Thursday, October 07, 2010

PAUSATF California Currents Coaches Newsletter

Please provide newsworthy information to Pacific Assoc. coaches chair Dave Shrock at dshrock@pacbell.net for inclusion into the next newsletter due out in the winter. Thanks to Turns and Distances editor Jim Hume, George Kleeman, and Thomas Kloos for contributing information. Also thanks to association communications chair Cynci Calvin for the new e-zine mast head. For current information refer to: www.pausatf.org.

Upcoming USATF Coaching Schools and Clinics:
Level 1 Schools, the most comprehensive track and field training in the nation, consist of 21 hours of instruction focused on the events of track & field and related sport science. The course consists of classroom instruction as well as hands-on training. The Level 1 program covers all events by emphasizing fundamentals, rules, safety/risk management, and instruction techniques in addition to specific event group training of endurance, sprints/hurdles, throws and jumps. Upon passing the exam, participants will be issued a Level 1 Certificate of Completion.

11-12 December, 2010: at Chabot College, Hayward. 21 hour school covering all aspects of sports science and specific event groups. Click here for an informational flyer, or refer to: http://www.pausatf.org/data/coach/coachevents.html.

15-16 January, 2011: at Sacramento City College. 21 hour school covering all aspects of sports science and specific event groups. Click here for an informational flyer, or refer to: http://www.pausatf.org/data/coach/coachevents.html.

PAUSATF Level 1 School Scholarships Available:
To facilitate the goal of producing well educated coaches, the Pacific Association of USATF (including San Luis Obispo, San Benito, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, counties north to the Oregon border in California, and central/northern Nevada) has made available twenty (20) scholarships to pay the tuition to attend a PA-USATF Level 1 Coaching Education School. Pacific Association registered coaches who complete and submit the application by Sunday, 21 November, 2010 at 5:00pm will become eligible to have their tuition fee paid to the Sacramento City College or the Chabot College Level 1 Schools. Recipients are responsible for their own transportation, USATF membership fees, accommodation, and meals. Click here for information and application, or refer to: http://www.pausatf.org/data/coach/coachevents.html.

Inaugural Level 2 School-Youth Specialization was held in Sacramento after the JO's this past August. The successful school was geared specifically for the needs of youth coaches and was attended by thirty-three Pacific association coaches. Hayward high school coach Marissa Harris was the recipient of the Pacific Board of Athletics scholarship to attend the school.

The 2011 Youth Specialization Level 2 School will be held in the Wichita region next year once again after JO's. Refer to the national coaches' education website for further information and to register for schools:
http://www.usatf.org/groups/Coaches/education/

Saturday, 22 January, 2011 - VSAthletics SuperClinic-Sacramento City College:
Come join us in improving your coaching effectiveness in a one-day clinic devoted solely to maximizing your athlete's success. Sixteen nationally recognized clinicians will provide information that you will be able to apply immediately to your program's improvement in the event group areas of sprints/hurdles, endurance, throws, and jumps. Spread the word to all coaches! Last year's clinic was a great success with over 300 coaches gaining practical information to begin their seasons. Click here for flyer, or go to http://www.vsathletics.com/clinic

12 February, 2011 - Willie Davenport Olympian Learn-by-do Clinic:
James Logan High school, Union City. 9:00am-4:00pm. Learn by do clinic from some of the world's greatest Olympic athletes in addition to top regional coaches. Details TBA. For further information, contact coach Lee Webb at: lee_webb@nhusd.k12.ca.us, or refer to: http://www.jameslogantrackandfield.com.

Call for nominees for the Pacific Association Legacy Coach Award:
In recognition of the many influential coaches who have served in our association who have selflessly strengthened our sport(s) through teaching, mentoring, and promoting our profession, the Coaches Committee is asking for nominees for the Legacy Coach Award. Long time Humboldt State coach Jim Hunt was our inaugural award recipient in 2010. Criterion will be weighted heavily on coaches who were not only great coaches, but who also inspired and trained/mentored many of us to become coaches ourselves...hence the idea of a Legacy Coach Award. Coaches submitted for consideration should have mentored former athletes to become successful coaches in their own right, in addition to:
- mentored former athletes
- having coached for a period of time in the Pacific Association
- exhibited qualities of ethical coaching
- contributed to several aspects of the association, while promoting the sports of USATF
- candidates could come from any level of coaching
Please submit names of nominees with details of their contributions as noted above to Dave Shrock at dshrock@pacbell.net. The deadline for submission of nominees is 31 December, 2010, with announcement of the recipient 22 January at the VSAthletics SuperClinic.

Youth-High School Notes:
The National Federation of State High School Associations has changed the jewelry rule for track and field athletes. Jewelry is still illegal but the first violation becomes a team warning. The second violation can mean disqualification. Please see http://www.nfhs.org/content.aspx?id=4047 for more information.

The 2011 PA youth track and field organizational meeting will be held Saturday, October 16th at James Logan HS's old gym beginning at 10:00am

Steve Nelson, the T&F coach at Mt. Pleasant HS in East San Jose has been transferred to Evergreen Valley HS after 25 years of coaching one of the region's top programs with state championships and 49 athletes scholarshiped. The district stated that because Nelson had only 5 years seniority in the PE department at Mt. Pleasant, it was district policy to transfer those with less seniority to other district schools when positions open. To view the ABC7 News clip, refer to: http://www.crosscountryexpress.com/2010/08/mt-pleasant-coach-steve-nelson.html.

For further info, check out the revamped youth page filled with info, highlights, and photos at: http://www.pausatf.org/indexyouth.html

College Notes:

NCAA Rule changes for the 2011 and 2012 seasons are now available on our rules page at: http://www.usatf.org/groups/officials/resources/rules/.

