What made you go into coaching?
Rebecca: I first got into the idea of coaching when I was in college. I worked as a camp counselor at a running camp, Camp Foss in New Hampshire. I went there myself when I was in high school and really loved it. So, as a counselor, we were assigned a whole cabin of girls. We had to keep them in line but also give advice with their running. I found myself really enjoying helping them and sharing my own experiences with them. After college I worked part-time as an art teacher at a middle school for a couple months. There was a cross country team there and I assisted with that as well. It was funny to see how the kids at this age literally begged you to run more. We limited them to about a half mile to a mile a day and then played games after. It was different but refreshing. Then after a few months I started working as a full-time art teacher at a high school just outside Boston. There was also a track coaching position and took that on as well. I coached the boys distance that first year and then the girls position opened up the following year and I switched to that.
What is the foundation for your coaching philosophies?
Rebecca: As a high school coach, I certainly wouldn’t throw a schedule like this on my athletes. First off, a high school athlete is still in the developing phase, racing too much and high mileage are not part of the equation in my mind. I know sometimes the high school schedules can be loaded with races, but I tend to work around that. I’ll either figure out ways to turn dual meet races into workouts or sit some athletes out. I recently had an athlete compete in 2 open events and 2 relays at the indoor state meet. This is not a regular thing and I prepared her to handle this volume for this one day, and it was a special case. My high school coach was very smart in that he hardly raced us and kept the weekly mileage very low. He always said he wanted us to have fresh legs after high school and I really stand behind this way of thinking. I hear of all of these stellar high school teams that win numerous team titles in cross and learn of the super high mileage they do. That’s great that they win and I strive for us to win as well, but what kind of careers do the kids have after high school? It is possible to achieve huge things with lighter mileage. I think you have to do the right things to complement this and make it work. Even if the kids don’t run competitively in college, I want them to leave high school wanting to keep the sport a part of their lifestyle. If they’re run into the ground it’s going to effect them both physically and mentally, meaning that they’re going to have a bad impression in their heads and possibly be turned off by the sport. I want this sport to live on.
Filed under: Ask Rebecca, Coaching | Tagged: Coaching, Foss Running Camp, Rebecca Donaghue, State College HS | 1 Comment »
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