DRAFT 4/17/2010
SECTION EIGHT
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
2009-2010
NOTE: In lieu
of a coaches meeting at the state meet, all stakeholders should review the FAQ
section.
?
CONTACT INFORMATION
Greg Wayne, Meet
Director
Alternative Programs
Coordinator
(
(Home) 928-697-8572
COACHES,
I have generated a list of “Frequently Asked Questions.”
Feel free to ask me most anything that pertains to the state track & field meet.
Please note that during the state meet, a lot of spare time is not a luxury meet management has at its disposable.
Thus, I am asking the coaches to read over the FAQ section prior to the meet.
If there is a specific question you need answered prior to the meet, feel free to contact me.
If there is a specific question you need answered at the meet venue, someone will be stationed at the appeals table located near the finish line outside the track that can answer your question.
Please be mindful that I have not addressed questions specific to the venue. Reason being is that when I have done that in past years, Murphy’s Law has manifested itself and modifications have been made by the host institution. Subsequently, I have had to amend my stadium maps and announcements.
Specifics about the venue will be found in your team’s packet upon arrival at the meet site.
GREG
FAQ’s
Greg, why aren’t we
having a coaches’ meeting?
If I had my druthers, I would
have the coaches meeting the night before like most collegiate championship
meets do. But, that wouldn’t work due to
the travel costs and time restrictions the individual schools would face.
Over the years, based on my
experience running the state wrestling tournament and the state track &
field meet—I have found it best to simply spell out the details in the meet
literature and make myself available prior to the meet to answer any specific
questions the coaches may have.
Here are my reasons for not
having a coaches’ meeting:
First—my personal experience
is that with this many schools, it simply becomes a waste of time. The coaches that really should be there aren’t. At the same time, the coaches that have done
their homework and read through all the literature about the meet don’t need to
be there. And, most of the questions
fielded are really best asked one-on-one such as uniform issues, taping
concerns, equipment issues, etc.
Second—I hate to have coaches
arrive excessively early for a meeting that they really don’t need. If we added a coaches meeting, we would need
to add another hour to the schedule—which is long enough at this point.
Third—I saw what a lot of
other states do at their state meets, and many don’t have coaches’ meetings for
the same reasons. Many big meets like
Fourth—trying to find a
suitable venue for the coaches’ meeting is a problem. With 118 schools, we could easily have 200 –
300 coaches. The only rational venue
would be an auditorium or lecture hall—and, that would be a considerable
expense.
Fifth—if the coaches are at
the coaches’ meeting, who is supervising your athletes? There is a considerable liability issue to
contend with.
With that said, I believe the
best meeting a coach can attend to prepare for the state meet is a rules
clinic. This is especially true when 90%
of the agenda and questions & answers session of a coaches’ meeting
pertains to rules.
Greg, will there be
someone to field questions if needed?
Either I, or someone from
meet management, will be stationed at the appeals table. If the person there can’t answer the
question—someone will be found that can.
The appeals table will be
located near the finish line on the outside of the track.
Greg,
why did the
Over the years, if the seven
state championships are examined as a whole, in year’s past the
Subsequently, the
Greg, why didn’t you
formulate a schedule in a more traditional format?
When the
If we used a traditional
model in a two-session format, we would have had to start at 11:30 am on
Friday, and 2pm on Saturday—to conclude by 10pm each night—that is going
straight through with no breaks.
The other option would have
been a three-session format—which would be cost prohibitive.
Coming back on Saturday
morning would have required teams that normally commute back-and-forth each day
to stay overnight in hotels—thus, that would not have been an acceptable
option.
Conducting a session on
Thursday night would have required teams that usually stay overnight to stay an
additional night (as well as additional loss of school time)—thus, that would
not have been an acceptable option.
Thus, I had to think
“outside-of-the-box” and develop a schedule that would meet our needs—even if
that meant using an unconventional format.
Besides travel, the extremely
high temperatures that
Greg, what exactly
are the travel issues that you alluded to?
We have a large number of
schools that are in the geographic position to commute to and from the meet
site (2 – 2 ½ hours one way on a bus) each day.
1A Conference—24 of 48
schools
2A Conference—23 of 42
schools
3A Conference—13 of 28 schools
It is simply out of the
question to formulate a schedule that would require these schools to acquire
10-20 hotel rooms for the night when they have never done so in the past.
To be sure, looking at the
economic situation and the challenges for school administrators when it came to
athletic travel—the mindset for the athletic directors would normally be that
no additional travel expenses would be absorbed by the athletic
department. Furthermore, most schools
have had to reduce travel expenses for athletic events that they have
undertaken for several years now. For
these schools that have never had to stay overnight at a hotel for the state
track & field meet would place an unfair, if not impossible, financial
burden on the respective athletic departments’ budgets.
