The Parents Page is for communication between the parents and coaches and among the parents. I feel very fortunate to be coaching in Bridgeport. The parent support has been outstanding. Twice in my career coaching here the parents have had the track completely redone. First in 1990 we went from 1 1/2 lanes of dirt to a full 6 lane cinder track. Then again in 2001, we replaced the cinder with the current 6 lane polyurethane track. Along with the assistance (food, transportation, meet workers, concession workers, etc.) they provide on a daily basis during the season, these two projects and dozens of smaller projects through the years would never have happened without the tremendous support of you, our parents. You make the difference between our team and every other program I’ve seen very evident. Thank you.
Information for parents of athletes who would like to run in college:
10 responses so far ↓
Beth McCaugherty // September 5, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Every year, I am amazed at how little press coverage girls track receives relative to the boys. Does anyone have a reasonable explanation for this? Our region has produced some outstanding female athletes. Here in Bridgeport, we have every reason to be proud of all our track and field athletes. Of course I am proud of the boys’ many successes, but I am especially proud of the girls, who have produced six state champions to the boys three, in a considerably shorter period of time!
Coach Griff // September 5, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Beth,
I think the reason is fairly simple. I am the boys track coach and I work very hard to promote my team and its athletes. While I do help promote the girls team at times, it is not really my place to do so. Nor do I have the time. I have spent considerable time and effort developing relationships with all of the various media outlets; newpapers, tv, internet, etc. I also place an emphasis on the boys team on both this site and the http://www.BridgeportTrack.com site, which I feel is my perogative since the countless hours I spend on both projects is done free of charge. I do think the girls are very deserving of more coverage and I hope someone with the time, energy and abilty will step up and provide them the coverage they deserve.
Beth McCaugherty // September 8, 2007 at 10:51 pm
Thanks Jon, but I was really referring to the Clarksburg, Charleston and even national papers, etc. I always look for T and F articles in the papers of cities wherever I go and it always amazes me how little coverage T and F gets at all, especially the girls! When I think of the amount of success our regional girls have had in this fairly small area (North Cental WV), I would think that our papers would cover it more. I feel that Jeff does a great job of covering all our kids in local print media, and I certainly appreciate all that you do in creating this site. You have done a lot to further T and F here in our region and not just Bport. Sorry that you misinterpreted what I said in my blog. It was my first one; I don’t think I will ever blog again!
Coach Griff // September 10, 2007 at 10:28 am
I agree completely that the girls don’t receive the coverage they deserve, in fact neither do the boys. T&F doesn’t get much coverage in general in this country. My comments were an attempt to explain that things can be changed. When I started here in Bridgeport there was almost no coverage of T&F at all in this area. I had to work very hard to make what little change you see. To make greater change we need more people working toward that end. Coaches, parents and athletes can all help to promote T&F. You and your family have done much to continue the push toward greater awareness of T&F, and I for one appreciate it.
Coach Griff // November 13, 2007 at 3:47 pm
The parents of Bridgeport CC and T&F distance runners will be starting an off-season running club for our athletes both MS and HS. They plan to meet on Monday November 26th at 3:00 or so for an informational meeting and the kids first workout session. They plan to hold sessions on M-W-F through the end of February. Details concerning supervision, workout plans, WV Flyers practice and competitions, weather issues, etc. will be discussed. I believe that this program will greatly benefit any of our athletes running CC or T&F events from 800m -3200m.
Coach Griff // November 15, 2007 at 9:53 am
Over the past few weeks have spoken with several CC parents and the Cross Country Coaches. We are all in agreement that we need to have at least one home CC meet next year. It is essential for building our CC programs. The main problem we face is finding a suitable location to host the event. In the past we have had meets at Watters Smith State Park. Those worked out well, but I would like to see a location nearer to Bridgeport and the schools. If you have any ideas or would like to offer a possible location, contact one of the coaches.
Coach Griff // November 15, 2007 at 3:59 pm
From Brad Ford:
Dear Parents,
The Bridgeport Running Club will be meeting for their first practice at the
high school track on Monday, November 26. The practice will be from 3:15 PM -
4:30 PM. A parents meeting will be held at 3:15 PM to organize a parents
schedule.
Mrs. Carole Crawford has given permission for the junior high runners to change
after school in the middle school locker rooms.
Have a great day!
Bradley Ford
Coach Griff // November 26, 2007 at 6:20 pm
The winter conditioning club started today with a great turnout. I believe I counted more than 15 athletes in attendance during my brief visit to the track. Of course more would be better. Get out and recruit more athletes to join the program. The parents did meet and set up an initial schedule of parents willing to help. I received the following from Brad Ford:
Some of the parents have volunteered to be present at the club practices.
November 25 Heidi Thorne and Paula Queen
November 30 Maria Voreh
December 3 Annie Sabatino
December 5 Amy Henderson and Paula Queen
December 7 Maria Voreh and Patty Merinar
December 10 Annie Sabatino
December 12 Amy Henderson and Paula Queen
December 14 Maria Voreh and Patty Merinar
December 17 Annie Sabatino
December 19 Amy Henderson and Paula Queen
December 21 Maria Voreh
The Holidays are optional for the runners. Email a club member and get out
and run.
Have a great day!
Bradley Ford
Coach Griff // November 27, 2007 at 8:26 am
The WV Flyers posted the following on their site ( http://www.teamwvflyers.com/ )
Winter Session
First Practice and Sign-up
Sunday, December 2nd, 6:30 pm
WVU Indoor Track
Practices Sunday, Tuesday, 6:30 – 8:00 pm, Saturday 11:00 am
$110 for 3 days, $80 for 2 days
Coach Griff // February 8, 2008 at 10:07 am
There has been a schedule change. The meet originally scheduled at Lewis Co. on April 8th has been moved to April 22. The Lewis Co. track program just hired two new coaches and they along with the AD at the school made the change. So the information in the handbooks is not current. Please make that change.