Level I Certification

I think how good the school is depends upon the presenters. I had a couple good ones and one mediocre one. If you plan on taking Level II (definitely worth it) then you need to take Level I first.

I went through it this past spring (after being a head track/xc coach for 8 years), mainly because I was more interested in the Level II schools.

I found the biomechanical and physiology background info to be very interesting and hadn't thought of the pure physics involved in many of the events. All of the technique and drills were pretty basic, but easy for me to relate to, and it is always good to hear that you are doing stuff they recommend...it just hammers some of the points home for you.

To me the only negative was it was just a grind getting all the hours in such a short period of time....by Sunday I was losing focus big time.

The presentor will make a big difference. One of ours really was talking about things that were probably over the head of most in the room, but that was good for me.

I was not disappointed that I went through it, if for nothing else to just reinforce things I already knew.

I'm a college coach, and sitting through Level 1 was a bore, until the high school and junior high school coaches started to ask questions. It was amazing. The stuff that they asked.

Chances are, if you're on Letsrun you're a little further along as a coach than the average jhs/hs coach, but many of them are dumb and really don't know.

But Level 1 should serve as a platform for Level 2, which is definitely a good idea.

I presume the stuff they asked was funny? Could you share some examples?

well, it's been about 6 years...

stuff like:

"You mean I shouldn't run my kid in five events in one meet, every week?"

"they shouldn't lift hard after a meet?"

"they need to warmup?"

Truthfully, most of the funny things they said were tragic. But they were funny at the time because they fell so far outside the pale of what most people would think would be proper.

There was one coach in particular that basically went through a total enlightenment during the whole deal. They basically found out everything he was doing was the exact opposite of good science.

Sad. I'm not exagerating at all.

Some of the presenters are worse than the HS coaches you are quoting. The presenters are selected by the local USATF Association, and some Associations are extremely weak.

It's funny, my experience was the opposite. Level I was useless as you said, but my fellow students were largely very knowledgeable. The presenters on the other hand were mostly useless and many incoherent. The scary thing is they were all Div. I coaches. I've learned more watching some high school coaches run a practice than I did in that weekend.

Level II on the other hand was tremendous for me. I did jumps with Boo Schexnayder and Jim (forget his last name) from Miami. If I could consistently work 1/2 of what they presented into my coaching I would never lose another state title. They were amazing. Boo has been great since then too, responding to email questions, usually within a day. I could not urge a serious coach strongly enough to take any opportunity to learn from him if you have an interest in sprints and jumps. Heck, I've been a distance coach my whole life, and often rather arrogant about it, and I found him opening my eyes to some things there just in passing while we talked. Great stuff.

I sat through one in ILL. It was so funny, you could really pick out the HS coaches from the college assistants.The HS coaches all wearing team warmups and posturing around like the shit.

So, go to it, but don't wear you "Peoria North HS" warmup-suit complete with spandex tights.

I had a great L1 experience with none of the college vs. high school BS some of these other folks are describing. Everyone was supportive and congenial. And the folks running it were knowledgeable and helpful. However, I will say that I agree with the earlier poster who stated that the best thing about L1 is it qualifies you for L2. That's where the real action is. Good luck!

"You mean I shouldn't run my kid in five events in one meet, every week?"

Substitute 4 in for 5 and that's what I ran in high school! Was pleasant to be able to concentrate more in college.

Two great presenters:

Oscar Jensen - Throws

http://www.syracusehalloffame.com/pages/inductees/2002/oscar_jensen.html

Ron Grigg - Sprints

http://judolphins.cstv.com/sports/c-track/mtt/grigg_ron00.html

I disagree on one - I didn't like Jensen. I learned more about power lifting than throwing, and he used most of his time patting himself on the back for being a great coach.

therealtruth wrote:

I sat through one in ILL. It was so funny, you could really pick out the HS coaches from the college assistants.The HS coaches all wearing team warmups and posturing around like the shit.

So, go to it, but don't wear you "Peoria North HS" warmup-suit complete with spandex tights.

sounds like it was pretty funny...

except there is no Peoria North HS...

I'm from that area, and know/know of many/most of the HS coaches in the Peoria area from my HS days.

I liked Jensen. Being a high school physics teacher, he was able to explain the physics of the throwing events very well. But I respect your right to disagree.

Who are some other really good presenters people have had in recent years?

I was at a level I where Oscar presented and I wasn't that impressed.

I thought Lori Sheppard did a good job - she's a very good speaker. Loren Seagrave went well beyond the level one curriculam which was nice.

They are good level I instructors and bad ones. Scott Roberts (Iowa State Asst. Women's Sprint Coach) is a very good instructor!

A lot of the Level I school was way over my head because I am a distance athlete/coach and I know very little about sprints. But I am hoping to do the Level II school so that someday I can be a distance coach for a top DI program, so obviously it was important for me to undergo the Level I.

who covered the endurance events at your level I