So Coach, I hear that there is a track meet this weekend. Can you answer these questions:

Where is the meet?

Is it for boys and girls?

Are all the kids going?

Are there field events too at indoor meets? I assume that there are, but not sure.

Do you expect much involvement/attendance from the parents at these meets?

 

Geesh Gov .. I am starting to wonder if you are a parent in our program! If so ... give me a call and we can talk about this stuff (I don't mind the questions at all! But if you are a parent--my info is on the website--I don't mind talking to you either). But ... here are the answers to your questions:

 

Where is the meet? Mason County

 

Is it for boys and girls? Both--we are one team--and will do everything together.

 

Are all the kids going? Everyone who is eligible to participate will be on the roster. Girls/Boys/Middle School/High School. (We are waiting on uniforms--which are on the way--but that may hold us up. We are also working on a plan to account for that situation if things do not work out right).

 

Are there field events too at indoor meets? I assume that there are, but not sure. Yep--Shot/Long Jump/Triple Jump/High Jump (Not sure what our participation will be out side of the throws--simply because the weather has made it tough for us to practice the jumps). We got a little techinque work in last week--and have it in the plan for this week as well--but the snow is making things difficult right now--and we try to never work on jump stuff in the hallways--due to the pounding it would cause from the concrete floors.

 

Do you expect much involvement/attendance from the parents at these meets? I expect parents to support their children. (which never seems to be an issue at Beechwood). Do they have to be at the meet? No. Would I "recommend it" YES!. The Boosters and a group of parents are working hard behind the scenes to build this part of the program. As the year goes on, I would expect some cool events that you don't normally see at track meets (which will be put on by this group of parents).

 

Our team is really doing well. They are working to increased expectations(young and old) and do a great job of working together. The only issue that I have noticed so far ... is that whenever I send paperwork home with the kids to give to their parents ... it rarely makes it home (good thing everything is on the website just in case). But ... that is pretty normal with kids these days.

 

If you need anything else -- let me know.

I have heard that Jeremy Fisher is the new coach at Beechwood. If this is the case things can only look good because I have heard what he did at Conner, which was no easy task. He took a program that was in such bad shape when he took over that his assistants and him had to practically tape rags together to get a proper uniform for the runners. He took Conner from the bowels of inepptitude to being a very competitive team every year. Though he never won the big one in track at Conner, I have a feeling that he will have much success at Beechwood.

Coach Fisher is a tremendous young man and seems to excel in whatever he touches or does. A good person to get to know and be around very positive and carries that over to his players. JD

All good questions, Gov.

The situation wit the track has more to do with the shape of the corners on the end closets to school

Technically .. there still really nothing stopping anyone from having a meet there ... but I think many schools would shy away from our track simply because of the shape.

The lane situation isn't a huge deal .. other than the fact that any meet there would be pretty small.

The one thing that could happen ... is a field event meet (if the school were ever to purchase a cage--or if the baseball cage could fit the correct dimentions .. which it may).

 

We are actually partnering with Dixie to host the 2nd addition of the NKY/Area 5 Elite Invitational on Friday, May 13, 2011 (Invitation only pitting the 16 best participants, regardless of Class or entry limits in NKY). It will be a great chance to get our parents involved in running a meet.

In the end ... it is great to have a track to practice on .... so I am not complaining!

 

"Officially" the season has already began. Beechwood starts on 01/10/2011. The Class A State Championship will be held on May 28, 2011 at Cardinal Park.

However .. there is some built in down time in our schedule between the indoor/outdoor portions of our season.

At this point--we will most likely attend 4-5 indoor meets (with our elite competitors possibly going to 1 or 2 more) and then 8-10 Outdoor Meets.

Our schedule will be significantly different than it has been in the past (the Boosters stepped up big time to help us with this part).

IT will probably be 65/35 local vs travel meets (we needed the improved quality in the schedule--to showcase the talent of athletes like Brianna McCarthy--she is ranked 2nd in the state going in to the season--and we need to make sure that she gets the competition that she needs. We will also have some other girls who will benefit from the new schedule (Shannon Redfield, O. Miniard, L. Miller and a boatload of the boys)

We have a large middle school group--and our goal for them is 6 meets (the more experienced ones will get some Reserve/Varsity time if their mental/physical ability is ready for that step.

