these guys did.
Football & 2016 IHSA Boys State Track Meet
- Thread starter Chicago312
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If the track/field head coach can get the football and basketball staffs to buy in to the sport to the point of joining the "thinclad" staff, benefits to all 3 programs can result. I observed a case in point where the head coaches of the football and basketball program plus a varsity FB assistant collaborated on the track/field staff in a school of about 1400 students. The 3 sports all enjoyed a fine 4 or 5 year run while that staffing line-up remained in place. Basketball players populated the jumps, sprints and hurdles with the football players some of the same plus the weight events. It was really something to witness.
Do you think adults affiliated with the school are encouraging kids not to participate in track and field? Also do you feel the same about track and field athletes participating in other sports?
I do believe adults affiliated with schools (coaches right?) and even some family members are discouraging kids to do a spring sport in the age of spring 7on7/AAU. The fear of not being a starter if you miss team lifting or travel hoops in the spring exist. There are track athletes who only do track (Cahokia's national record holder Ja'Mari Ward for example, Josh Eiker played 3 yrs of football before sitting out senior year). I personally do not like that either because the body needs a break from the same movement, year round specialization is bad, especially for our younger athletes. If you compare track athletes who do not compete in other sports (football/wrestling/hoops) vs athletes from those sports who do not do track there is a huge difference. Most track kids do another sport, typically football. I'd guess there aren't many track specialist in IL outside of Ward, I'd also guess 80%+ of state track medalist are multi-sport
Definitely hurt by the age of specialization. AAU has had a run for awhile. Recently a lot of football 7on7 has exploded. BOOM, EFT, HeroH, etc. Size of the school may play a role too. For example, my son attends a school with an enrollment of 499 students. My son is a 3 sport athlete: football, basketball, and track. Basically, the school needs him for all 3. At the same time, we travel from the Champaign area to Chicago a few times a month for football showcases and to work qb skills with a qb coach. It's crazy the discipline it takes, and I sometimes hope I'm not doing him a disservice, but he has the drive. Back to the original point, in larger schools I think specialization is affecting track #'s. I will say though, there was no shortage of talent down at EIU this past weekend.
I agree the fear of not being a starter if you miss lifting or travel hoops are part of the reason some don't participate in Track. The major reason is most kids don't like track in the beginning. In the world of instant results, Track is definitely a development sport. Most kids don't have patience to develop into a good track athlete. In their mind, they are running for nothing. This make AAU/ 7on7/ etc more attractive. I don't see the benefit of any coach telling a kid NOT to participate in a sport. I am sure all coaches would love to have as many kids as possible to participate in their sport therefore respecting the next sport is very important. What I often see is Coaches (mainly football) get blamed for kids not wanting to participate. Some how people feel you should shut down the weight room so 2 or 3 of the 50 players will run track. I am not sure I would agree with that. I think this is a very good topic.
Actually I'd argue the major reason kids don't like track is because athletes equate running with punishment. This begins at an early age in many sports..In hoops, if you're missing layups/free throws the team does suicides, in football early season running could play a factor along with clowning in practice, heck even in soccer some kids get tired of running. There are no 40 yard dashes in track, the closest we can get is the 60m or 100m dash and only two athletes can compete. When you start talking 200/400m then some steer clear due to laziness. It is up to the track coach to sell their program and explain their training to in house recruits, let them know that they can do a field event to
ne thing that help is for younger athletes to get medals at meets to show off. All sports are a developmental sport, this is why multiple levels of sports exist. Some football kids don't see the playing field after their sophomore year, but choose to ride the pine and develop into thier senior year where an underclassman may develop better and take a spot. Every sport better be developmental, this isn't college. Coaches at a school should be working together to better each others programs, its slap in the face when some programs does speed training at the same time as track practice.