The East Kootenay Track and Field club has filled it’s board member spots and is looking towards the 2019 season.
New board president Randy Moody says he has been wanting to be more involved in the club for a while.
“I have a long history in track,” he said, noting he used to run track in Lethbridge and attended the University of British Columbia on a track scholarship.
“It’s always been a sport that I am really passionate about … ever since I moved here I’ve helped out at the high school and the middle school in Kimberley, but I wanted to be more involved. It was always regulated to a hobby that I do every spring with the schools.”
The club was looking for new board members this year as previous ones were moving on.
“The time was never right, but the club was really in need of some help. I would hate to see the club die, so I thought we need to be involved and keep this club rolling. The time was just right for me to step in and lend my hand to it,” said Moody.
Cranbrook and Kimberley residents make up the board for the club, which includes parents of athletes and even those, like Moody, who just have an interest in the sport.
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“I’m really happy with the level of enthusiasm that this board and the coaches have for track. It’s a really experienced bunch,” he said.
Taking on the new role, Moody will look to bring his enthusiasm for track and field to the club and help athletes create a greater appreciation for the sport.
“It’s just a sport I’m really passionate about,” he said. “I think I can bring my passion for the sport to these kids and show them just because you’re in a small town doesn’t mean you are at a disadvantage against the big city kids.”
Moody says an advantage of track is it’s a lifelong sport for many athletes.
“You can keep running, you can keep doing all the events in track and field well beyond your youth,” he said.
With spring just around the corner, the board and coaches are looking to expand the reach of the program and will be recruiting athletes.
“We already have a lot of members from last year that are returning, but we are looking to expand that base quite a bit,” he said.
Moody adds they hope to get into training in early April.
“If we are in the snow we will just take it easy and get their muscles ready for when the warm weather hits — because it’s coming,” he said.
The club will run most of their practices on the track at College of the Rockies when the weather permits.
“Early on in the year we will probably bounce back and forth a little bit,” Moody said about practices being in Cranbrook and Kimberley.
“But, definitely once the warm weather hits we will be at the track twice a week.”
Moody says track and field is a foundation sport and a good compliment to athletes in other athletics.
“If you play baseball, football or any of those sports and you can run and jump faster than your next competitor it’s an advantage. It forms a really good foundation for so many other sports,” he said.
While the track season is coming up, Moody stressed it was a relatively short season depending on the commitment.
He says most of the meets are done by July long weekend.
“If they excel and really want to there are always options to extend your season later into the summer, but really we are looking at two to three months of practice then the season is done,” said Moody.
jessica.dempsey@cranbrooktownsman.com
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