Williams Track Team Hosts Program for Kids
 Williams College track and field athletes work with local children at last year's 'My First Track Meet' event. |
So it won't.
Instead, men and women from the college track team will help run a special event for Berkshire County kids aged 5 to 10 on Friday evening from 5 to 7 p.m.
Though it is billed as "My First Track Meet," the program will be less about times and distances than having a good time and learning long-term life skills.
"It's not really a meet," Williams women's track coach Nate Hoey said this week. "It's really a youth athletic outreach program.
"The hope is to share the passion for living a healthy lifestyle — tied in to the track and field theme. It's almost more of a clinic type of a setting."
Williams athletes will run a series of stations where they either will teach skills (like hurdling or long-jumping) or discuss topics (self-esteem, nutrition) as the youngsters rotate through.
Hoey, who is in his second year at the college, ran a similar event last year on a Saturday morning. He moved the event to Friday evening this year in order to avoid conflicts with activities like youth soccer.
"Last year, we had 10 or 11 kids who did," Hoey said on Wednesday afternoon. "We've already had 25 pre-registered for Friday night."
Hoey modeled the program after one he ran at Washington & Lee University, his last coaching stop before Williams.
"I introduced the idea to our [Williams] team members, and they were excited about it," he said. "It's a fun event for them to be able to share, teach events to the younger kids and have fun with it."
Registration for the event begins at 4:30 on Friday. In the event of rain, it will be held at the Towne Field House.
Tags: track & field, Williams College, youth sports,
