Mission Statement

To provide youth athletes with the opportunity to pursue the sport of track and field and provide them with all the tools to compete at a championship level.

 

Vision Statement

To provide opportunities for youth through track and field that transitions them into the consummate student/athlete at the collegiate level. Through our programs, we aim to develop world class athletes not just in talent, but also in character, strength, and intelligence. We strive for our athletes to be scholarship athletes on, and off the track.
The Road to Junior Olympics

In the calendar of track and field, the month of June generally signifies the beginning of a championship run. In High School or scholastic athletics, the New Balance (formerly Nike) Nationals are the culmination of scholastic championships. Collegiately, NCAA Nationals…. and in some cases USA Track and Field Nationals. Professionally, of course USA Track and Field Nationals. And depending on the year, this usually qualifies them for either the World Championship or the Olympics.


For Youth track and field, June signifies what I call “the Playoffs” of youth track and field. The road to the Junior Olympics. Whether AAU or USATF, these rounds of qualifying through to the Junior Olympics (or Nationals) can be very intense and even grueling to some athletes, families and teams. And coaches generally have worked with their athletes for many months, if not a year, of training to get them to this point. One bad weekend can end your season in early June rather than extending it to August. From the District or Association Championships, to the Regional Qualifiers, the best athletes in the country are going after that National Championship, or at least that Junior Olympics medal.


I have always had the belief that in order to produce a National Champion, you need three things: one, the right athlete. Two, the right training. And three, the right environment, both at home and on the track. Unfortunately, there are some athletes that just do not possess the right DNA to become a National Champion. There is nothing that you can do about that. However, you can help that athlete maximize their potential and show them how the road to improvement is ultimately fulfilling and the benefits of striving to reach goals that they may have never thought were imaginable. A great life lesson!


I also believe the right training turns a novice athlete into a better than average athlete…. An average athlete into a great athlete… and a great athlete into a Champion! We have seen evidence of this over the years in Georgia youth track. Coaches are getting better every day at training athletes. And the results show it.


But a vital part that I think often gets overlooked is the environment the athlete competes in. The team environment, or that Coach/Athlete dynamic is one that can help shape the confidence of an athlete to thrive in the high pressure situations that this series of meets brings. If you’ve got the right group of athletes, and even the right group of parents, you can create a competitive environment where positive reinforcement can bring out the best in your athletes.


But what happens when they go home? Does that positive reinforcement go home with both the parent and athlete? During these qualifying rounds of meets, we as coaches see a lot of things, both from our athletes and parents, as well as other teams’ athletes, coaches, and parents. I’ve been on all sides of this: as a Parent, as an Athlete, as a Coach, and as a Meet Director. And maybe this is too brief of a forum to discuss this at length. Maybe another Coach’s Corner (smile).


Nevertheless, some of the common things I see are comparisons of an athlete to another…and the success or failure of the performance of an athlete is whether they beat the other. Or because of the financial investment in the athlete to travel to compete in Junior Olympics, the expectations get higher and higher. The track and field season can be a very long one. From Fall training, to Indoor, to Spring, to Summer qualifying… it can last 10 months to nearly a year! Every year at our awards ceremony, I give my athletes a plaque of all of their accomplishments in the season. It never fails that I get a comment from a parent saying, “they did all this!?”


With just less than a month away from Junior Olympics, let’s keep in mind the journey that it has taken to get here. And not just from the results and times on the track. But holistically as well. Are they a better athlete than they were a year ago? Has track helped them to be a better person? Are they more disciplined? Both in the class, and on the track (and even at home)?


Then, determine if they are ready to complete the journey. And make sure we are doing our part to make sure that mentally, we have given them every reason to be. Congratulations and good luck to all of our Junior Olympics qualifiers (and those to come)!!


Coach Charles