Since 2005, the nonprofit club Nittany Track and Field (NTF) has been providing boys and girls ages 7 to 18 in the State College area with a positive, fun, and supportive atmosphere for training and athletic growth. “Our mission is to let kids love their sport first of all and to provide supportive environment for them to develop,” said Mark Fedkin, the club’s lead organizer. “We are not excessively focusing on scores and winning—those things come naturally in due time, but we are really focusing on training fundamentals right and creating a positive experience for all our athletes.”

Fedkin got involved with NTF in 2005, its inaugural year. There had been no youth track club in town prior, and he thought his kids would enjoy the training and camaraderie. “[NTF] provided an active environment for them to socialize, learn, and become athletes,” he said. For the past decade, Fedkin has taken on more leadership responsibilities, from coaching to coordinating.

And as his personal journey with NTF has evolved, Fedkin has had the distinct privilege of witnessing and participating in athletic transformations under his own roof. Among the runners he has seen grow and thrive through NTF training and SCASD athletics are his children: “My son is now graduated from college and remains an active distance runner; my older daughter, a college freshman, went on to compete on Penn State’s track team; and my youngest daughter, who is 7, is only starting her track adventure.”

The club encourages kids to set personal goals and develop discipline and techniques needed to reach those goals. Training is suited to all levels of ability and experience. NTF has a summer track and field season and a fall cross-country season every year. Athletes go through structured training and have the opportunity to participate in local and regional meets, including those hosted by Centre Region Parks & Recreation.

Michael Goldfine, an English teacher at State High, has seen the value of this program firsthand. When his daughters were 10 and 12, they reluctantly signed up for NTF. “I really wanted them to be balanced both in artistic and athletic development,” Goldfine said. “They saw themselves as creative and artistic, but not jocks.” Over the years, his daughters continued showing up and cultivated a love for the sport.

“I really believe if it wasn’t for the qualities of Mark’s programs, my daughters never would have discovered the joys and depths of maintaining physical fitness,” said Goldfine. Both girls went on to run in high school and have become life-long runners.

In training with NTF, participants learn the basics—techniques and strategies for improving form, endurance, strength, and speed through stretching, drills, workouts, games, and a cool-down at each practice. Athletes can opt to practice specific events, like long- and middle-distance running, sprints, hurdles, jumps, and throwing. Coaches and volunteers lead different groups, which are broken down by ages.

To Steve Shisler, head coach of boys’ track and field at State High, laying a sturdy foundation is part of what makes NTF an invaluable community resource. “To have kids get exposure to the sport of track and field and cross-country at an early age is very valuable in many ways,” he said. “We teach the fundamentals of not only our sport, but the basic athletic movements—running, jumping, throwing—of all sports, to children at a young age, which will benefit them throughout the entire athletic career.”

Shisler began volunteering with NTF in 2013. “I started my coaching career as the boys’ distance coach at State High in 2011 and felt it was important to try to improve the integration of the youth program in our community with the varsity program at the high school level,” he said.

Fedkin and Shisler agree that the overlapping network that exists among NTF and SCASD track and cross-country teams is advantageous to the State College track community, ensuring the highest quality coaching. “We regularly communicate, exchange knowledge, and make sure that we train kids in the key fundamentals and proper techniques through all stages of athlete development,” said Fedkin. “Club coaches and school coaches mutually volunteer for each other’s programs, so we feel like we work together rather than everyone working in their own backyard.”

In addition to collaborative coaching efforts, NTF’s athlete mentorship allows State High athletes to help out at practices. “The older kids provide their insight as to why the sport is important to them, share their successes, and become role models for those who are there for the first or second year,” said Fedkin. This community service opportunity mutually benefits the mentor and mentee, allowing high school athletes to give back in a practical and meaningful way.

Complementing NFT and SCASD athletics, Centre Region Parks & Recreation gives area kids the opportunity to become acquainted with sports in a supportive environment. Once a year, CRPR offers a local participant program free of charge as part of Pennsylvania Youth Track & Field. Winners from each event qualify for a district meet, and the top three district competitors qualify for the annual state meet.

Additionally, CRPR hosts free youth track meets on Wednesdays in June and July at State High, offering three events for kids ages 5-12. For several years, Fedkin and NTF have helped CRPR host these meets, further uniting groups of athletes in the community.

Jeff Hall, CRPR’s sports supervisor, believes the open track meets provide a helpful introduction for the 60 plus participants who gather each week. “With a free program like this, it allows every kid the opportunity to give the great sport of track & field a try,” he said. “It also gets kids out of the house and away from video games.”

Over his years overseeing athletic programs at CRPR and serving as chairman for the PA Youth Track & Field Program, Hall has witnessed the lifelong impact of these programs on budding athletes. “I’ve seen many kids who participated in our programs go on to play sports at State High,” he said, among these his own sons. “We like to think in some way our programs helped them get to where they are now.”

For Hall, watching kids improve their time and distance, grow in confidence, and learn the importance of maintaining physical fitness are just a few rewards of overseeing CRPR’s youth programs. “We think it helps bring out the best in each kid,” he said, adding that none of it would be possible without the help of SCASD and NTF. 

	Congratulations to State High's Boys' Track Team--the 2016 PIAA State Champions!

It’s no secret that State High boasts standout athletic programs, including successful track and field and cross-country teams. This spring, the boys’ track and field team secured its first-ever state championship. “To see the entire team come together the last weekend in May, and compete at the highest level across the board, is one of those moments that will be remembered forever,” said Shisler, “both for the coaches involved, and, more importantly, for the group of student athletes that etched their place forever in the pages of State College history.”

This victory didn’t just earn the Little Lions a slot in the record books; it also landed Shisler the title of Coach of the Year for boys’ track and field in Pennsylvania during his first year as the team’s head coach.

Even though Shisler works to instill a culture of achievement at the high school level, he sees far more to be gained from participating than collecting medals. “The beauty of track and field is that everyone gets an opportunity to compete and improve,” he said. “There are no benchwarmers in our sport. Kids can learn at an early age that the effort and work they put in to improving has a direct and positive correlation to what they can achieve.”

Shisler added, “This is one of the best lessons we can teach kids, because it has such a strong correlation to being successful students in the classroom and translates throughout the rest of their life.”

To that end, the culture of achievement woven into the fabric of State High athletics, bolstered by the practice-makes-progress philosophy of NTF and CRPR, has created a supportive, interwoven community of athletes pursuing passions on their own terms. “As time passes, it is nice to see kids who once were in NTF continue running, training, enjoying physical activity at all levels, and just staying fit and healthy,” said Fedkin. For some, a competitive athletic career at the high school level and even beyond is part of that journey. For others, friendships and fresh air are the ultimate takeaway. 

 

 

, including those hosted by Centre Region Parks & Recreation.