Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / BONUS: Happy National (Track&Field) Coaches Day!

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BONUS: Happy National (Track&Field) Coaches Day! · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

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Happy October 6th, National Coaches Day.
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We're taking over National Coaches Day here at Gill
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Athletics Connections Podcast, and it's October 6th, National
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Track and Field Coaches Day. That's right, you heard me
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correctly. To uplift and honor our coaches
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around the country and around the world at all levels, I
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decided to get a few of my guilt teammates on the mic here and
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just ask them what National Coaches, National Track and
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Field Coaches Day means to them and what are some lessons and
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things they've taken away from coaches in their entire career
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that's now helped them in their professional career.
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So without further ado, help me welcome my teammates here at
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Gill Athletics. All right, as we're celebrating
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National Track Coaches Day, I'm going to take it over.
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It's National Coaches Day, but it's National Track and Field
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coaches for us here at Gil Athletics.
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Let's start with our one of my best teammates I have here are
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javelin specialist. Why don't you introduce
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yourself? Everybody.
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I'm Tim Glover, former javelin thrower, current javelin thrower
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and sales manager here at Gil Athletics.
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Awesome. Tim, we're so happy to have you
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here on our team and you had such a blessing.
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And you know, your knowledge of not only the javelin, which
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obviously is R9, just your overall servitude towards
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coaches. Man, we're just so happy to have
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you on the team here at Gill. You know today is October 6th
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and we're celebrating National Coaches Day, National Track
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Coaches Day. What does coaches track coaches,
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National Coaches Day? What does it mean to you?
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Oh man. See I I've been very blessed and
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fortunate to have a lot of good coaches over the years.
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You know all my track coaches from when I was a kid all the
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way even till now, you know, I I still have a lot of people who
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help me out. They they've meant a lot because
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they just care about me as a person.
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They look after me as a person. You know, they they like to
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check in with me and see just. How I'm doing as a person before
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I am as an athlete and you know, I I, I'm, I can't repay that.
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So you know for me, I like to kind of pay that forward and
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pass it along. So that's that's really what
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coaches have done for me. They just allow me to give back
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to to the community and show me really what that that means.
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You know you you've had many coaches, a few coaches actually
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through your career that I know personally have impacted you.
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You know it's such a positive manner when you think about your
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career and you know you're kind of on our on your second stint
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here with us with Gil and went on to another profession and
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then obviously as a professional javelin thrower.
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Can you imagine when you think about what track coaches have
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done for you as mentors and teachers and coaches and people
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towards you and your life could could you imagine being where
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you are today and as successful as you are today without not
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only that doing track, but that means not being coached by track
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coaches? Oh no, no chance.
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Because you know growing up as a track athlete it it was always,
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you know, it's it's me versus myself.
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But having those coaches really help me dial in with just again
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who I am as a person just to push me and motivate me there.
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There is no chance I am where I am today without.
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All of my track coaches that I've.
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I've really ever had. I love it, man.
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Tim, thank you so much for joining us here on National
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Track and Field Coaches Day. We're going to take it over,
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man. It's no more coaching day.
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It's track and field coaches. Thank you, Tim.
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Thank you. All right.
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And who do we have next here on National Coaches Day?
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This is Courtney Ross Oates. I am from San Diego, CA now in
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Phoenix, AZ. Actually, I am a customer
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service representative at Gil. And I'm also still a Team Pacer
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athlete and I work with the team Pacer athletes as well.
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Awesome. But we love having you on the
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team here, Courtney. And you know today, October 6th
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is National Coaches Day. And so we're celebrating here on
3:52
the podcast, on the Guild Connections podcast.
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What do you, what feelings do you have?
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What do you have to say here on National Coaches Day?
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Well, let me tell you, I've had a few great coaches in my
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career. Actually, how I ended up at
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Pacer was through. Kind of my life path and which
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came from my coaches so I have them to thank for where I've
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ended up in life. So actually I've been thinking
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about this so where so I'm from San Diego I was the two time
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California State camp back in the day.
