Harrisonburg, VA-I leave for this year’s Annual USATF Coaches Education school tomorrow. I’ll be teaching the Level 1 and 2 biomechanics which is something I always look forward to. What I’m really excited about though is this year’s Level 3 speaker lineup. For those unfamiliar with the USATF’s Coaches Education program, it currently exists as a 3-tier system with Level 1 and 2 being the track and field equivalents of a high school and college education respectively. Level 1is a very general overview of all the events in track and field. In Level 2,students choose an event group (jumps, throws, etc.) and take a much more advanced and in-depth look at the intricacies of the event group. Both of these Levels are curriculum based, meaning they follow a structured curriculum and teaching format. This works great for the purpose of the first two levels.In contrast, Level 3 is much less structured and there is no set curriculum.Instead, the chairpersons for each event select several individuals who’ve distinguished themselves as experts in the particular event group. These experts range from acclaimed sports scientists to the world?s best coaches. Needless to say, the discussion is at a very high level. As I mentioned earlier, this year’s lineup of Level 3 instructor’s is particularly good. Among the notable speakers this year are Tudor Bompa, Dan Pfaff, Vince Anderson, Cliff Rovelto,and Mike Stone. I’m going to try to sit in on as many Level 3 lectures as I can and I’ll be sure to take notes and report the highlights here. Stay tuned….
