Weekend Guest
Patrick Goebel

Running is an individual sport?  No way.  I learned everything I know about teams from my high school running days.  While now football is one of my favorite sports to watch it was a horrible team experience for me in grade school.  I think I got hit in the head with a football at the first practice. My basketball skills weren’t much better.  However, it was my cross country teammates when I was a freshman at Carroll that taught me the power of a team.

Cross country officially scores 5 out of 7 runners on varsity but it takes much more of a team to make a great team.  As a testament to our strength as a team we had 35 members by my senior season.  It was important for us to have depth and competition for those top spots.  We pushed each other very hard at workouts and during races.  No man was ever left behind.  If anyone gave less than 100% you could be sure that someone would pull them up and make sure they gave it their all.

I can remember our senior year in ’88 as we prepared for City, Regional and State having a team prayer service with Fr. Watson and we all took turns lighting a candle and expressing how important our teammate support was to each of us.  When race day came we would put our fastest 7 on the line but the whole team was with the varsity in spirit!  As anyone that has raced knows there are those times in the middle of competition when a runner doubts his strength but I never wanted to let my team down and knowing my team was there with me I would push through even stronger.  Those shared thoughts during that service had a profound effect on my mental ability to run.

We would also run in packs and take out our competition one person at a time!  When other teams would see us coming and get passed by a pack of Carroll runners they would just fold!  It was the power of teamwork that started a string of City League Championships for Carroll.

Every good team needs a coach!  I was blessed to have Larry Dostert as my coach.  Carroll was very fortunate to also then have Winston and then Fernando as coaches to keep the intensity and the tradition alive!  To this day I always make sure I have a coach for my faith, home and work.  Life is like a race and we are all teammates.  Everything I have helped accomplished has been through the power of a team.  Today I feel like I am giving back by being a coach to my kids both at practice and at home.  I want them to run the race of life to achieve their goals.

It has been fun to watch the impromptu team form through the dailymile web site.  It is the accountability and camaraderie that has propelled me to come back from my injury last fall and get back into running shape.  I love those Saturday morning runs.

I would encourage anyone reading this that feels the same way to take a moment and thank a coach and/or their teammates for helping you become a better you!  I know every time I see the team pictures I am reminded that together anything is possible!

Track season is upon us here in Kansas.  I’ve coached middle school track and field for many years and get excited each time we near the first week of practice.  We’ve had one parent meeting already with another tomorrow night.  If the first meeting was any indication, we should see close to 100 kids this year.  The growth of track is amazing.  In some areas, girls track has surpassed girls basketball in popularity.  Our Catholic Schools Athletic League  here in Wichita, host 500-600 kids on average, per meet.  I’ll be the first to admit, part of the popularity of track at the middle school level is the social aspect.  Where else can you spend the majority of your day hanging with your friends, experience good competition, and have hundreds of spectators cheering you on?

There’s nothing more rewarding to see kids who could hardly run, jump, or throw nine weeks earlier perform to their full potential.  Our first and primary objective is to build and foster the self-esteem of these young athletes.  Second, is to make sure they are technically sound in their chosen events.  We are fortunate to work with some of our high school programs who appreciate the small amount of re-training they spend on incoming freshman.  Third, is to help them realize that hard work, leadership, and dedication has its own reward – success.

Confidence is the most important quality in all athlete-coach relationships. — Frank Stampfl