Newly-Created Track & Field Institute Gives High School and Youth Athletes Opportunities to Enhance Skills

Newly-Created Track & Field Institute Gives High School and Youth Athletes Opportunities to Enhance Skills

Venture created by USTFCCCA and UCS will provide instruction, in-practice skill building



October 18, 2010



NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and track & field equipment supplier UCS have partnered to create the Track & Field Institute – a developmental training series for high school and youth athletes. In its first version, to be held December 17-18 at the JW Marriott Hill Country in San Antonio, the Institute will provide expert instruction and learn-by-doing sessions in the pole vault and hurdle disciplines.



The schools of instruction to take place in December will be the first in what is expected to be an on-going instructional series which will include additional disciplines in the future. This particular two-day session will be held on the two days following the USTFCCCA Convention. The events will be held indoors at the JW Marriott Hill Country’s Exhibit Hall using UCS-provided vaulting pits and hurdles and Mondo-provided surfaces.



Created and conducted by the USTFCCCA to aid in the skills advancement of the youth and high school athlete, the Track & Field Institute (TFI) will offer access to some of the top coaches and athletes in the sport in a structured educational setting.



Pole vault instructors for the inaugural school include Arkansas’ Bryan Compton, former world-record holder Stacy Dragila, Kansas’ Tom Hays, Olympic silver medalist and South Carolina assistant coach Lawrence Johnson, LSU’s Todd Lane, Olympic gold medalist Tim Mack, TCU’s Nic Peterson, Texas’ Mario Sategna, former Olympic assistant coach Boo Schexnayder, Olympic silver medalist Toby Stevenson, and Houston’s Kyle Tellez.



Instructors in the School of Hurdles include Illinois coach and three-time Olympian Tonja Buford-Bailey, Miami’s Amy Deem, Oklahoma’s Dana Boone, and USTFCCCA Hall of Fame member and former Illini coach Gary Winckler.



The program for both days of instruction include skills instruction, learn-by-doing exercises, and video analysis.



Athlete registration for the event is set at $125 when applying before December 1. Late registration or on-site registration cost is set at $150. Spectators, coaches, and parents may attend all sessions for a $25 fee.



Special room rates are available from the JW Marriott Hill Country at the TFI’s official website (www.ustfccca.org/track-and-field-institute/). The JW Marriott Hill Country is located 20 minutes to the north from downtown San Antonio and the San Antonio International Airport.



About the USTFCCCA



The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) is a non-profit professional organization representing cross country and track & field coaches of all levels. The organization represents over 8,000 coaching members encompassing 94 percent of all NCAA track & field and cross country programs (DI, DII, and DIII) and includes members representing the NAIA as well as a number of state high school coaches associations.



The USTFCCCA serves as an advocate for cross country and track & field coaches, providing a leadership structure to assist the needs of a diverse membership, serving as a lobbyist for coaches’ interests, and working as a liaison between the various stakeholders in the sports of cross country and track & field.



About UCS



Since their inception back in 1967, UCS has never wavered from its primary mission: to provide innovative products that feature superb design, exceptional engineering, superior materials, precision hand craftsmanship, and rigorous quality control. UCS strives to offer the safest, most durable, and best performing “Made in the USA” equipment in the market. UCS’ products enhance facilities and improve the competitive experience for athletes, coaches, and spectators alike.



In addition to UCS’s experience in supplying the track & field equipment for the past 60 NCAA Championships, no company other than UCS has been the Official Supplier to four Olympic Games (‘84, ‘88, ‘92 & 2000). Established in 1987 UCS Spirit Vaulting poles has an unsurpassed history of world class quality and consistency with dominating results including the current men’s and women’s world records.



UCS Spirit and UCS continues to sponsor and conduct the National Pole Vault Summit – an event that reached its 20th anniversary in 2010 and is the largest pole vault event in the world.









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Tom Lewis

U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association

Communications Manager

1100 Poydras St., Suite 1750

New Orleans, LA 70163

(O) 504-599-8904 (F) 504-599-8909

Email: tom@ustfccca.org

Follow Us: twitter.com/USTFCCCA