Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / BONUS: Jim Sprecher at 2024 USTFCCCA LIVE interview!

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BONUS: Jim Sprecher at 2024 USTFCCCA LIVE interview! · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

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  Bonus time every year at the USTFCCCA convention down in
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  December, we do a live podcast event where we sit down with
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  coaches from around the country for 5:00-ish minutes and talk
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  about a certain topic. This year, December of 2024, we
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  sat down with coaches to talk about the NCAA, what's going on
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  with the NIL, transfer portal, roster caps, all those kind of
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  good things. And there's some interesting
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  feedback. And tidbits.
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  From everyone who chose to sat down with us.
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  So here we are, the audio version of that.
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  You can catch the video version over on YouTube.
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  Just search up the GAL Athletics podcast and look for our live
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  events content and you'll find the three that we've done
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  20/24/2023 2020 2 and we'll do it again in 2020. 5 All right,
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  we, you know, we basically just have the same people over and
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  over again. He was going to talk without a
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  microphone. I know how how he operates.
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  You got to get a little bit closer here.
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  Yeah. I love it.
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  I love it. Start out by introducing
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  yourself, please. Jim Stracker, I'm the director
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  of tracking cross Country at the.
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  University and I had the same issue last year speak up just a
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  little bit for me. I use your like command coach
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  voice here for me. All right, let's redo that my
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  name. Is Jim Stracker.
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  I'm the director of Tracking Field on the cross country at
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  the University of. Washington, I love it.
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  My favorite thing when I came to visit you.
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  It seems like many, many years ago, because it was before
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  COVID, the the the Virginia's for lovers sign that you guys
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  had on middle of campus. And then I'll never get over the
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  way your track is set up to where you have like, I think
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  it's the sophomore dorms or whatever that just like
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  literally overlook like lane 8. Still one of the coolest, most
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  unique things I've ever seen. I love that.
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  Oh yeah, we're our track is the. Center of a piece of camp?
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  Yeah, for any kid. That goes to any class or any
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  activity on camp. That's so cool.
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  I love that. All right, so this year we've
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  got a theme of what we're asking each guest that sits down with
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  us. And thank you so much for being
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  here. You get to take this any
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  direction you want because there's a lot of directions to
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  take here. What's your thoughts, opinions
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  on all this stuff that's going on with the NCAA as it
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  specifically as it relates to track and field?
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  What's what's think what's going on there being.
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  Kind of an old school coach. Kind of breaks my heart that
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  we're getting away from the large.
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  Team right participation part. Of it.
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  It's hard to even imagine that right now.
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  Right, right, right. You could also say we used to be
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  10 and 12, and that has gone by the wayside.
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  Yeah, exactly. And so in some ways, I would
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  hope that to, you know, reflect the number of these conferences
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  that we would go with better, more scoring.
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  Kind. Of similar, yeah.
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  And that way, you know, there was more opportunities for kids
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  to participate, more opportunities for kids to
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  scoring conference championships and then have the opportunity to
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  have larger, more well-rounded teams.
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  So even at the Division Three level, you're not head in the
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  sand saying, oh, this is this is Division One thing.
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  It's not going to affect us in any form or fashion.
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  You kind of know something, you don't know maybe what, but
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  something's going to affect Division 3.
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  Yeah. Do you foresee?
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  I, I believe This is why I'm kind of asking this question.
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  With the roster caps that are coming on the Division One side,
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  there's still, you know, the track and field on the high
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  school when you add boys and girls together is easily the
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  biggest participation sport over basketball, football, etcetera.
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  So there's still a lot of need for college facilities.
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  Do you foresee whether it's larger rosters or even this may
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  seem like a bad, but I don't mean this in a bad way.
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  Higher quality coming right out of high school to you, we think.
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  That's. Going to be the.
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  Case talking to my counterparts in Division Three, even talking
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  to other. Coaches in other sports.
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  Right. And where's that?
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  Opportunity going. To be.
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  Yeah, so it. May be a few.
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  Years, right? Yeah, but.
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  You know, Division Three could really change the landscape.
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  Bro, you have heard me say this a lot of times.
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  Maybe Division 3 has the best coaches around 'cause I know
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  what these kids are at a high school.
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  That's not not derogatory. It's just where we are with our
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  levels. But go look at D3 nationals.
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  Holy cow, you guys are coaching your butts off.
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  I, I, I couldn't coach in that level and I coached in the SEC
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  back in the day. It's unbelievable.
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  What Division Three and all NAIA, JUCO.
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  It's really quite amazing what you guys are getting it done on
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  the track and in the field, man. Thanks to guys like you.
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  That really give. Us the opportunities to put this
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  race for, you know, out. On the platform.
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  Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate that.
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  That means a lot. All right, so we rerun this
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  podcast as we go into next year's convention.
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  So this will someone is going to be listening right now in
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  December of 2025. So we're going to put you on the
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  spot. What's your prediction for
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  something that's going to happen over this track season?
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  You could be it could be Lynchburg specific, it could be
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  world champs. It doesn't have to be.
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  It could be world record. It could be you're going to set
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  your 200 meter. Maybe you are going to set your
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  200 meter score. Record 1 prediction that we get
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  to check next December to see how how good you were or not.
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  Well, I would. Say after last year's Olympics,
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  that's going to be. A hard yeah world.
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  Championship. You know these?
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  Athletes always come to to play crazy.
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  The biggest? Prediction.
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  Is that the disappointment that Noah Miles had?
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  Yeah. So bounce back from Noah.
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  Yeah, OK. And I still think it may be a
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  far. Stretch for some world.
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  Record making 100, but maybe in the two yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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  The right race right off the yeah.
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  And what's interesting, and I love it.
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  I think it's good for our sport is as great as Noah is and
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  that's awesome. He's got some competition.
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  It's not just Noah. There's other people that are
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  running out of their minds and I think that makes Noah better and
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  others better as well. That's a good prediction.
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  We can check to see how well that one is.
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  If he doesn't win both 100 and 200 and a world record, what is
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  it, 19? No.
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  No, 1914 or 19. That's so stupid.
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  I mean, that's just crazy. We remember 1932.
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  Like, like, like we can like know where we were, you know,
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  when we saw. Yeah, that's our 911.
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  Like, where were you, 1932? Oh, I know exactly where I was.
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  I love it. Specker.
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  Thank you so much, man. You know, I've had the great
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  privilege to be able to coach with you in the same athletic
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  department and seeing you go through different schools.
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  And you know, your time at Lynchburg, this is a compliment.
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  You were made to be a Division Three coach and, and some people
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  would take that as a, as a slam. And you know me well enough that
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  I, it's not a slam for me. Your love for athletes, it don't
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  matter if they're running 20 minutes for two miles, 10
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  minutes, 5 minutes. You just love improving young
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  people and, and competing, win or lose, you just love to
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  compete. And I'd love to see that in you,
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  and I'd love to see that in your athletes and your coaching
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  staff. Yeah, you deserve it, brother.
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  Thank you so much. Thanks for being on the show,
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  man. Thank you, brother.
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  Appreciate you. Love you.