Tonight concluded the first track season of my life. My two oldest daughters were both members of our school's track program this spring - Daughter One, a sophomore, defected to track from the softball program and threw shot put and discus on the varsity team while Daughter Two, a seventh grader, did a variety of events over the course of her junior high season. High jump became her strongest event and lately her improved jumps have earned her a spot at some varsity meets. This afternoon I drove to a nearby town to watch the varsity sub-section meet, and while both of my girls gave great efforts at their events neither placed high enough to advance to next week's section meet. Thus, season over.
I never joined track in high school - I preferred to spend my springs doing cool things like drama, knowledge bowl, and band while I recovered from the rigors of a long and grueling basketball season. I watched track athletes stagger back into the school after distance runs and thank my lucky stars I was sane enough to avoid the same torture. But now, after seeing track through the eyes of my daughters, I suddenly feel sharp pangs of regret over the choice I made to avoid such a positive activity.
In a world full of cynicism and negativity (both of which I donate freely) the spirit of goodwill, encouragement, sportsmanship, and positivity surrounding the track experience is almost stunning. Track athletes cheer for other track athletes from different schools. I've seen runners in the mile....ahem....in the 1600 meters finish a full lap behind the first placers and get as much applause as the winners. I watch groups of kids wearing different colored uniforms stand together between events and talk about track or school or life while laughing and acting like old pals. I've seen as many high fives for fifth place as I've seen bear hugs for first place. A track meet is like some sort of bizarro athletic universe where winning and losing take a back seat to effort, improvement, and kindness.
Go to almost any team sports event and watch the teams on the court, field, or rink - how happy do they look, especially the losing team? Then watch the coaches and players on the benches - any happiness there? And then, if you dare, study the fans. Good luck finding any happy faces in the stands. When I go to basketball or volleyball games I almost always sit across from the team benches so I can study the people who aren't in the game. In fact, I spend less time watching the game action than I do watching the non-participants. Know what I've discovered? At team sports events there ain't nobody happy. The winning team isn't happy because they should've played better, and their bench players aren't happy because they should've played more, and the coach isn't happy because the ref made a bad call, and the fans aren't happy because of all of the above. And the losing side isn't happy because you aren't supposed to be happy about losing.
But at a track meet? Everyone is happy! Nobody sits on the bench. There are no bad calls to complain about (except one....I'll explain in a minute). Participation in events is determined by results instead of coaching judgement (for the most part) so there's not much to grumble about if an athlete proves to be too slow or too gravitationally challenged for a desired event. Most importantly, every single participant in an event can win because of these things called "PRs", which I've come to learn stands for "personal records". Athletes in track compete against themselves and the clock or bar or gravity as much as they do each other, and if you lose a race but run it in your fastest time ever, well - woo-hoo, you got a PR!!
Tonight was track meet number six I've attended this spring, and while I was hooked over a month ago tonight was a great reminder of why I've come to love track. Three things happened tonight that I just never see in any other sport:
1. There were at least a dozen runners in the boys 1600 meter run. Four laps. When the second-to-last runner crossed the finish line the last place runner was barely into his final lap and struggling. What was going to be a long meet was about to become a couple of minutes longer because of one slow runner.....but nobody complained. Athletes from his school were cheering for him on all sides of the track, encouraging him to hang in there and pump his arms and go for his best time. As he (finally) hit the final straightaway to the finish line the crowd, 99% of whom were NOT from his school, clapped and yelled and cheered him on. And the dozen or so racers who literally ran circles around him all stood at the finish line and cheered for him to finish and gave him high-fives and hugs when he did. Chills.
2. My daughter stepped into the shot put circle for her last throw of the day, needing her best throw to have a chance at advancing beyond tonight's meet. She used a slide step, which she rarely does, on advice from her coach; it was all or nothing so he thought the extra step might add an inch or two to her throw. He was right - she uncorked her best throw of the day, probably her best throw in several meets. Just a hair short of the 30-foot line. She had come through with her best effort that just might put her into fourth place....until the marking judge marked the wrong divot. Her coach, her mother, her teammates, and I at once exclaimed "That's the wrong spot!" But we didn't say it loud, and we didn't say it twice. That's not a part of track. My daughter seethed, her coach shook his head, I raged inside, but we all stood silent while the judge gave her a distance two feet less than what it should have been, knocking her out of the top four and effectively ending her season. It was a horrible mistake, and in any other sport the judge would have had an earful about it from all sides. But not in track. Powerful.
3. Our girls team won the meet by a narrow margin over our track rivals from the east. Our team ran a victory lap (Daughter One, a non-runner, couldn't understand why they were punished for winning) and were surprised at what they found at the end of the lap. The second place team had lined the last 30 meters of both sides of the track and stood cheering for our girls as they finished their run. High fives and hugs and words of congratulations were exchanged. Yes, other sports have the obligatory handshake lines after the final buzzer, but this seemed different. Unscripted. Unforced. Unexpected. The ultimate show of respect and sportsmanship in the face of a tough defeat at the end of a fun season. Admirable.
When Daughter One made the decision to replace a softball with a shot put I was a little disappointed. I'd been having her hit balls since she was old enough to stand and now she was going to be one of those "track kids". I couldn't be more happy with her decision. She and her sister loved every single minute of being a part of the track team. They loved their teammates, their coaches, their competitions, and their events. I'm so proud of them for the athletic improvements they made these last couple of months, but even more proud to see them choose to be a part of something positive and uplifting. I'm already looking forward to seeing them accomplish even more next spring, because......I Love Track Season!!!
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