Four hundred students share the track on a given day after school during the spring.
These students are members of the middle and high school girls and boys track teams, who all use the George L. King track and field for their practices at 3:15 each day. In addition to these four teams, the turf is used by girls and boys lacrosse teams, which are, in turn, forced to practice at 5 p.m. or 7 p.m. to work around the track teams’ schedules.
The scheduling and presence of all of these sports teams can sometimes make practicing difficult for high school students. Freshman Marley Dao finds that her performance as a runner is affected by the overcrowding.
“I feel it’s very overwhelming with a lot going on all the time, and it would be nice to have our own [space] for high school,” Dao said. “It’s an issue because different events are being mixed.”
The track has six lanes that need to be split up amongst all runners for the four track teams. To account for different events such as hurdles, relays, sprinting, and long distance, girls track coach, Ron Porter, points out that scheduling plays a big role in student safety.
“It’s exceedingly crowded on a daily basis, and honestly, I’m not sure how nobody’s gotten hurt by this point,” Porter said, “But we do what we can every day. Coaches talk before practice starts, every day, and we work out what we can.”
Even with the constant scheduling of the lanes, it is still common to hear runners yelling for people to move out of their way as they sprint down the track, narrowly avoiding crashing into the people in front of them.
But why not use a different track for high school students? The answer is not that simple.
“There’s not a lot of space here in order to have another track. So we have to make do with what we have here,” Athletic Director Lynelle Mosley said, “To make it the most convenient, and not to have to bus our kids somewhere else. It’s difficult to make any other places just because we’re very bound into the spaces that we have right now.”
The track is not the only space that becomes overcrowded during sports season. A crowded and overscheduled turf has proven to be an issue all year, regardless of the season. Sophomore field hockey player Kaylin Fava remembers the turf being very busy in the fall as well, as it was used for field hockey, marching band, soccer, and football.
“We just don’t have enough space, the field hockey team is forced to warm up on the sidelines whenever a soccer game goes over,” Fava said.
Student athletes and coaches agree that Strath Haven needs more space for multiple teams to practice. However, there is a lack of creative solutions to this space crunch.
Each opinion represented in The Panther Press is the view and voice of the writer. Opinions, as the selection and curation of content by the editors, do not represent the views of the entire Panther Press staff, the adviser, the school, or the administration.