In order to be able to
commute back and forth each day, the bus driver has to comply with all state
and federal NTSB regulations. By law, bus drivers can only have a 15 hour
day. That means we have to limit the
time at the meet site to ten (10) hours.
If we have teams departing for home at
For the rural schools, they
have budgeted for travel based on previous years. If we had a session on Thursday, that would
require an additional night’s stay. This
would place a financial hardship on those particular schools. Furthermore, it would increase the loss of
school time.
Greg, you have the
meet starting in the mid-afternoon. What
was done to alleviate the issues pertaining to the dangerously high
temperatures?
The distance events aren’t
going to be contested much earlier in the day than in past years—
For years back in the 1970’s
and 1980’s, we always had the prelims start in the mid-afternoon and the finals
in the evening. I wouldn’t anticipate
any real hardship or drop-off in performances for the sprints and hurdles.
For the field events, the
events themselves don’t pose any real issues.
It is the down time for the athletes that pose any real problems. We
will make every effort to ensure there is adequate shade, hydration, etc. We also anticipate that many athletes will
remain on their air-conditioned buses until it is time to warm-up and compete.
Greg, you chose to
continue the practice implemented the past two years of not having prelims and
finals for the relays—what is your rationale for that?
Even though the National
Federation recommends a format that leads to head-to-head competition, it isn’t
required under current NFHS rules.
The data for the past two
years indicate that the seeding has been better than originally
anticipated. I can only recall one
instance where a team that should have been in the last (fast) heat that wasn’t. Most of the time, a team placing in the top 8
that wasn’t in the last (fast) heat was because a team seeded in the top 8 was
disqualified (dropped baton, false start, etc.).
One benefit of using a
timed-finals format is that there are always eight teams placing. With prelims and finals, we had many cases
where less than eight teams placed when a team got disqualified in the finals.
The most overwhelming reason
for not conducting the relays in a prelims & finals format was time. By doing a “finals only” format, 15-20
minutes was saved in the 4 X 100m Relay, and 20-30 minutes was saved in the 4 X
400m Relay. And that is essentially one
hour saved each day, possibly more.
Furthermore, it truly
benefits the student-athletes under the anticipated weather conditions.
Greg, why won’t you
allow schools to provide their own block holders?
At last year’s 1A & 3A
meet, the first day went okay. However,
it became a zoo the second day. We had
to spend more time chasing people off the infield and track that claimed to be
“block holders” than anyone could possibly imagine. And, we had all of the nonsense that went
with it. We had one block holder needing
to take an important call on his cell phone between “on your marks” and “set.”
Thus, absolutely under no conditions will schools be
allowed to provide block holders. All
unauthorized personnel will remain in the stands.
To ensure a smooth running
meet, block holders will be provided.
Greg, the NFHS rules
allow for “coaches’ boxes” for all field events—what specifically are you doing
for that.
Those details are spelled out
in the “Instructions for Field Events.”
Meet management, in
conjunction for ASU facilities management, has opted to only allow coaches to
be present during the warm-up period, up to 15 minutes prior to the start of
that session. With all field events
contested on the infield, coaches have to remain outside the fenced areas once
the session starts.
Greg, you chose to
have the prelims and finals the same day for both field events and track
events—what is the rationale for that?
For the field events, the
data showed no significant discrepancy between performance with the field event
finals the same day or the next day. We
opted for the prelims and finals the same day because…
For the track events, a
traditional format wasn’t going to work.
By doing the prelims and finals the same day it addressed several issues
…
Greg, what inspired
you to use a “gender-alternating” format?
In
I looked at 20 or so
different state meets. Some states have
just one state champion—like
I contacted Donnie Nelson at
the NIAA. They have used their current
“gender-alternating” format for 12 years.
It has worked very well for them.
Thus, adapting their model to
Greg, it would be the
same amount of time using a traditional format versus a “gender alternating”
format. Why not go that direction?
Greg, exactly how is
this three-session format going to work?
For the track events--each of
the three sessions will start at the scheduled time; then, the meet will be on
a rolling time schedule through that particular session.
For the field events—each of
the three sessions will start at the scheduled time. If any of the field events are behind
schedule to the point of where they encroach the other session—then meet
management will simply conclude the event as quickly as possible and give ample
warm-up time to the athletes in the next session.
Under no circumstances will the session start
early. Field event athletes need to
report no later than 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. Track event athletes need to report no later
than “report call” to the bull-pen.
