Folders |
Pro Track Can Learn from High School XCPublished by
Foot Locker 2013: World Class ReunionPublished by Toni Reavis on December 15, 2013 It is all grist for the running mill, this Nike Cross Nationals versus Foot Locker Cross Country Championships debate: Which high school championship is better? Which one will outlast the other? Who wins? Who loses? Goodness me. For as in all things running, it seems, the sport has found a way to engage in an internecine battle rather than work as one to take on the outside world which is where the real fight should be waged. Of course, Nike and Foot Locker were once partners in the Foot Locker Championships until Nike departed to create Nike Team Nationals in 2004 after Foot Locker turned down the offer to add a team element in San Diego. The competition then really heated up when Nike introduced an individual championship and renamed its meet Nike Cross Nationals in 2007. But whichever high school national cross country event you may prefer, NXN or Foot Locker, this much seems true, the sport at the high school level has all the passion and energy that is missing at the professional level. And one important reason is the built-in rooting that comes from a fan-base that is actually attached to the athletes they care so deeply about. As we all can recall, there is never a time in life when the passion runs as deep or is mined as pure as when first you give your heart and soul to “your” team. This connection first emerges around the age of ten when hero worship enters a young fan’s consciousness and he/she becomes aware of the local pro or regional college team that his/her father or mother follows closely. But it is upon entering high school that the attachment takes the deepest root, for this is trulymy team — think Friday Night Lights. From there college fandom takes loyalty to lifelong bond. How many college alum friends first dress their newborns in the jerseys and memorabilia of their alma maters? Read the full article at: tonireavis.com
|