Wouldn't it be great if we had a fall track season? It would beat the monotony of training day in and day out without anything to look forward to (at least in the immediate future). The key in making it successful would be in differentiating it from indoor and outdoor track season. In fact, in my opinion indoor and outdoor track are too similar as it is and this potentially sets up problems with periodization, makes the sport difficult to understand by casual observers, and because participation is lower for the indoor variation it makes the covered version the bastard stepchild of the two. My proposal for a fall track season would be to make it a giant version of middle school field day. It would include events like softball throw for distance, vertical jump, standing long jump, standing triple jump, overhead back shot throw, between the legs forward shot throw and 10m and 30m dashes (maybe a 40 yard so that we could once and for all put the 'football guys are faster' BS to rest). We wouldn't include any distance events because the endurance athletes already have cross country. Competitors could specialize in one event or compete in all of the events. I'd implement a scoring table where performances were awarded points much like the current decathlon / heptathlon tables. Based on this point system an 'all-around' title could be crowned much like in gymnastics. This would add a definite 'cool factor' to the sport because we'd see throwers, jumpers, and sprinters all competing against one another. Because the events are about low-end power, starting strength, and acceleration ability competitors in the jumps, throws, and sprints would all be able to compete against each other without much without one group really having a distinct advantage. It would be amazing to see the numbers put up by the athletes and I think the general / casual audience would better appreciate how amazing our sports athletes are if they saw them doing activities that an everyday joe can relate to. Another benefit of the sport would be that it would fit in perfectly with most athletes periodization plans because the events would reflect what the athletes are already training for during that point of the year. What do you think?
