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Akxa Alex
Stephen Topf
English 114 B
April 21, 2014
Project Space: Track and Field
Once someone looks at two places they realize there are many different perspectives that
change how a certain person would value things. Values are very important when you evaluate
or examine anything. It determines between success and loss in athletes. Some of the core
categories in values include: self-development, relationship, continuity, and people. The two
places I evaluated was at the track and field during a meet. Even though they were both the same
sport, the main difference is one was during a high school meet and the second was during a
college meet. There were many similarities as well as differences that I was able to see, and
these all related to social influences and other surroundings. Location, money, the spectators, and
other factors influence the way athletes perform at the two different settings, while this is causing
different perspective on certain values.
One of the things I evaluated was the look of the space physically. The college track was
much larger than the high school track; it had much more lanes to run on. The cause of this is
because of money and the location. The high school that I looked at was in Burbank, which is
located right near a main street. This made the track smaller because they had less room to fit
everything while staying close to the standards that are required by the state. The high school
also had to make the stands smaller for the spectators due to the location. Once I examined the
college track I can see that it has many more lanes to run on and is still able to meet the standards
with the state. The location was not much of an issue because they had enough room to put a
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regular size stand. Since I was in the track and field sport before, I was able to see other high
school tracks at different locations. The Arcadia High School track had a track that is similar to
the college one. They were more advanced, meaning they had more technologies and facilities,
which proved why they were number one in the league every year. If the location is good and
advanced then the performance rate is so much higher. The city of Arcadia shows to have well-
established traditions and high standards based on the site www.ci.arcadia.ca.us. Also
mentioned, the Arcadia Unified School District is one of the most highly thought of in the State
too. They focus on education and sports only, while other areas focus on this and other fun
activities. I was able to see how strict and disciplined the coaches and athletes were behaving.
The statistics in track and field show they have been on a 2-5 rage during the seasons and once
they hit finals; they then start to show results that improve to CIF (California Interscholastic
Federation) (www.athletic.net). The location being from an upper-middle class community
played a role in that. This also makes individuals that are trying to achieve in the sport at a slight
disadvantage just because of where they attend school for sports.
Money is another issue once it comes to the space I evaluated. The sport requires
different types of equipment that are really expensive because there are several different events
included in track and field. If you look at the high school equipment, most of them are old and
almost broken. But if the school had enough funding then this would not be an issue. It is also
dangerous for the athletes to be using this because it is a high risk for injuries. These equipment
give the athletes a less chance to perform at their best and show their ability on what they can
improve. College track has made enough money to afford better equipment and you can see they
are in good quality. Athletes in this level are able to give it their all because they know what
they have is the best compared to the ones used in high schools. The reason for why one area is
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able to have the money and the other doesnt is due to how each athletic program is set up. Most
of the high schools get their money from the coaches own pocket, fundraising events, and
parents who donate. But if you look at how colleges get their money for track is through most of
the schools money from the government. They dont have to struggle to buy the necessary items
needed for the sport. And if the college track athletes fundraise then that will only be beneficial
because it is extra money towards the team. Both programs in the two areas are targeted
differently which affects how both are valued.
Another issue related to money is that high school tracks never have a physical therapist
or athletic trainer to help athletes when injured. I personally had to deal with this because I got
injured while pole vaulting and I felt like I was not given the right kind of care that was
necessary. You would think the safety of the athlete is the main thing and concern, but this is not
the case in high school. But if you look at college track they have professional help if anything
goes wrong; they are on the side of the field and ready to examine any injury at any time. Since
the two types of schools have different levels then this issue of money is put into play when it
comes to performances from the athletes.
Even though youre a team in track, the achievements are individualistic. You can get
first, second, or third place. While in other sports its win, lose, or tie. This allows everyone to
achieve a medal if you are in college track which makes you feel more about the effort and time
you put into the sport. But if it is in high school you just get points on a chart that shows you did
well for the effort and time. This does not allow these high school athletes to show their
achievements until they make it to the next level, even if they are just as good as college athletes
that are competing. This makes some athletes not wanting to try as hard, unless they look past
the awards and set a higher goal for themselves. If both the college and the high school track
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team gave the appropriate awards then we would have better performance due to the value that
awards play and the way our minds work to anything in society. Money is also a partial issue in
having these awards. Another point to make is that individual values and group values are seen
in this sport when it comes to winning. The teammates start to cheer for other teammates just
because they both wear the same jersey and represent the same school. But at the end since its
either you win or you lose, then the teammates start to think differently. A team is meant to
function as a whole group but in this case it is totally different. Even though you want them to
do well, you want to do better to a certain point. From personal experience, sometimes the goal
would not be to get first place but rather to beat anybody from Arcadia; this is the case when
cheering for your own team is proud and representing our own school. Overall, personal values
provide an important bridge to team values that everyone can commit to which helps in
improvement and mental ability awareness (Jaffe 1).
The people that are attending to watch this sport are different for the two different
settings. In high school the audiences are usually your family members and friends from your
own school. And in college track meets, there would be more than family and friends. It would
also include officials to see if the athletes can make it big and on to the next level. The number
of spectators also shows a difference because more people like to see college athletes rather than
high school athletes due to the level of performance. Also there are no cheerleaders to support
the athletes; they get support from the audiences and by their own teammates. Sometimes
cheering for your teammates will look fake in this sport because, as said earlier, it is an
individualistic sport. But the level of support is totally different. The values seen through this
are different too. Your family viewing your performance makes a bigger impact than any of the
people, because they are the ones who judge the athlete the most, brag about the athlete if they
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do good and also complain. Overall they have been the main support since day one. If officials
are watching the athlete perform on top of the family too then the athlete can be felt proud of and
show their ability because they know they are good enough for a higher level.
Race is a huge factor that limits performance due to societies influences. This is one of
the similarities that are in both of the settings I evaluated. Some people expect that African
Americans are dominant in most of the running events in track. This is somewhat true to the
way they are genetically and physically born, but this makes the other races feel put down to
participate thinking they have no chance of making it big. But if you look at the event pole
vaulting, there are rarely any African Americans participating and it is dominant mostly by white
people. It is mostly white people because it requires lean muscles and gymnastic abilities, which
most African Americans dont show. For example, Pasadena high school comes from a low
income area of mostly African Americans. They had about 13 athletes on their track team to
nearly 100 athletes on any opposing team, but was able to come close to having a tie overall.
They were dominant in all the running events. If you look at the Olympics, most of the
runners/sprinters are African American, not to mention Usain Bolt, the fastest man in the world.
Research shows that it is due to the VO2max, the ability to take in oxygen at a fast rate. Even if
the race differences that people see in society affects the athlete, there are some athletes that
overcome what society has to say and achieve these goals that are seen specific to certain races.
I have seen that with all the factors listed above, they show why there is a difference in
level of performance for athletes in college and high school track teams. If we eliminate the way
society views these and how we act then we can see the differences in the way athletes start to
think and see better results in the way they start to make their dreams come true. All these values
play a huge role to each athlete and how they work in different settings to succeed.
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Works Cited
"City of Arcadia, CA - Home." City of Arcadia, CA - Home. Vision Internet, n.d. Web.
29 Apr. 2014. <http://www.ci.arcadia.ca.us/>.
Jaffe, Dennis T., and Cynthia D. Scott. "How to Link Personal Values with Team
Values." N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. <http://www.dennisjaffe.com/>.
"Track & Field and Cross Country Statistics." Athletic.net. N.p., 04 May 2012. Web.
29Apr. 2014. <http://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/>.