Heelan's Green off to camp
By Jerry GieseJournal sports writer | Posted: Friday, July 13, 2007
Tom Green is about to increase his already vast knowledge of track and field.
An assistant girls track and field coach at Bishop Heelan High School, Green will attend a coaching camp that will start Saturday and be held until July 25 in Chula Vista, Calif.
Green learned in mid-June he had qualified to attend both the United States Olympic Committee as well as the USA Track and Field (USATF) Emerging Elite coaching camp at the ARCO Olympic Training Center.
Green sent an extensive resume of his past track coaching accomplishments to be accepted into the camp. Between the 2001-03 seasons, he helped guide McKendree College to two NAIA national indoor titles with 11 national champions and 35 All-Americans.
Green has been on Dan O'Brien's Heelan girls track coaching staff the last three years. He also coaches a small number of athletes on the N4SSC (Need For Sprint Speed Club), most notably Shelby Houlihan, a freshman-to-be this fall at East High School who will compete in the 800-meter run this weekend in the USATF regional meet at St. Paul, Minn.
"The camp gives me a chance to network with other coaches and get a feel for training motives, what they find to be successful," said Green. "One of the biggest mistakes coaches make when getting all of these pieces of information and they want to follow through with workouts, they don't take into account the athletes they train.
"The big thing you have to find out is how to match that with the quality of athletes you're trying to train."
Green has a simple coaching philosophy. Coach athletes in the fashion that you expect to be treated.
An expert on coaching sprinters and long jumpers, Green also tells the Crusader girls they have two major roles, to run fast and to have fun.
The results have been successful. He has helped coach six relays to Class 3A state meet berths in the last three years.
Last season, Jessica Bennett, Mariah Irwin, Michelle Lund and Tayler Jennings combined for a sixth-place finish in the 4x100 relay and Bennett placed eighth in the 100.
Lund has had two straight state appearances in the long jump. She qualified for the Drake Relays in the event for the first time as a junior.
"When you look at high school athletics, your objective as a coach is to find an environment that allows people to grow and have a sense of self-confidence in what they do," said O'Brien. "Tom does an excellent job of preparing the girls physically and mentally.
"He puts them in a position to have success statistically, not only in regards to time, but they always walk away confident in what they have accomplished."
"I'm not here to impose myself on them, I'm there to help them realize their potential," said Green. "You can have all the technical knowledge in the world, but if you can't relate what the athlete needs to do, it won't make sense. My big goal is for them to self-actualize so they know what they need to do. We rehearse it enough. They know what they need to do."
Houlihan qualified for the regional with a first-place time of 2:17.77 in the 800 during the USATF Iowa Association Junior Olympic state meet at Johnston on June. The daughter of former East distance running standout and onetime Olympic marathon hopeful Connie Prince, Houlihan also won the 400 (1:00.50), but she will not run the 400 at St. Paul.
Houlihan is currently ranked eighth nationally in the 800 in the Youth (13-14) division. If she finishes in the top three at St. Paul, she'll qualify for the junior national meet, which will start July 25 in Walnut, Calif.
Green first discovered Houlihan at a Missouri River Runners Club meet in South Sioux City.
"Shelby has the track lineage because of her mom, but her mom is adamant that Shelby will do it because Shelby wants to do it," said Green. "Shelby is quiet, but she is a fierce competitor who has a purpose. You put her on a track, she's there to win. That's the only option in her mind."
Green is also looking out for the athlete's future in terms of collegiate opportunities. It's one of the reasons he started N4SSC, to develop young athletes.
"Tom Green and Terry Sudrla have each grown as coaches with the program and have contributed greatly," said O'Brien. "It makes my job easier. I delegate responsiblity, give them an opportunity to take charge and with that comes accountability in what they do. I have faith in both of them.
"I'm excited to see Tom get involved (in the camps) and I'm anxious to see what comes of it. It's a feather in his cap."
An assistant girls track and field coach at Bishop Heelan High School, Green will attend a coaching camp that will start Saturday and be held until July 25 in Chula Vista, Calif.
Green learned in mid-June he had qualified to attend both the United States Olympic Committee as well as the USA Track and Field (USATF) Emerging Elite coaching camp at the ARCO Olympic Training Center.
Green sent an extensive resume of his past track coaching accomplishments to be accepted into the camp. Between the 2001-03 seasons, he helped guide McKendree College to two NAIA national indoor titles with 11 national champions and 35 All-Americans.
Green has been on Dan O'Brien's Heelan girls track coaching staff the last three years. He also coaches a small number of athletes on the N4SSC (Need For Sprint Speed Club), most notably Shelby Houlihan, a freshman-to-be this fall at East High School who will compete in the 800-meter run this weekend in the USATF regional meet at St. Paul, Minn.
"The camp gives me a chance to network with other coaches and get a feel for training motives, what they find to be successful," said Green. "One of the biggest mistakes coaches make when getting all of these pieces of information and they want to follow through with workouts, they don't take into account the athletes they train.
"The big thing you have to find out is how to match that with the quality of athletes you're trying to train."
Green has a simple coaching philosophy. Coach athletes in the fashion that you expect to be treated.
An expert on coaching sprinters and long jumpers, Green also tells the Crusader girls they have two major roles, to run fast and to have fun.
The results have been successful. He has helped coach six relays to Class 3A state meet berths in the last three years.
Last season, Jessica Bennett, Mariah Irwin, Michelle Lund and Tayler Jennings combined for a sixth-place finish in the 4x100 relay and Bennett placed eighth in the 100.
Lund has had two straight state appearances in the long jump. She qualified for the Drake Relays in the event for the first time as a junior.
"When you look at high school athletics, your objective as a coach is to find an environment that allows people to grow and have a sense of self-confidence in what they do," said O'Brien. "Tom does an excellent job of preparing the girls physically and mentally.
"He puts them in a position to have success statistically, not only in regards to time, but they always walk away confident in what they have accomplished."
"I'm not here to impose myself on them, I'm there to help them realize their potential," said Green. "You can have all the technical knowledge in the world, but if you can't relate what the athlete needs to do, it won't make sense. My big goal is for them to self-actualize so they know what they need to do. We rehearse it enough. They know what they need to do."
Houlihan qualified for the regional with a first-place time of 2:17.77 in the 800 during the USATF Iowa Association Junior Olympic state meet at Johnston on June. The daughter of former East distance running standout and onetime Olympic marathon hopeful Connie Prince, Houlihan also won the 400 (1:00.50), but she will not run the 400 at St. Paul.
Houlihan is currently ranked eighth nationally in the 800 in the Youth (13-14) division. If she finishes in the top three at St. Paul, she'll qualify for the junior national meet, which will start July 25 in Walnut, Calif.
Green first discovered Houlihan at a Missouri River Runners Club meet in South Sioux City.
"Shelby has the track lineage because of her mom, but her mom is adamant that Shelby will do it because Shelby wants to do it," said Green. "Shelby is quiet, but she is a fierce competitor who has a purpose. You put her on a track, she's there to win. That's the only option in her mind."
Green is also looking out for the athlete's future in terms of collegiate opportunities. It's one of the reasons he started N4SSC, to develop young athletes.
"Tom Green and Terry Sudrla have each grown as coaches with the program and have contributed greatly," said O'Brien. "It makes my job easier. I delegate responsiblity, give them an opportunity to take charge and with that comes accountability in what they do. I have faith in both of them.
"I'm excited to see Tom get involved (in the camps) and I'm anxious to see what comes of it. It's a feather in his cap."
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