 

Hopefully this answers your questions .. if anything else comes up .. let me know!

 

No, not a parent. Just a guy that likes to watch his grandson's from a distance.

No, not a parent. Just a guy that likes to watch his grandson's from a distance.

 

Good to hear. Any time you need some "inside information" ... or want to know what is going on with the program ... let me know (email, IM here, give me a call). The meet itinerary went up on the website today (basic meet information). The meet scouting report will go on the website by 12:00 pm on Friday (more indepth meet information). Hopefully this helps.

quickslick, went on your website yesterday and it is really nice and you guy's and gal's are doing it right. Also stopped down yesterday and said high to coach rash. Looked for you and you all were off. JD

So which school is the most threatened by the existence of BW's track team? (Besides BW baseball).

So which school is the most threatened by the existence of BW's track team? (Besides BW baseball).

 

Come on Clyde ... quit fishing with baseball. Losing one kid that wasn't going to play this season to begin with isn't hurting Beechwood baseball. Not real sure what you hope to accomplish by bringing this up when it has already been addressed. We are talking about a completely different demographic athletically.

 

To answer your question .... we will start with all Class A Teams in NKY. Whether our team is ready to compete at the highest level remains to be seen. Our girls are established with enough talent (old and new) to win big immediately. At the very least ... our boys will throw a huge monkey wrench in the plans of some of the traditional Class A powers ... and our best ..???????

Come on Clyde ... quit fishing with baseball. ?

 

Sometimes I can't help myself.

I did see Vocke rocking the new track t-shirt tonight. Nice. I sense the enthusiasm.

So which school is the most threatened by the existence of BW's track team? (Besides BW baseball).

 

Beechwood baseball is alive and well with over 80 kids at the initial meeting. Amazing that a single A school gets so much out of its students.

 

QS ... how did the first meet go today?

Sometimes I can't help myself.

 

Ha, ha ... just remember ... you will eventually hurt Uncle Roger's feelings ... but for real ... nothing there. Completely different type of athlete. Plus, we made a living at Conner working with kids who were not football, baseball or basketball players. This situation is significantly different as well. Everyone is on board with the program.

 

Not to mention .. at the end of the day ... everyone at Beechwood actually works together to try and make things work for all programs. That doesn't happen everywhere. I wouldn't expect any problems at all between any of the programs. If anything ... I would expect a lot of flexibility amongst all teams, coaches and athletes.

 

I did see Vocke rocking the new track t-shirt tonight. Nice. I sense the enthusiasm.

 

The enthusiasm is pretty strong. It is even stronger after this past Saturday. The boys really didn't know what to expect from an indoor track meet ... and walked away with the thought that it was a pretty cool deal. I really don't care to single anyone out ... but the young man above (and the rest of the girls/boys we had on Satuday) are the real deal.

 

 

Beechwood baseball is alive and well with over 80 kids at the initial meeting. Amazing that a single A school gets so much out of its students.

 

VOR is on top of it. Like I said ... one student athlete who played baseball last year ... who is switching to track this year. AND .. he is there was not a track team this year .. he wasn't going to play. It helps that the young man in question is probably has more potential than 99.99% of the human population of earth ... but ... his decision was made long before boys track was official at Beechwood.

 

QS ... how did the first meet go today?

 

The meet went very well. Right out of the gate ... our boys middle school 4x800 team won--which basically set the tone for the entire day. We had one goal for the day--which was to learn (girls and boys) what to expect from each other. Well, next time our goals will be significantly higher. Our kids were in the slow heats all day ... and we placed MANY in the top 6 (against some solid competition). Being in faster heats would have results in some wins. Lots of potential in the sprints (girls/boys), jumps, throws, distance.

 

The difference between this group of kids and others I have been around ... is that we didn't have to convince any of them that they were there to be successful or to leave everything on the track. The effort and the ability to learn was higher than any group I have ever been around in track or cross. When you take that fact--and combine it with kids that will be in the program from swimming and basketball ... I like our chances.

Here are Saturday's results for anyone who is interested:

 

http://www.ktccca.org/2011tf/11tfresMason_CountyResults.htm

Looks like Beechwood and Lloyd Memorial held their own in the track meet at Mason County. Keep up the good work NKY. JD

Am I correct that track practice can't officially start until 2.15?