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My high school coach was Mike Lebow and also Mark Johnson
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which fun fact he lives in Iceland now with his wife.
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He's the guy who had the Superman take off.
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And then I went to college. I went to University of Oregon.
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I then left Oregon and I went and jumped with Mark Vanderbilt,
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who is now the current coach at University of Oregon.
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I'm very jealous. Then I went to San Diego State
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where I was with Rich Fox, and he is the guy who got me to love
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pole ball again. Well, I guess besides Mark.
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But Rich did a lot. He helped me along a far away.
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I actually was going to be a cop because Fox is a cop.
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And he convinced me to go and go into it.
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Ended up having time. Chris Mack out at the training
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center gave me a chance and I actually PRD by a foot and 1/2
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with Chris Mack and so then I no longer became a cop or well, no
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longer wanted to be a cop, continued Cobalting.
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I ended up leaving and I went and trained with Nick Hisong,
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the 2011 gold medalist at Risen Performance in Phoenix.
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And actually, that was where my husband and I started living
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together. So I guess at the time we were
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boyfriend and girlfriend. But then eventually we got
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married. Life happened.
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I was with Nick for about four years and then eventually
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decided, you know what? It was time to make some
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changes. And now I have the best, best
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coach of all, which is Trails, my husband.
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And yeah, that's where I am now. And I've met a lot of good
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coaches along the way. And Brian Carell basically kind
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of started my relationship with Pacer, although I've been a
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Pacer girl my entire life. So yeah and yeah, so that's
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where I am today. You know, Courtney, it's
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amazing. When I hear those coaches, Mike
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and Mark and Chris and Nick, I'm probably missing someone in
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there. You know, those are highly
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impactful coaches that have had a positive impact on young
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people through their entire careers.
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As you look at where your career is today, you're still jumping,
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which is awesome. We love that and supporting you
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and you, you're working on in our customer service team, so
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you're serving coaches around the country.
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Is there a particular, like if you were to jumble them all
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together, is there a particular lesson or attitude that they
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helped you see that helps you today as you serve others and
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continue with your own career? Honestly.
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They basically made me realize that pole vault is only a part
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of life and they helped me become a better person in
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committing to pole vault and basically using that intense
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training. And they kind of helped me
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realize that I can use this in my daily life as well too.
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So like, when I went and started jumping with Mark Vanderbilt, he
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basically just made me realize that pole vault is supposed to
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be fun. Like, that's why we're here and
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even with Trey. So Trey actually made me realize
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something this year. That we don't have to be doing
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this. Like, so he doesn't have to be
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out there. I don't have to be jumping
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anymore. The only reason we're doing it
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is because it's supposed to be fun.
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And so, yes, they've they've given me a lot of life lessons
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along the way. But Trey actually kind of made
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that pretty clear because he was like, I don't have to be out
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here coaching you. I'm just, you're not paying me.
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I was like, oh wait. I don't want you to be mad at
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me. I will.
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I love it. I love it.
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Well, Courtney, thank you for your thoughts and feelings on
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coaches around. You know, as we continue to
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uplift and honor coaches around the country and specifically in
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track and field, it's always great to see not only someone
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who has been coached, but is being coached and continues to
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coach others as well and some of your endeavors as well.
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So thanks for being with us today.
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Yeah, of course. All right, who do we have next
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here on National Coaches Day? Hey, my name is Carly and I'm a
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Pole bolter out of Grand Valley State University and I'm a sales
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Rep for Gill Athletics here. I've been here about four months
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and I'm loving it. Awesome.
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Well, we we love having you, Carly.
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Really do appreciate you having on our team and being our kind
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of our inside pole specialist here at Gill Athletics.
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Today, being October 6th National, I'm going to change it
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to National Track Coaches Day. I need to narrow this down here.
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What does National Track Coaches Day mean to you?
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Yeah, it means a lot. All the way back from when I can
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remember just starting sports. Little League coaches have
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always been huge influence on my life.
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Didn't always start in the Track World, but once I transition
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into that about seventh grade, the youngest you can.
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I mean, all my coaches are so memorable to me.
