Andrew D. Guillory – Special to In Motion
Growing up, almost every school that I went to made us go outside in that hot sun and run a few laps on the track, but for the result of making kids active and getting our endurance up.
Both Mainland High School across the street and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University have tracks for their students and community members to use. Why doesn’t Daytona State College do the same for our community?
DSC must invest in a track for students, athletes and the public. Falcon soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball players, among others, can all benefit from the use of a track on campus by holding practices that improve speed and strength for the players.
The percentage of the population of obese adults in Fla. was 18.4% in year 2000. It has now risen to 30.7% as of 2019. How can we help prevent this? We can help do our part with a track. It can give people a start on the journey to a better and healthier way of living. There are even children who are overweight, due to not having somewhere to use their energy instead of staying stagnant and indoors with homework, TV and video games instead of physical activity.
With a track, just as we do the fitness center and pool area, we can charge people for using it and make time windows for everyone to keep it organized. Instead of a membership, there could be an admission fee each time it needs to be used by a team, students, faculty or individuals from outside the school need to use it.
As for the athletes at our school, giving them this feature can provide a way of reducing stress related injuries and tension. It can also help individuals work on attributes such as quickness, speed and agility, those being the main things needed to improve better at sports like soccer and baseball. Getting from one base to the next takes some quick twitch muscles and a track workout would help contribute to the developing of that.
With a track could come a track team. Even more value could be brought to the athletic department with the addition of a track team. If current cross-country coach Judy Wilson became the primary track coach, with her experience and long background, it would give the team and other athletes in need of a second chance the opportunity to run again.
You may be thinking, but where will we put a track? here may be a perfect spot to put it, which is on that old and barely used practice soccer field at the front of DSC. Since it is not being used much now, this would be a good time to start the remodeling process. Based on the measurements (total track length = (2 × 84.39m) + (2 × 36.80m × π) = 168.78m + 231.22m = 400m) of a track and a soccer field, with a few adjustments, it would be a great option.
The new L. Gale Lemerand Student Center that opened last year has brought a lot of students and athletes together to socialize, get work done and play games. A track can bring that energy but with exercise included. With the coming dorms, a brand-new track would be a great addition and make DSC real competition with universities.