Jon and Deanne Vochatzer, who have combined for nearly 50 seasons of service with the UC Davis men's and women's track and field teams retired effective 30 June. This closed an era marked by conference and individual national championships, two NCAA Woman of the Year awards for Dee, and countless other milestones and accolades for both. Byron Talley will become Interim Director of Cross Country and Track and Field, while the Vochatzers will remain on a consulting and fund raising basis.
Nick Mattis was recently appointed as the full-time track and field and cross-country coach at DeAnza College in Cupertino after a successful five year tenure as a part-time employee.

Ken Grace has returned to the position of head track and field coach at Chabot College in Hayward. Ken, no stranger to community college track was a Calif. Coach of the Year whilst at CC San Francisco and then moved to Chabot in 1995 where he served as head coach and athletic director.

Greg Rhines former UOP and Delta College cross country coach has taken over the Cal State Monterey Bay program from retiring Bob Sevene.

Former Fresno State throws coach and multi Olympic shot put competitor Ramona Pagel will become the new athletic director at Port Huemene Naval Base in Ventura.

Robert Weir has joined the University of Oregon track and field staff as throws coach. Weir, a British Olympian in the discus coached at Stanford from 1993 through 2003.

Harry Marra, former San Francisco State and VISA decathlon team head coach, has left University of Oregon to take a position with the Oregon Track Club. Jamie Cook, a 10-year Ivy League veteran coach and a former Big Ten decathlon champion has been hired as Marra's successor.

UC Berkeley has hired retired decathlete Will Thomas to coach the pole vault and assist with throws and combined events. A 2005 graduate of University of Connecticut, Thomas has coached at Dartmouth and Harvard as well as volunteering as a coach at Cal in 2005-6.

Former Cal assistant Bryan Fetzer joins the Harvard coaching staff as an assistant coach and will oversee the horizontal jumps, sprints, hurdles and heptathletes. Fetzer moves to Harvard after spending three seasons at Mississippi State, and three seasons before that at Cal.

Kimberly Graham-Miller, a gold medalist at the 1996 Summer Olympics and standout athlete at the collegiate and professional levels originally from Santa Rosa, has joined the UC Davis track and field staff as sprints coach.

Cal Poly SLO welcomes the addition of assistant coach Kelly Strong, who helped build the University of Washington into the top women's program in the country.

Scott Pesch has replaced Sandy Moran as head CC-T&F coach at Humboldt State. Pesch was a standout durance runner for Humboldt in the 1980's, and is currently a real estate broker in the Eureka area.

After suspending cross country and track and field along with five other sports at Diablo Valley College for budgetary reasons, the Contra Costa Community College district is reinstating the teams to resolve federal gender bias complaints. Shelly Pierson, a full-time fitness instructor at the college has been appointed head coach at DVC. Dan Cruz, the very sucessful former head coach is now head T&F coach at his alma mater West Valley College in Saratoga.

Stanford Cardinal men's cross country began the 2010 season ranked #1 nationally.

West Coast Conference schools University of San Francisco, Santa Clara, and St. Mary's will have new challenges in 2011 with the recent addition of cross country powerhouse BYU to the conference.

Cal State Stanislaus will host the NCAA Division II outdoor Track and Field Championships 26-28 May this coming season on its recently renovated facility in Turlock. Cross country coach and former All-American 800m runner Diljeet (nee Dosanjh) Taylor will serve as meet director.

Looking for track & field schedules:
Bill Hawkes has again volunteered to collect data for the 2011 Association track and field calendar. Meet directors please send all dates to Bill by Saturday, November 6th. Bill's email address is: Flojo1049@yahoo.com. The master association schedule with youth, high school, college, open and master competitions will be available at www.pausatf.org in late November.


Looking for experienced volunteers for the World Masters Athletics Championships in July 2011:
Thousands of masters athletes over the age of 35 will converge on the Sacramento region for the World Masters Athletics Championships to be held at several facilities from 6-17 July this coming year. For information on volunteer positions and application, refer to:
http://www.pausatf.org/data/2010/mtfwmavoluneers.pdf

Officials Education Clinics for 2011:
Official's education chair Shirley Connors is currently organizing official clinics for all levels for the 2011 season. Keep an eye out for information on: http://www.pausatf.org/indexofficials.html

Missing From the Track:

Rick Milam: former Homestead HS coach and consummate meet director and official passed on 23 August after a valiant battle with cancer. Rick and colleague Willie Harmatz have been the directors of the Los Gatos all-comers meets for decades. Several hundred gathered in the Los Gatos gym 19 September to share and celebrate Rick's life.

Hal Connolly, the legendary hammer thrower, who died in August at age 79, was married to local athlete Pat Connolly (nee Winslow), herself a three-time Olympian. In addition, he threw at least one world record in the PA (70.67 meters, at Palo Alto, in 1962). Hal was a long-time advocate of youth hammer throwing, and in December, USATF will consider adding this as an event for Youth Girls and Youth Boys (the Intermediate and Young Men's/Women's divisions already throw the implement).

Scott Davis: 'The voice of American track and field' so named by the IAAF for his many roles of both national and international track announcer, passed in August after contracting an infection at the World Championships in Moncton, Canada; weakened by a multi-year battle with cancer. Davis was the long-time meet director of the Mt. SAC Relays, while serving on many SoCal association and national USATF committees.

Additional Information:
Websites for additional information and resources:
National: www.usatf.org
northern California and Nevada Pacific Association: www.pausatf.org
California Central Valley Association, from Merced county south: www.central-california.usatf.org
southern California Association: www.scausatf.org
San Diego-Imperial Association: www.sdusatf.org









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