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I have middle school coaches that would send me postcards
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through my collegiate career. Just saying, like, hey, we're
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watching you. We appreciate you.
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You're such a role model for the younger kids.
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Then when I went into high school, I got a club coach, got
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my high school varsity coach, and just having them follow my
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journey through college and still being present in my
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current life is just awesome. I think the relationships that I
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was able to build with my coaches outside of the trap
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world just means so much that you know your work ethic on the
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track transitions into your work ethic and your personal life and
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your work life. I mean without those mentors, I
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don't think I would be where I am today.
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I know my coaches, all of the coaches over at Grand Valley
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have just made such a huge impact on on so many athletes.
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And you know, they cycle through hundreds of track athletes a
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year and they they always remember your name.
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They they have your phone number, they they never ask or
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question, oh, you're on what team Again, they just always
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know you're on that team in 2022 or whatever it might be.
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So they always make you feel important.
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You know, I'm struck by what you mentioned there, the coaches
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that you may have had for one year or three years or four
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year, you know, different time periods, maybe just the summer
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in the club and how they have kept up with you throughout the
10:27
time. These aren't one and done types
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of folks. These are people that seem to
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like, genuinely care about you and your well-being into the
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future. Oh yeah, you can tell that.
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Well, the coaches that I've been having relationships with don't
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do it just because they it's on their.
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It's on their To Do List for the day.
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They generally want to be there. They generally care about you
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and you know it makes they can see the growth in you and I
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think that's why they still reach out to me.
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We have that relationship because they've, you know, seen
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you grow into a different person and how they've helped have a
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role in that. I love it.
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I love you being on our team and I love track coaches, Vault
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coaches specifically here with you and what the impact, the
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positive impact they make on young people around the country,
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it's immeasurable. Thanks for being with us today,
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Carly. Of course.
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Have a good day. Let's keep moving on with our
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teammates here at Gil Athletics. You know, today we've got
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another one of my great teammates who we got here today.
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Hey, my name is Rob. I'm the West Coast sales Rep for
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Gil Rob. We love having you and we know
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from being a former guest, a past guest of the Gil
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Connections podcast, you're great relationship and history
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with track and field coaches around the country.
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Today is October 6th, National Track and Field Coaches Day.
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What does National Track Coaches Day?
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What does that make you feel? What does that deal for you?
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Well, it just makes me stop and think about all the coaches that
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I've had in my career of running from middle school through
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college and to that really stand out.
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As the first club coach, I had Bill Harbach from the Decatur
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area. He had such energy and passion
12:04
that he brought even to the summer club.
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And he started his coaching in the mid 70s.
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He's still coaching today. I saw him out of the cross
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country meet just last week. That's incredible.
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The other one that comes to mind is my college coach that was Ron
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boss at Parkland and he was on the very beginning of USATF
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education coaching education program and to see how he
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constantly wanted to learn and and get better inspired me.
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And so I that's how I took my USATF classes.
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Was just. By seeing him and knowing that
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he had went through that whole process and all the experience
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and knowledge that he had, when you think back on that passion
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of those coaches, the continual learning from those coaches, do
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you apply any of those examples that they set for you and your
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professional life today? Sure.
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I think you know, to have a great attitude and be positive
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and energetic about what you're doing is really important and I
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think they continue to. To grow and learn and your
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professional life is, is important as well.
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Yeah, that was an easy question for me to ask you, Rob, as I see
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what you do for our coaches around the country.
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You know your longevity is going to be its own history as you
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continue your career here. And then you know you're
13:20
continually learning on how to serve, how to be more of a
13:23
servant leader to our coaches around the country.
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And that just that makes us stronger.
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And so we're just so glad to have you on our team, especially
13:30
here today on National Track and Field Coaches Day.
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Thanks, Rob. Sure.
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Thanks, Mike. Interestingly, throughout our
13:41
entire company here at Gill Athletics, not just sales and
13:44
customer service and whatnot, track and field and track and
13:48
field coaches, their influences felt through all of our
13:51
departments here. And Next up, I've got one of our
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teammates in our R&D area, Mr. Jim.
