Vying on professional tracks and fields needs more than talent. To be on track consistently with talent and determination, one needs some support or at least a scholarship and resources. With these bolsters, the NCAA has been working on budding talents in the track and field. It provides mentorship and resources to young athletes in various tiers of the U.S. schooling system. Among them, many notable track and field athletes, like Christian Coleman, Shaunae Miller-Uibo, and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, are now famous sports celebrities. Noah Lyles also signed a contract with the University of Florida for the Gator. However, he skipped that part for better opportunities, just as McLaughlin-Levrone did.

While skipping persists among NCAA athletes, its robust mechanism offers multiple facilities to its future stars. It facilitates various services like enhanced exposure of the athletes and academic support, including dedicated tutoring services. Also, the NCAA has top-notch coaching for athletes and multiple skills and personal growth opportunities. In spite of these privileges, here comes the question. What about the NCAA’s strategy to solve that skipping problem in their prodigies? USA Track and Field President Vin Lananna has something to say about it.

Despite mounting void contracts, USATF President Vin Lananna’s strategy to move forward

In this year’s U.S. Olympic trials, the NCAA collegiate system brought up more than 900 participants. Vin Lananna’s take, which he gave to Citiusmag, said, “All the things that college athletics does, no matter the sport, it teaches grace under pressure, working as a team, dealing with disappointment, knowing how to win, and enjoying the process. It’s something really special.”

Knowing that the system is in the confluence of changes, Vin emphasized the powerfulness of track and field sports, especially for women athletes. “It’s always been a trait of track and field that the women’s 100m runners are just as highly regarded and respected as our men’s 100m runners. Both track and swimming really demonstrate that,” he said.

But Vin has a pretty straightforward strategy for people who do not express the same. To curate the NCAA collegiate system’s potential— ”We need to get out in front of it,” he said in the interview. Dealing with people’s ignorance of the NCAA, Vin expressed his frustration. He said, “It’s frustrating as I hear people talking about how this may not have a dramatic effect on the sport, but I think people must have their heads buried in the sand not to understand what this has the potential to do.” Purportedly, those bumps in the NCAA’s road seem minor when an industrious hand like Vin Lananna puts effort into it. So far, his decorated collegiate coaching career has yielded 11 NCAA titles and 42 conference crowns. However, the present NCAA situation has already marked some dents.

Recent send-offs and the upcoming ones

Despite the potential, the NCAA has gathered many contracts that are now void of emerging track and field athletes. On 100 and 200-meter vying tracks, athletes such as Christian Miller, known as the fastest teenager in the U.S., had skipped the NCAA for her professional running debut. Instead of attending the University of Georgia, he signed a professional contract with the Puma. Another star, Gisele Thompson, ditched her contract with Stanford and joined Angel City FC.

Not only Christian Miller and Gisele Thompson, but many others skipped the NCAA to become professionals in their track and field journeys. But, start with the current American track and field icon—Noah Lyles. In July 2016, before he became the World’s Under-20 Champion, he had skipped the NCAA. There is also Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who initially committed to the University of Kentucky. But, later, she jumped past it and grabbed multiple world records.

These examples show that the NCAA needs to leapfrog to encourage young athletes to continue their collegiate athletic careers. Nonetheless, the NCAA’s fight to bridge the gap is already hinted at by the recognition and willingness to upgrade its policy. Let’s wait for a while to see those changes in the next year.