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NWN helps coaches
Competition, motivation and entertainment - balanced scoring rewards all skills
April 26, 2007
Justina Jassen
Why did Ryan Stanley, coach of the Desert Vista (AZ) Boys, sign up for Nike Web Nationals?
“We saw this as an opportunity to see how we rate against teams from across the nation, that we do not have the opportunity to compete against in person,” Coach Stanley explains.
It’s a good thing he and fellow coach Chris Hanson were curious about where their team stood; the Desert Vista Boys currently lead Nike Web Nationals (NWN) overall with a nearly two-hundred point lead over second place. Coach Stanley’s curiosity about how his team stacks up is a common factor in why coaches sign up for NWN.
“It's great to get a feel for what other teams (outside your local area) are doing,” coach Craig Dunn of Dana Hills (CA) says. The Dana Hills girls are currently No. 2 in the state, while the boys are No. 6 in California and No. 17 overall.
Regional Comparisons Too
Even teams whose strengths aren’t in all 10 events of NWN have signed up just to see where they stack up regionally.
“Our team this year centers around the middle and distance runners. Even though the criteria didn’t really match our strengths, I was mostly just curious how we would stack up,” says Xavier College coach Dave Van Sickle, whose team has participated in NWN for the last three years and whose girls are currently No. 5 in the Southwest region. “I got serious when I saw that a rival team from our state was leading the nation for boys.”
Scoring is more balanced than state meets
The specific events of NWN had the opposite effect for Brenham (TX) coach Trenton Hall. Why did he sign up?
“The scoring system tends to favor a more balanced team than our current Texas high school scoring system, which is relay heavy.” Hall says. The Brenham boys are currently No. 5 overall and No. 3 in the South region.
The concept of the decathlon paired with team participation was why Grant (OR) coach Greg Cotton signed up. Grant’s girls team leads the northwest region and their boys are No. 18 overall.
“I have very large teams, so I wish I could list three or four athletes per event, because that really shows team depth. One athlete can really dominate a team’s score,” says Cotton.
All skills count
From registration onward, one thing is certain: Kids are taking the lead in the excitement and competitive nature of the Web Nationals.
“One week the throwers may shine, the next it’s the sprinters or the distance guys. It brings everyone together when they see how their teammates can help them in a competition like NWN,” Brenham’s Hall adds. “Sometimes they'll ask to do an event again because they thought they could have done better and scored more points for the team.”
“Our star, Kelsey Rubeor, will come up to me after a PR and say ‘That's gonna help on Nike Web Nationals!’ Somewhere in the back of her mind she is getting better to help the team score more points. The kids love to see that they are one of the best and are always talking about needing to try to pick up more points in this or that event,” says Murietta Valley (CA) coach Matt Farmer. The Murietta Valley girls currently lead California while the boys are No. 5 in the state and No. 16 overall.
NWN is a motivational tool
Some coaches use Web Nationals as a tool to motivate athletes to train toward personal records and encourage them to compete.
“We are finding ourselves looking at performances and figuring out how many additional points we will get. We are also finding that we follow the teams we are in competition with and look at their results. It is very exciting to log on and update a performance that brings more points to our total,” says Desert Vista’s Stanley.
“It just adds that much more to a new PR or school record when we see our performances add more points for our team on NWN … Their competitiveness is contagious to the rest of the team and I think inspires them,” adds Brenham’s Hall.
It’s not just the competitive elements that can inspire kids to perform well.
“The kids want to win Nike apparel so they are fired up to accumulate more points,” Farmer says.
Kris Solsberg, whose Lee’s Summit North (MS) boys are ranked No. 1 in the Heartland region and No. 12 overall, uses Web Nationals to bring national-level respect to the sport (at least in his home gym).
“We get to announce at school announcements or pep assemblies where we are ranked in the nation. That provides major PR for the program.” Solsberg says.
Nomatter how big a team is, where their strengths are, or how best they are motivated, Nike Web Nationals provides competition, motivation, and entertainment for coaches and athletes. The three-month long comparisons let participants track each other’s performances and see where they stack up regionally or nationally.
“This [comparison] is something that would be very difficult without a forum such as NWN.” Stanley says.
“As NWN gets larger, it will be a lot of fun to compare your team to others in your state, region, or nationally. It just needs to grow, which it will as word gets out.” Says Cotton.
“Hopefully we’ll see some really strong individual events as the season comes to a climax in May!” adds Farmer.
You can still get in on NWN
It’s not too late to register for Nike Web Nationals! Go to NWN web site to register and to see for yourself who’s ahead in this national competition.
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