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Jim, why don't you introduce yourself for us today.
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Hey everyone, my name is Jim Turchin.
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I've worked with GAL Athletics for 12 years in the R&D
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department. I worked on several different
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projects but I always enjoy when I get to work on track stuff.
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I ran for Valparaisi University back in the day after running
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for Batesville High School. I ran for My dad was my coach in
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high school. Shout out to the Bulldogs and
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and ex coach Leo Turchin. We had some great teams back
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then and that really just led to fun and yeah, just good college
14:36
career, very fulfilling. Shout out to Coach Straubel
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there with the the Beacons. Sorry I had to get that right.
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Yeah, I just want to thank both of them, my dad and Coach
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Straubel for instilling, you know, selfdiscipline, hard work
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that comes with being a distance runner.
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Jim, knowing you and having worked with a lot of different
14:58
projects that you've been on, including the new Continuum C5,
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which is quite amazing what you and the team was able to create
15:05
up there in the R&D area. But I've also seen you literally
15:09
with my own eyes, practicing for something that takes a lot of
15:13
discipline, hard work, sacrifice, and that's for an
15:17
upcoming marathon you've got coming on.
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When you think about what your dad you mean what a lineage
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you've had with track coaches, what your dad coached and
15:26
instilled on you in you and other coaches at Valpo and and
15:30
others that you might have had. What's the can you think of
15:33
like, whether it's a funny saying or an example of a time
15:40
that they, you know, really had to pick you up and and help you
15:43
understand dedication in in in fortitude continuing moving
15:47
forward. That's what I think about in the
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marathon. Continue moving forward.
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All right, the first thing that comes to mind is in high school
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my nickname was Shorty because I always took shortcuts in warmups
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and practice and what not just doing the the bare minimum lease
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work, lease work needed to to finish the warmups and what not.
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Like when it came to workouts and races I gave more effort
16:13
but. Yeah, they called me, they
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called me Shorty just eventually just taught me that you know
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it's it's the little things, the little details that you've got.
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You've got to put in the work all the time, the in distance
16:31
running there, there aren't shortcuts whatever you put in is
16:34
what you get out. So yeah, just learning that from
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from them and yeah, just trying to always think back on that,
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think back on. All the miles you've put in when
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the going get stuff. Yeah well I tell you as a
16:50
teammate who counts on you not to take shortcuts and as our
16:54
track and field coaches around the country and the high school
16:57
college level who depend on they don't even know you but that you
17:00
are such a vital part you can't take shortcuts when it comes to
17:03
designing and creating new equipment.
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I'm so just so happy that your coaches were able to see that
17:09
and and and help you understand that early.
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And that's made a lot of people a lot better off, including
17:14
doing yourself. Jim, thanks for joining us here
17:16
today on National Track and Field Coaches Day.
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Thanks, Mike. All right here on National
17:25
Coaches Day. Who do we have next?
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My name is Dean Jordan. I'm from Bloomington, IL and I
17:33
am the construction estimator for the Gill sales team.
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Awesome, Dean, And we're so happy to have you on that team
17:40
as we continue to empower coaches with innovative
17:43
equipment. As we sit here today on October
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6th, National Coaches Day, what does that mean to Someone Like
17:50
You and your athletic and professional background?
17:53
Yeah, I think in all my time, you know, being coached at a
17:58
number of coaches, I think probably the biggest theme that
18:02
I take away from I work with them is being able to.
18:08
Communicate complicated things simply.
18:14
That obviously translates into rears, jobs, family, it's it's
18:20
really, it's been a blessing to be around people that can take
18:25
something that can be really, really, really, really
18:28
complicated and in as simple as one word or a sound or a
18:34
gesture. And make someone else better for
18:38
it, you know, little known fact you were decathlete.
18:42
So I can only imagine being able to take complex 10 events and
18:47
obviously inside of each one of those events there's complexity
18:50
and with the work you do here specifically with our
18:53
construction equipment, so things that go in the ground, a
18:56
lot of complexity, a lot of complexity with the buying
18:59
process as well. How has that simplicity, or at
19:03
least that lesson of you know simple is better than complex?
