High school programs could feel the effects in the future after the University of Delaware drops its men cross country and track programs.
The University of Delaware announced it is discontinuing its mens varsity track and field and cross country programs at the end of this season — they will be re-classified as club sports — claiming the move is necessary to meet Title IX requirements. The jury is still out on whether or not that reason is legitimate, but regardless, the decision has been made and the local track and field community is up in arms.
While from afar it might seem as if this will only affect the program's current student-athletes — who are among the top students academically in the athletic department — the reality is that the majority of Delaware high school coaches in those two sports are products of UD coach Jim Fischer's program.
"Many of us [high school coaches] are involved in coaching today because of the powerful experience we had as track athletes while running for the University of Delaware and coach Jim Fischer," says Tatnall coach Pat Castagno, who was a captain on Delaware teams in the mid 1980s. "Today, many Delaware high school track and cross country coaches ran for coach Fischer and had such an incredible experience that they wanted to continue in the sport and got involved in coaching. Over the past 25 years this influx of UD running alumni into the local high school coaching ranks has fueled an upswing in the level and depth of high school performances as well as an increase in participation in high school track and cross country. These current runners are the future cross country and track coaches of our local high schools.
"The demise of the men's running program will surely have a ripple effect throughout the entire state of Delaware, including a major hit to the future high school track and cross country programs in our area."
I know firsthand from my years at UD as a student and since then as a volunteer in the youth sports community, you won't find a better, more committed person in the world of sports than Fischer, whose 29-year tenure at Delaware is second only to lacrosse coach Bob Shillinglaw (33 years).
Throughout his career Fischer has taken underachieving athletes and coached them to their full potential, never taking the credit he deserved for doing so. In addition, for years he has opened up the UD track to the community on Tuesday evenings and volunteered to lend his advice to local runners, from aspiring marathoners to those just taking their first lap. And I can't remember the last Special Olympics track meet that was run without him at the finish line, holding a stopwatch, blending in with the other officials as if he was a lay volunteer off the street.
But I digress ...
Fischer wouldn't want me talking about him in this column space. That's the kind of man he is. Instead, I'll reiterate how the sport might suffer at the high school level around the state in the future; not because of a lack of talented coaches right now, but because there will no longer be a training ground at UD for the future ones.
The University of Delaware athletic program will survive, just as it did in 1991 when it dropped wrestling, another popular Delaware high school sport.
But only time will tell if the high school track and field and cross country programs will survive once the current coaches head into retirement. I can tell you this, if there's a way Jim Fischer can help the programs survive, he will. It's the kind of person he is.
The University can strip the athletic department of the program and Fischer of his duties as its coach, but what they can never take away is his commitment to the sport and the athletes he has coached, many whom now are ambassadors at the high school level.
Time will tell what the future holds for the track and field and cross country teams at the high schools in the First State. But for 29 years, Fischer has made sure they've flourished.
But I digress ...
Jon Buzby is the sports columnist for the Newark Post, a freelance writer, and on the broadcast team for the 1290AM The Ticket High School Football and Basketball Games of the Week. You can reach him at jonbuzby@hotmail.com.
