What to expect from track tryouts and what track tryouts will expect from you.
By Anaya Daniel
At Timber Creek, track and field is a sport several people want to do. “Right now our roster for conditioning is about 80 students but we’re looking to probably have about 100 to 120 and that’s about what we had last year,” said the girls’ track team Coach, Ms. Halsey. Even though they receive a lot of students our coaches are very good about making sure everyone has a fair shot. The coaches try their best to do this and even the students can tell everyone works hard for their spot on the team.
Coach Halsey admits to there not really being a cut. “We technically keep all athletes but we kind of have an A squad and a B squad. So the A squad athletes will be the athletes that compete week to week and our B squad is like our Junior Varsity kids that are building up and have the opportunity to race but will only get the freshman and sophomore races,” Halsey said. This way they can train athletes to work their way up and eventually compete in the more challenging races. She also said during the tryouts that they have everyone try everything. At first this may seem frustrating because you may think you know what you want to do, but this is all for good reason. “We really want to see if someone has a hidden talent that maybe they don’t know they’re good at. This is like if someone tries out to be a runner and they try long jump and turn out to be really great we want to give them that opportunity.”
To get on the track team you have to prepare. Junior Asia Ervin thinks the best thing to do is to hydrate, eat healthy, and think positive.You should also try to think about what the coaches are looking for. Freshman Brianna Wright thinks that they expect “you to do hard work and not limit yourself.” This is very close to what Coach Halsey had to say about what she expects. “Work ethic, consistency, showing up on time and having that leadership quality, we really want to see a dynamic all-around athlete.” So even if you feel that you may not be fast enough by the time tryouts come around “it’s not just about who is the fastest person, but it’s about the quality of work a person is willing to put in and put in as a team effort,” Halsey said. And the students can tell this is what they think is truly important.
Never be worried about the coaches. Even newcomers can tell that they really care about every one of their athletes. “[The coaches] are nice, they have talked to us as a group and to me personally,” Wright said. They also try to be very welcoming during tryouts. “We want kids to come out and say this is a safe environment and their gonna get better if they give themselves the time,” said Coach Halsey. They may be nice but they will also make sure to push you and you the best runner you can be. Ervin explains that “they are a little laid back [during tryouts] because it is such a big group to handle but during practices we break up into groups and they are more strict with trying to get your times down and ready for the races.” We have a great team of track coaches and students here at Timber Creek and they would love for you to join the family.
