The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Torrington track has strong turnout, new coach
TORRINGTON — A visit to Torrington’s track last Friday sends a sports writer away with the conclusion, for the 100th time, that high school track and field doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves.
After all, some 120 kids are out there on a chilly day, roughly split between 70 boys and 50 girls. Torrington football coach Gaitan Rodriguez would be ecstatic with that kind of turnout for his team.
Rodriguez, with a growing family, turned over his additional job as head track coach this year so he could spend more time with them, but still shows up Friday “as a consultant,” he grins. “We have 18 or so football players doing track this season.”
New Torrington Head Coach Jon Cahill summarizes the challenges of coaching track and field and, inadvertently, the challenge of giving the team the attention it deserves.
“We have a lot of kids and a lot of different types of athletes. Eight different events with just four coaches. It’s like a circus,” he says. “We’re learning alongside the kids and trusting the upperclassmen as leaders.
“We have students overseeing the hurdles and pole vault today.”
It’s a glimpse at two unique aspects of the sport: By necessity, it thrusts more individual responsibility on its participants, at the same time demanding more attention to basic values of participating in high school sports at all.
“Education is just as important as athletics,” says new Assistant Coach Patrick Anderson, who played soccer at New Milford High School, but learned the lesson late when he missed out on college soccer.
Cahill, a Torrington math teacher for the past five years, honed similar lessons through his own athletic career as an AllState cross-country runner and Nationals qualifier in the 800 meters at Canton High School, followed by assistant coaching stints in Brooklyn and Canton.
“Track is a very accessible sport,” says Cahill. “All you need is running shoes and it’s a great conditioning sport for things like football and basketball.”
Sofia D’Addona is a great example.
“I’m a soccer girl,” smiles the Torrington senior, a center midfielder captain for Torrington’s soccer team, planning to attend New Hampshire’s Plymouth State University in the fall.
Older brother Marco, a soccer player and swimmer at Torrington, is already a freshman at Plymouth State. Sofia fell in love with the school in a scouting trip with him last year.
“I’ve always done soccer, but, if I want to play sports in college, I think I have a better chance in track,” says D’Addona, who throws the javelin and runs the 4x100 relay.
Seventy of Torrington’s 120 kids signed up as sprinters, track’s glamor event, but a sport that finds a spot for everyone can only use so many in a single event or two.
“You have to meet a certain time,” says Cahill. “You can train to be a distance runner and cut off major time with training, but training only does so much for sprinters – like a tenth of a second.”
So, for those without the basic genetics behind their ambition, it’s back to reality and the deeper values good coaches teach.
“We want it to be a program in which you can compete,” says Cahill. “Torrington was fifth in the NVL meet last year and we want to build on that success. We have a lot of kids back, but we also want to build on a reputation for being respectful and good sports.
“High school track is not about building superstars,” he says. “It’s about building a work ethic. In our program, if you miss three unexcused practices, you’re off the team. This is about commitment – showing up, physically and mentally.”
D’Addona hones in on more immediate personal benefits.
“It’s an easy way to make friends and improve your skills as an athlete,” she says. “For girls, it’s part of women’s empowerment.”
It’s all worth more attention.