19:07
How have you turned that into what you do here in your
19:10
professional life with the athletics?
19:12
Yeah, I think it's made me more giving me more of a tendency to
19:18
be able to discern things. You know you're sifting through
19:21
a lot of information and you have to be able to to pick what
19:26
to emphasize, explain to a coach, a contractor?
19:32
You know if you have 30 items on on this big order, you have to
19:35
be able to pick what's important.
19:39
So I I've, I've been blessed with the opportunity to learn
19:45
how to sift through a lot of stuff.
19:48
That's awesome, man. You do a great job at it.
19:50
And you know, no surprise that some of the base of your
19:54
knowledge and skill set came with track and field coaches
19:56
around the country that you've been blessed to be coached by.
19:59
Yeah, definitely. Thanks, Dean.
20:02
Thanks for joining us here today on National Track and Field
20:04
Coaches Day. Thanks.
20:09
All right. As we continue celebrating
20:11
National Track and Field Coaches Day here on October 6th, let's
20:14
get on with our next teammate. Yeah.
20:17
Hey, I'm Clayton Turner. I was formerly on the Gill
20:20
Construction side of things in our company, but now I have made
20:24
the. Transition over to our
20:25
basketball side. I was a thrower at Eastern
20:28
Illinois University and formerly from Tuscola, IL.
20:32
And we're here to celebrate national coaches there.
20:35
Awesome. Clayton, we're so happy to have
20:36
you on the team. I know you're not, quote UN
20:38
quote, officially on the Gill side anymore, but you'll always
20:41
be from your track and field background.
20:43
You'll always be Gill at heart. But honestly, so happy to help
20:46
have you serving volleyball and basketball coaches around the
20:50
country in what you do now on the Porter Athletic side.
20:53
So, just so happy to always have you here.
20:55
So Clayton, it's October 6th. Big day.
20:57
It's kind of like a holiday here for us here at Gill and Porter
21:00
Athletic. What does National Coaches Day,
21:02
National Track and Field Coaches Day mean to you?
21:05
Absolutely. Coaches are the backbone of
21:09
sports. They're kind of the unsung hero.
21:12
I mean, what you see on the field is kind of the embodiment
21:14
of or the track or whatever. Maybe it's kind of the
21:17
embodiment of a coach. What coaches have done for me
21:21
and my life has been paramount. From when I was a little kid to
21:27
when my dad first started coaching me and putting a Gill
21:29
discus in my hand all the way through middle school and doing
21:32
all the little track and field circuits when we are in in
21:36
middle school to high school tryouts and high school meets to
21:41
ended up going up to college ranks every step of the way.
21:46
I've had a coach who has, who has put their athletes at the
21:51
forefront, including myself. It was bigger than just them.
21:55
They they gave their their all to us and taught me life
22:00
lessons. More than than just form or
22:02
technique and a throwing circle on the track.
22:05
More life lessons than anything. And I I wouldn't be where I am
22:09
today. My profession in sports and with
22:11
Gill athletics and Border Athletic if it wasn't for the
22:14
coaches along the way. You mentioned you used a very
22:18
strong word there, Paramount. That's a big word.
22:21
That's not just big and a great that's paramount and it all goes
22:25
back to your dad being your coach and that's awesome that
22:28
that was one of your that is your first coach and all the
22:30
coaches along that you've had in your career.
22:33
Can you, you know, as you think back to that and the careers
22:35
that you had in the career you are in now with us here at
22:38
Gillham Porter Athletic, could you imagine where you might be
22:42
if you didn't have track and field coaches that poured into
22:45
you? Absolutely.
22:47
Not really. Really.
22:49
The first boat of confidence I got as a freshman in college St.
