Discussion: What Does Track Do For The Multi-Sport Athlete?

Folks,
Around here, 6th grade is the first opportunity for kids to try many new sports (including track). However, my son's soccer coach is pressing his team not to run track because it is "detrimental to the athletic development of young soccer players." This might not seem to be o-related but, if the coach knew about orienteering, I'm sure he would say the same thing about its conflict with soccer. I know that I've read threads directed toward orienteering juniors where the general AP advice was to try many sports. Can anyone cite articles which speak to the advantages of heterogeneous sports for juniors? I attached an excerpt from one of the anti-track&soccer articles and do somewhat agree with it w/r/t adults but I am not sure that early specialzation must always be right for kids.
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The sport of Track and Field is just like any other sport. It has its own variables, its own type of conditioning, and its own effect on the body. If you are looking to "stay in shape" for a particular sport (soccer for instance) you need to participate in sports that complement your primary sport. For instance basketball and soccer complement each other quite well in terms of conditioning, agility, athletic coordination, etc. Track and soccer however are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Track athletes prepare for a single burst of linear speed or power followed by long periods of rest, where as soccer is a game of continued bursts of lateral, linear and vertical power or acceleration over a long period of time where you seldom get adequately recovered. So one could say track athletes train for maximum speed or power, while soccer athletes train for power endurance, agility and acceleration. To take this one step further volleyball, basketball and soccer are sports that require reaction, power development, quick acceleration, and an attempt to control the chaotic speed of the game. Track is anything but chaotic, and with the exception of reacting to the sound of the gun, there is no reacting to a situation. Track is stereotyped movement, rehearsed situations and precisely timed and measured steps of smooth acceleration. Does that sound like good training for basketball? Good training for soccer?
Track has its advantages. It teaches good top end speed mechanics (running form). It conditions you to run at a higher speed for longer periods of time. And man, it's just nice to get out on that warm track surface in the nice spring day after a long winter. But don't be misled, track may be all of these things but it is NOT a way to improve your play on the field or court.

He's using a very restricted definition of track.

At its simplest, it increases speed, endurance, and power. Which is very useful for soccer (and increasingly so at professional level). Its certainly not detrimental.

Here's a link to an article showing a clear link between endurance orientated track workouts (esp intervals), and on pitch perforamnce. If you sniff around the site, they'll be other useful stuff.

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0674.htm

Hope this helps

There must be a reason the coach does not want him to go for track. One being he might never go back to soccer cause he has so much fun in track.
Two is that he wants your son to continue playing soccer without ever trying anything else. Right now I do not have any access to any articles, but as a PE Teacher and Coach, this soccer coach might seem a little loco. Track is not all about sprints for 10-30 seconds either. There are explosive jumping events, throwing events and long (400 & up) events.
I think you are dealing with somekind of suburban problem that is affects kids decisions to explore other sports that is getting all too common at the high school level. ie club sports year round.
I know you are on the right track getting him to try other aerobic sport activities. Stay with that program and let the kids try as many activities as possible and let them make the choice what sport or sports they want to participate in.

I am not so sure if the coach doesn't speak with some agenda. Having a son who participated in running sports (cc, track) and tried out others (soccer), I felt the coaches are competing for the kids. They fear to ''lose" them to another sport. On the other hand, when my son wanted to play soccer, they were quite clear that he was 'not one of them'. Playing and benching was erratic and unpredictable. Sometimes he didn't play for a whole game (well, of course he was no Maradona or didn't bend like Beckham as a newcomer).

In my understanding the purpose of school sports is to allow the kids as much sport and movement as possible, not to drill them like little pre-selected former East German sportsmachines.

While running has a different movement pattern and rhythm, I think any endurance training helps, even a soccer player. I remember the coach of one of the best professional soccer clubs in Switzerland having his stars run on the "Finnenbahn", a track made out of wood chips in the woods. Seems it didn't hurt the pros to get some running done.

Both for pros and for children it is productive to crosstrain, e.g. to use different muscles, to avoid injuries from the repeated use of exactly the same muscle group. And also, lets face it, soccer players are often highly underconditioned. Exactly for the reason the coach states: Because they think they only need energy in bursts and agility.

It is unfortunate to see this attitude, especially expressed to 6th graders. Oh and by the way, listen to Soupbone (Hi Charlie), he is a great coach!
I know when I was coaching track, the soccer players were good endurance athletes, so I am pretty sure endurance training for track would complement soccer training.
The worst thing here is the soccer coaches attitude........

If everybody ran track as kids, I probably would lose about 50% of my business! 99% of the injured runners I see have very poor running technique and hurt themselves from that repetitive poor stride.
Track teaches them to run properly. Go for it!

