Elizabethtown vaulters plead their case for new pits

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.etownian.com/article.php?id=1957

Budget cutbacks off-track: an athlete’s plea
Michael L. Mauger
Class of 2010

Thursday October 22 2009

Every school in the nation is feeling the pains of the economic downturn. Some schools are feeling it more than others. Elizabethtown is one college which is getting hit hard. This past summer, every department, academic, athletic and otherwise, was asked to cut its budget by 10 percent. For some departments, like the athletic department, budget cuts are hard to do. I was happy to read that some of these issues were brought to light in the Oct. 1 edition of the Etownian. I was not happy to read that every athletic team was allotted approximately the same amount of money for their seasons. I read this two days after hearing that our beloved volleyball team traveled to compete over fall break.

I read this one day after hearing that my own team, the track and field team, will not be able to host a home meet this year. The volleyball team (many of whom are my dear friends, and I love supporting them at their matches, which are always exciting) flew to Puerto Rico to compete in a tournament, and I, on the track team, won’t even have a home meet?

Ask a soccer player, a wrestler, a volleyball player, a field hockey player, a golfer, a swimmer, a lacrosse player, a softball player, a baseball player, a tennis player or a basketball player how they would feel if during their senior year, their team wouldn’t be allowed to have a home game. I can only imagine their reaction would involve foaming at the mouth, physical abuse and some choice words. Then, tell them it’s because they need new goals, nets, mats, etc., and they can’t get them because it’s simply not in the budget. That’s exactly what has happened with the track and field team. For years, the track team has petitioned to get a new pole vault mat because the condition of the current one has been deteriorating rapidly (due to a lack of an indoor storage facility), until finally, this year, the pole vault mat was deemed unusable in competition because it has been weathered and has become a safety hazard.

I sympathize with the school, the athletic department and the other athletes and teams who are feeling the budget crunch. However, I’ve heard about the budget crunch as it relates to the track team since I got here in 2006.

Etown College’s indoor track and field team has won six of the last seven indoor conference championships. Yet, you’ve never been to an indoor meet. We do not have an indoor track. Sure, we have the two 40 meter sections of the hallway surrounding Thompson Gymnasium where we’re allowed to put down a black mat to simulate the surface of a track. However, for some reason, Messiah refuses to come and run on it. There’s really not much you can do with two 40 meter sections of a hallway, so we usually end up doing our work-outs on our outdoor track despite temperatures often below freezing. That’s of course after we shovel the snow off of it.

I’m used to people asking me a week before Indoor MACs, “Hey, when does track season start?” I’m used to the looks I get when I tell people we’re in season from October to May. I’m used to winning Indoor MACs and having no one there to see it. I’m used to my friends never seeing an indoor meet and hearing our legendary tunnels. All these things only make outdoor season so much better when Etown students, family and friends pack our bleachers and the surrounding hills to watch us win our third straight Outdoor MAC title. It makes competing at home so much more special.

And for this I send out my plea. It is simple. Find it in the budget to order a new pole vault mat for Etown. Don’t do it for me; don’t do it for the track team. Do it for the 47 percent of women and the 53 percent of men on this campus who compete in sports and know the pride an athlete feels when they get the privilege to compete at home. For any athlete, there are few greater feelings than to compete in front of your home crowd and to know that the majority of those watching are pulling for you.

There are few greater feelings than stepping on to your home course, track, field or court and knowing that you have the advantage because your blood, sweat and tears fall on this surface every day of the week. I get that feeling just once every year. Except this year, my senior year, when I won’t get it at all.