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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The Issue At Hand

At Marist, we have a baseball and softball team and a baseball and softball field. Basketball teams and a basketball court. Water Polo and swimming teams and a swimming pool. The Volleyball team has a volleyball court. Our football team, lacrosse team and soccer teams, all have our nice new turf field. Tennis players play on our tennis courts and crew rows on the lovely Hudson river. Even our intramural softball team and club rugby team have a field to play on. That covers every NCAA Division 1 team at Marist....

...Except for the Track and Field team.


Running can be hard to understand. In fact, runners can be hard to understand too, but that is a different topic. The main question most people ask is "can't you run anywhere?"

Yes, technically we can. Our "distance runs" can be on a turf field, the roads, trails, or a track. When we do our daily runs from campus we can and do go out on the roads. However, for a track team to not have a track is like a baseball team having a batting cage, but not field. It is like a basketball team having one hoop, a ball and a painted foul line in the parking lot. It's like hockey without a hockey rink. The fundamentals of the game can still exist, but the specifics don't. It's like eating only a piece of chicken for dinner without any sides. It is the sides that complete the meal.

Picture this: You are a Division 1 athlete and each week in order to get the proper training for your sport you have to go a local high school, or a Division III school just to use their facilities. Not only are you wasting your time traveling back and forth, but aren't you also embarrassed? Here you are, a collegiate athlete and you have to practice at the local high school.

How would you feel? Put yourself in that situation. Would you feel appreciated? Respected?

I don't. I am not the only person who feels this way.

Please take a minute and put yourselves in our shoes.

How would you feel?

You have your main athletic resource...help us get ours.

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