Monday, December 17, 2012

It's December: What am I doing these days?

The semester is over. Final exam week is complete. Our students are home for the holiday break. No practice today. No practice this week. No meet this Friday or Saturday, and none for several weeks. So, what exactly are the college track coaches of the world doing with themselves these days? Good question. Are we living the life of leisure? I cannot speak for my brethren, but I would have to say the answer is probably NO.

Many of my colleagues are down in Orlando this week for the annual national convention of the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Should I be there? Probably. However … I’ve got papers to grade from the two courses I teach in the fall semester. And really … don’t I spend enough time on the road, away from my family? So, I am home. So, what am I doing?

Well, right now, as I write this, I am home with a sick child. A lot of illnesses are circulating through the schools, pretty typical of this time of year. Given that we do not have practice and I do not have any pressing academic obligations today on campus … I am home.

What else is there to do? Plenty …
--Planning for winter and spring traveling – booking buses, hotel rooms, meal money, etc.
--Planning an early 2013 fundraising campaign – if you are reading this, chances are we will hit you up for a donation to your favorite xc/track program! – in order to fund the many trips we are taking, especially in the spring season.
--Updating this blog. Duh.
--Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. It never, ever, ever ends. Emails, phone calls. More emails. More phone calls. Not complaining at all. It’s just relentless, and vital to what we do.
--And oh yeah, Christmas is coming, and we have young children expecting Santa to deliver the goods. Looking forward to it!

In the meantime, because there is not a lot of timely, team-relevant news this time of year, expect some of the posts here to be stretching the topic a bit – whatever’s on my mind. Hope you don’t mind.

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