22:52
Chapman the throws coach Drake he probably has no idea that he
22:56
made such an impact on me. But he looked me one day at
23:00
practice when I was kind of down on myself and he really just
23:02
pushed me and says I see something great in you like why
23:04
don't you see it yourself. And just kept pushing me and
23:06
pushing me and pushing me and that's why he's been so so
23:09
successful at Drake. He just, he just knows how to
23:13
how to work with young athletes and really get the best and the
23:15
most out of them. So really, really without that I
23:18
probably wouldn't have done five years Eastern Illinois and maybe
23:24
wouldn't have pursued a a career and track and field equipment
23:29
and basketball equipment and all this good stuff Gala before has
23:31
to offer. You know Clayton, you may you
23:36
give us a good reminder there. You said maybe Zayn doesn't even
23:41
know the impact he's made on me. So I'm going to challenge you
23:44
and I'm going to challenge our listeners and I know you know
23:46
we're we're here celebrating you right now because 99% of you
23:49
listening right now are track and field coaches.
23:52
And this whole episode is about thanking you and being grateful
23:55
for you and letting you know how much we care and how much you
23:58
mean to us. I'm going to challenge you just
24:00
like I am my teammate Clayton here.
24:03
Let's not have any coaches that built you up that mean the world
24:07
to you be walking around right now without knowing how much
24:11
they mean to you. So I'm going to challenge
24:13
Clayton, get a hold of Zayn and just just a simple text e-mail.
24:17
It doesn't have to be this big thing.
24:19
Just let him know. Say hey man, was thinking about
24:22
you today. We were doing a promo for
24:24
National Track and Field Coaches Day and boy, you made a big
24:27
impact in my life and I'm so grateful for you and you
24:29
listening right now. Press pause on the podcast and
24:33
go. I know there's a coach that
24:34
impacted you. Go make sure that they know what
24:37
they meant to you and what they've done to build you up.
24:40
All right. Thanks, everybody.
24:41
Thank you, Clayton. Appreciate you so much for
24:43
joining us here on national track and field coaches there.
24:46
Absolutely. Thanks, Mike.
24:46
Thanks everybody Throughout Gill Athletics.
24:52
You know us as a track and field company and that's what we're
24:55
here for. Today on National Coaches Day is
24:57
for you, the track and field coach.
24:59
What you might not know about Gill is our sister brand
25:03
manufactured right here. Same people, same great facility
25:07
here in Champaign, IL. Also produces Porter athletic
25:10
basketball and volleyball equipment.
25:12
And you know what? Track coaches have an impact on
25:14
their side of the world too. So help me welcome a great team
25:18
of mine. Mr. Don.
25:19
Don, why don't you introduce yourself to us today?
25:21
Sure. My name is Don Wisnaski.
25:23
I work for Porter Athletic Athletics.
25:25
I work in the as a project manager for the construction
25:28
Division. Best job I've ever had in my
25:30
life, man. And we are so happy to have you
25:33
Don. You know, as a friend and a
25:34
teammate of yours, it's just always great to have you in the
25:38
same building as me, my friend. And you know, you mentioned
25:42
you're in the Porter construction site, so it's
25:43
basketball and volleyball. But wait a minute.
25:46
You've been impacted by track and field coaches through your
25:49
career as well. Here we are on October 6th,
25:51
National Track and Field Coaches Day.
25:53
What does National Track and Field Coaches Day mean to you?
25:57
It means everything to me because track coaches and cross
26:00
country coaches have impacted my life more than I'll ever
26:03
probably know. Started in my 5th grade year.
26:06
I met my then my favorite track coach and cross country coach.
26:10
His name was John Hickey. We call him Coach Hickey.
26:13
Everybody thought he was a mean teacher.
26:15
I learned to to find out that that that that that meanness
26:19
only met discipline and consistency in his classroom and
26:22
it bled over into the the way he coached track and cross country.
26:26
I was a little bit overweight to be honest with you when I I
26:30
started track for him in the 6th grade.
26:33
So he put me on shot put disc and some of the tales of some of
26:36
the the relays with it was with his encouragement and.
26:41
And just talking to him and and running that through my 6th
26:44
grade year. My 7th grade year I was able to
26:46
drop so much weight I dropped about £50 and began my love for
26:50
what really I want to do with his.
