Perfectly said. An example: I had an athlete at Jrs. Back in 94 when Worlds
were in Portugal. She was Cal State Champ 3 weeks earlier and went to Jrs
because her parents and others (USATF)wanted her to go. She had the 2nd
fastest qualifying time going into the finals. At breakfast the morning
before the finals she asked me "if I make the team do I HAVE to go to
Portugal?" Fortunately (for her), she came in 3rd and did not make the team.
I found out later that she had planned a cruise with her boyfriend and his
family during the time of the worlds. This kid had A-A status, a state
championship, a full scholarship to a major university, a boyfriend and a
full expense paid cruise under her belt. In her mind, what did she need
Jrs' for? This is generally the mentality of the higher level U.S. Jr.
Athlete. I have coached and know of more H.S. elite athletes with similar
stories in regards to the Jr meet. Unless you're really paying attention,
no one really knows who DOES'NT show at Jrs. If the best do not show or take
the U.S. Jr. meet seriously, they can't participate at the following
international meet. Another example, the team that set the WJR in the
women's 4 x 1 last year did not even have the top THREE Jr. sprinters on
it(none of them showed at the Jr. Meet). In essence, that was a "B" team.
The well runs much deeper.
------Original Message------
From: "R.T." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: October 26, 2000 5:02:16 PM GMT
Subject: Re: t-and-f: Embarrassment, MLF and development
It might appear to be a poor showing from the "team"
standpoint...
....for the individuals who were there, it was probably
reasonable enough performances for most of them, given
the time of year...
The trouble is, not only did the U.S. not "send" the
"A" team, they didn't send the B or C teams either.
It was more like the "D" team. Nothing against those
individuals, but they are not the cream of the crop.
Anybody who thinks what they saw in Santiago represents
the current U.S. state of the art, are sadly mistaken.
But as I said earlier, Americans would love you to
believe that and think your preparations are totally
adequate to destroy the Americans at all competitive
venues. :-)
The USATF will say they sent the winners from the
National Junior Champs. But a LOT of people didn't
bother to even go TO the National Junior Champs.
To them a Golden West High School win, or a shot at competing
in the Olympic Trials in Sacramento, was more important
(although they only had a miniscule chance of making
the Sydney team).
Reminder to people outside the U.S.- being a democracy,
nobody can be "made" to participate on a national team.
The USATF has zero leverage.
The lure ("carrot") of international travel doesn't even
have the motivational pwoer that it once did, in a post-
MTV age where most people's homes are wired, kids carry
cellular phones in their backpacks, and they
chat constantly on the 'net with people around the globe.
Chance to go to Rome? "would be nice, but it's not all that
critical. After all, homecoming is the same weekend,
and I've got Pre-SAT's." How about Santiago?
"Santiago? Hah! You've gotta be kidding!!!!!"
If they don't want to go, or even "try out" for the team,
there's not a whole lot that can be done about it, short
of changing the entire developmental structure to take
power away from high school and college coaches, or
at least move their power out from under the school
A.D.'s and the NCAA, and have the coaches report
directly to the USATF. i.e. de-emphasize school team
scoring, and emphasize individual development.
Like that's gonna happen in the next 500 years...right!
And there's little discussion of ways to motivate kids
to want to compete against their counterparts from
Poland and Bolivia.
Everybody wants a piece of the Americans, but Americans
can 'take it or leave it'-making an overseas trip to
compete can easily become more a 'drag' than a benefit.
RT