Traditionally, the only
events that should take more than 2 ½ hour would be the pole vault and high
jump. However, meet management has put
in starting heights that are reasonable without diminishing the quality of the
competition. Considering the fact that
this will be the only field event contested for this gender & conference
during this session, and looking at previous years, it is anticipated that the
events should conclude within the 2 ½ hour allotted timeframe.
Greg, why the three
session format each day—why not just go straight through?
With the pole vault and high
jump, the wisest course of action would have been to start at
To ask the officials to work
straight through for 7-8 hours each day, in extreme heat under a blazing
sun—that would simply be too harsh.
By having a 15-30 minute
break the officials, spectators, and athletes would all have an opportunity to
find some shade and cool-down a bit, use the restroom, get something to eat and
hydrate.
This would also allow for any
contingencies such as an equipment failure, lengthy discussion over a
disqualification, and it would give ample opportunity to have the awards
presented for the field events.
I would hate to see parents
come and see their child participate in let’s say the shot put at
This also helps the teams
with just a few athletes. If that team
has no athletes in the first session, the coach can plan the team’s travel to
arrive later. It would be frustrating to
have to arrive at
Greg, you addressed
the needs of the small teams, but what about the teams with large numbers—how
does this schedule help those teams?
Normally, large teams have
more coaches. Hence, the distance coach
can stay at the hotel (or school, or the mall) and bring those students competing
in the second session at
Greg, there have been
issues in the past where athletes have been held in the bullpen far too
long. What is being done to alleviate
that?
The past two years, I have
prepared an 80-100 page script for the announcer. Each event will have what comes down to seven
calls:
Our goal is to have the
athletes in the bullpen for no more than 10 minutes. The relays may take a bit longer due to the
nature of check-in process, uniform inspection, etc. Meet management is cognizant of the fact that
the athletes don’t need to be delayed at the bullpen unnecessarily.
Here are some things that
help expedite the process.
NOTE: An “event” in this case is separated by
gender and conference. So, the 1A girls
100m dash is one event, the 2A girls 100m dash is another event, and the 3A
girls 100m dash is still another event, so on and so forth.
Greg, why do all track
event athletes have to go to the awards area prior to exiting the track?
To keep the meet running
smoothly, athletes must go to the awards area immediately after completing a
track event:
Greg, what other
possible formats could be considered by the
I always look at meets from
the following perspectives:
What all the various ideas
thrown around to boil down to three formats (not used by the
Two huge, dominating factors
in any decision for the state meet here in
As an administrator and an
official, I like the one state champion format.
But, it isn’t fair to the kids.
All the other sports have a state champion for each conference. So, it is bad for the parents, coaches, and
athletes.
The idea of all the state
meets at one venue looks great on the outside.
But, we would need a 10,000 seat venue with plenty of parking,
restrooms, etc. That facility simply
doesn’t exist in
As a coach, athlete, parent,
and athletic director—I like the idea of having each conference using their own
venue like
Thus, at this point—taking
into consideration all of the constraints it is faced with—I believe the
Greg, why wouldn’t
the idea of having each conference at its own venue on Friday and then coming
together for the finals on Saturday -be considered?
That was tried in 2001 with
the 2A at
The biggest problem was the
mobilization of the officials and meet workers.
On both nights, people were being grabbed out of the stands to help work
the meet. There were other problems as
well such as data management, awards presentations, relay cards, etc.
For the 2009-2010 state meet,
this idea was brought up as a possibility in our preliminary discussions and
meetings. After examining all the fine
details—it was thought best to not go in this direction.
Greg, what will
happen if the meet doesn’t go well?
Every year, the
Three years ago, we had the
infamous late-night on Friday. To be
sure, we had meets when the 2A and 3A ran together go past
Since every problem tends to
be unique, all that I can say at this point is every problem will be closely
examined.
Last year, we encountered the
following problems and what we decided to do to correct it:
So, after the meet—I will
take a look at all of the little reports and take corrective action. If drastic measures need to be taken—I will
talk it over with the
Greg, how did you
become the 1A-2A-3A State Meet Director?
I spent my high school years
in
I walked on to the
cross-country and track teams at the
My philosophy as a coach was
to build a program through a wide variety of means. At both Amphi and the U of A, it was stressed
that we were in the entertainment business and had to put forth a quality
product. So, I always made it a big
priority to host good quality home meets.
In 1997, I was asked to be
the athletic director at
Throughout the course of an
academic year, it is quite common for me to run the Lynx at 20 meets between
the collegiate indoor, high school, and even some junior high meets. It is a common occurrence for me to serve as
the meet director for 10 of those. Thus,
at this point, I feel well versed and comfortable in this position and the best
part being associated with so many good quality folks. I have been able to work with so many
outstanding people, all the way from junior high meets to D1 – it truly has
been a blessing.