26:52
His track program was running long distance and he encouraged
26:55
me and I don't think without his encouragement I would have done
26:58
any of that. I went on to run for him cross
27:01
country in 8th grade. I didn't think 2 miles is
27:04
something I wanted to do, but you know, I was only a miler.
27:07
But talking to him and talking to one, one of the elites at the
27:10
time. They brought me on my 8th grade
27:12
year so and that became the passion of my life running
27:14
across country after that So just just with his direction I I
27:19
learned that you can do anything you you want as long as you put
27:23
your mind to it. You have discipline and
27:24
consistency to do those things. So he was a great mentor even
27:28
when I throw went to high school I I went back to him and and and
27:32
we always look to him for inspiration and advice
27:34
basically. He meant the world to me.
27:37
So, so great to hear what Coach Hickey did for you.
27:40
You know, I hear words like, you know, hard work, dedication,
27:44
encouragement. Do you use?
27:47
Do you draw from Coach Hickey's mentorship to you in your
27:52
professional career now long past?
27:54
We're long past high school and middle school nowadays.
27:57
Do you still draw on the lessons that he was working to teach you
28:01
back then? Oh, tremendously glad you
28:05
brought that up because he was the first coach that would
28:08
actually during and I and I found this out during cross
28:10
country. He would run every training
28:12
course with us. Everything we did, he did.
28:15
And it was at that moment that I learned that if you're going to
28:18
ask your team to do something, you better be prepared to do it
28:20
yourself too with them. So yeah, I I learned so much
28:24
from you, man. It's leadership first and
28:28
foremost is what I hear, Don, when you talk about Coach
28:31
Hickey. And that's exactly what we think
28:33
of our track and field coaches around the country.
28:36
So Don, thank you for being with me today as we celebrate
28:38
National Track and Field Coaches Day today.
28:41
You're welcome, Mike. Thanks, man.
28:46
Again, you know, as we look at our entire company, Gill
28:49
Athletics with track and field and maybe you don't know, but we
28:52
certainly do. Our brothers and sisters on our
28:55
blue side, our Porter Athletic. And I've got another member of
28:59
our Porter Athletic team who has been positively impacted by a
29:02
track and field coach. Paul, how about you start by
29:05
introducing yourself, please? I'm Paul Moggett.
29:08
I'm a sales engineering with the Porter construction division
29:13
and. Background in architecture.
29:17
Played some college football, but more importantly, I ran
29:21
track and field in high school. Awesome, Paul and we're we're so
29:25
glad to have you on the team. It's October 6th.
29:28
It's National Track and Field Coaches Day.
29:30
What does National Coaches Day mean to you?
29:34
Well, I reflect on my old high school track coach, Vic
29:37
Jennings. He was also my football coach.
29:40
He's in the Illinois Football Coaches Hall of Fame.
29:44
But more importantly, he was the single track coach that we had.
29:50
We had 20 some boys athletes and he was a technician.
29:57
He knew everything about each individual sport he was or event
30:02
he was old school discus, shot, put hurdles, pole vault.
30:07
We sent kids to state and pole vault all the time.
30:13
He was a real technician. I did not have to worry about
30:18
what I was going to be doing at each track practice because he
30:21
had an index card ready for me. Depending on where we were in
30:25
the season and what I needed to do now, I was I hurdled both
30:31
high high hurdles and 300 meter hurdles, which are two
30:35
completely different races, but he trained me for both.
30:40
In the offseason, I went through strength and conditioning and
30:44
built up my core for football, and it coincidentally helped me
30:50
with my hurdling. I became a stronger hurdler.
30:53
You mentioned the technical side of coach and even down to.
30:56
I love that visual of the the index card of what practices
31:01
today for the hurdlers or for you individually.
31:03
Is that where, you know, I've worked with you on several
31:05
projects here, Paul. Is that where you get your
31:08
technical and time management and just an organization from
31:12
that seems like a basis for? Exactly that.
31:15
That's absolutely true. I knew when I went into practice
31:20
that I was going to be doing distance workouts because I was
31:24
a 400 guy, a 300 guy. But I was also. 1-10 guys.