Any coach who is discouraging sixth graders from trying new things is a jackass. I'd get my kid away from him ASAP. Sorry for being so blunt, but this attitude really bugs me. Coaches (and some maniacal parents) will say that kids need to specialize young to excel. I didn't start bike racing until I was 15 and certainly wasn't specializing in it until my early 20's, but it was still my living (albeit a sparse one) for several years. During that time I met many other pro athletes who didn't start taking a single sport seriously until their late teens. It's true that the majority of pro's are pretty focused on sports in general by their early teens, but many (if not most) compete in multiple activities until just before reaching the pro ranks.

I second the "jackass" bluntness. This attitude at the 6th grade level doesn't need or deserve further analysis.

"Pressing" the kids to avoid trying other sports is clearly self-serving and out of line.

How bad it is depends on how forceful the "pressing" is. If he's just advising them that maybe track is not the absolute optimal cross-training for soccer, that's not so bad. But if he is really leaning on them, that's ridiculous and shameful.

Interesting that basketball is considered a good alternative activity, considering that the season doesn't have so much of a conflict with soccer...

"We must state, that basketball is indeed very detrimental to soccer. Soccereros should not be exposed to a sport in which the ball is touched with their hands, something which is clearly against the rules of soccer. Only the goalkeepers are allowed to play basketball." Your self serving coach, Heinz the slavemaster.

The excerpt sounds like it's written by a guy who's never run track. He assumes that it's just one continuous movement under predictable conditions. I wouldn't listen to anyone who hasn't tried racing track (especially the middle to long distances). If he had, he'd be aware of the strategies that make a successful race, ie when to accelerate, when to coast, etc.
If anything, more unpredictable exertion like basketball or soccer is worse for kid's development, in terms of injuries and recovery compared to some controlled training sessions offered in track. When i played basketball as a teenager, the hard surfaces killed my knees!
Cross training is beneficial because it relieves some of the muscles you'd use more in a different form of exercise, while still providing the cardio workout you need to build fitness.

Discussions like this help to sharpen my thinking about allowing my children to play and be exposed to as many sports as possible and to be aware of those who are just using my children as a source of income.

My understanding is that soccer players at professional levels have very high endurance capacity so why would running not help. Similiar for Australian Rules players compared to power team sports such Rugby (League and Union), American Football, or basketball. I played field hockey with little off season training and can see that endurance based running would have helped!

The biggest problem that soccer coaches have with track is that it is a gateway drug to cross country, which competes directly for the same high school athletes.

I have encouraged my kids to play soccer (I even helped coach my son's travel team), along with any other sport they desire, with the confidence that they will eventually come around to cross country ;-). So far they are 2-for-2 in high school.

Seriously, I agree that it is healthier to switch things up. I encourage my kids to not do all 3 of XC/Indoor Track/Outdoor Track in Jr High/High School, to give their developing bodies a break from the same old. I do not understand why a soccer coach would not do the same.

Thank you all for the insightful discussion and a few *chuckles*. I especially like the "gateway drug" analogy. Even before I posted this my son had decided to try track. I am just trying to prepare for any backlash that comes when he misses, arrives late or a bit tired to soccer practices. So far, the coach just sent this article to the parents with no additional explanation. I appreciated the assistance finding articles to refute this lopsided evidence. SteveN, I don't know what's going to happen yet but if he pressures them, it truly is "ridiculous and shameful."

I have been a track official for over ten years, and have heard these stories about soccer for almost as long. Some soccer coaches seem to want the best kids to play soccer all year long, and for everyone else to get lost (joining the many who play in no sports at all). I have also seen a few parents push their kids too hard to be runners. Many of the kids who are pushed too hard also join the mob that play nothing. I personally see no reason for anyone to specialize before high school.

I think the real question we should be discussing is: What is the best off-season sport to complement a primary focus on Orienteering?

During the Classic race at the Flying Pig yesterday, bounding down those open leaf-covered hillsides, I had to wonder. What other sport would duplicate that repetitive, stressful, off-balance, varied-footed running required when navigating those long legs in typical ridge-and-valley terrain? I'm not sure that the regular track and field events would be such good preparation.

The coach wants a good evaluation at the end of the year... bonus cash - $500... this will subsidize his vacation trip to Florida.

Often times a Head Coach/Director will evaluate other coaches not even seeing their work. Some coaches get A's, some get B's, some C's and others F's.

This coach is probably using his high and consistent numbers of Soccer participants as fodder.

Illicit drugs would be detrimental.

You have a very smart soccer coach. He is well aware that kids interest in soccer starts to dwindle as youth hit their teenage years. (as numbers clearly indicate) Some teens are even allowed to venture where Mom's minivan doesn't go... such as orienteering, cross country or football.
Speed, endurace, flexibility and strength are essintial in a quality track program. Seems like a knowledgable soccer coach would want this for his athletes?