31:29
So there were days that I focused on, you know, short
31:32
spurt distance work or Sprint work.
31:36
And then there were days where I ran a lot of four hundreds.
31:41
You remember those days? Yes, but but I was also.
31:45
I had rhythm, so I was able to count my head when I ran the
31:47
hurdles. I had my steps down for the 300
31:51
meter hurdles, 25 steps to the first hurdle followed by. 1515
31:57
And then slowly by the last two hurdles, you're just trying to
32:00
survive. So yeah, my goal was to survive
32:04
just the entire race. There was no, no count structure
32:06
for me. You know, Paul, you've had an
32:09
amazing lineage through that track and that actually
32:12
continues today. The track's not done for you and
32:16
your family. Your son's actually running on
32:19
the next level. He is.
32:20
He's at Illinois Wesleyan. He finished his senior year, he
32:25
finished fifth in both hurdles and he's got a little setback.
32:30
He had an ACL tear, so he may be ready for outdoor season this
32:35
year, but he's making major strides.
32:39
So no. Really exciting.
32:41
Yes. No, no pun intended.
32:44
I've got another son that coaches track and field and he
32:49
follows the same. Technician type approach.
32:55
He tries to learn as much as he can about every event so that
33:01
he's competent when he teaches these young athletes.
33:05
What a great example of the positive impact that a coach
33:08
made on you, continues to make on your family and continues to
33:11
make on your children as they run track in college and coach,
33:16
track and field man. Paul, that is amazing.
33:18
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us here today.
33:22
Well, thank you and stay tuned. And it's me.
33:25
I'm going to wrap it up. I'm the anchor leg on this.
33:27
So stay tuned for my thoughts on National Track and Field Coaches
33:30
Day. Thank you to all my guilty mates
33:35
here. You know, former athletes,
33:37
coaches that have just been molded by high school and
33:41
college coaches around the country.
33:43
The positive impact that you make on a daily basis is
33:47
immeasurable. And before we get out of here,
33:50
you know, I had to represent my coaches here on National Track
33:54
and Field Coaches Day. As I think about the many
33:56
coaches I've had for as bosses, as coaches of my cell phone, I
34:00
was a an athlete. You know, there's not many
34:04
people who have the impact on me from family and friends and
34:09
coworkers and bosses like my track coaches that I've had.
34:12
I'm just so grateful for the time, energy and money that they
34:17
put into me and my wellbeing and their person.
34:21
First type of attitude towards me.
34:24
And thank goodness that they were filled with grace that they
34:30
had the ability to see past my mistakes, my errors, my errors
34:34
in judgment and gave me that second, third, heck, who are you
34:38
kidding 4th, 5th, 6th chance that I needed to become the man
34:41
that I am today. The father, the husband, the
34:44
sales professional, the track advisor, the track coach
34:48
advocate. I'm just so grateful for
34:50
everybody that's poured into me and just want you to know the
34:54
reason we put this together this year here on National Track and
34:57
Field Coach's Day. You just need to hear.
35:00
You need to hear with the impact that you make on people around
35:04
the country. Every one of your athletes, many
35:07
of them are not going to become professional athletes, but
35:10
they're all going to become moms and dads, business owners,
35:14
teachers, head coaches. They're gonna follow in your
35:17
footstep and the impact that you have made on them throughout
35:21
that process as you have coached them, advised them, mentored
35:25
them, taught them well. That's what makes great people
35:29
in society and that is the impact that you make on a daily
35:33
basis. And we're just so grateful here
35:34
at Gill Athletics for all that you've done, all that you will
35:37
continue to do, and all that you have done for the amazing men
35:41
and women, boys and girls that participate in this awesome
35:44
sport. So today, October 6th, our hat
35:46
tips off to you. This day, and every day is for
35:49
you to say thank you, to be grateful to you and just express
35:53
our love for being a track and field coach.
35:56
You could have been a lot of things and we're just so
35:57
grateful that you chose track and field coach.
36:00
Have a great National Track and Field Coaches Day here on
36:03
October Six.