Training Environments: Facilities and Leaving Home

THE CREATIVE ATHLETE

Issue 29--More on Training Environments: Facilities and Leaving Home

What About Facilities?

Training facilities often play a role in where athletes decide to train. Universities in particular tend to tout their facilities. "Whoever's got the best facilities has an edge. In recruiting, everybody wants an edge. ... A kid comes in there on a 48-hour visit, he sees you have great facilities and everything, it's impressive," said Dick Foster, then recruiting director at Oklahoma University. (1)

"If you don't have good facilities, you won't recruit well," noted DeLoss Dodds, University of Texas athletic director. (2)

"It's like an arms race. Somebody builds something and you've got to have it, only a little bigger and a little better.

"The physical plant of an athletic program has taken on an important life of its own in recruiting. It's astonishing.

"Schools highlight it so much and drive it home to kids to look at this building or think about practicing in that facility. Everywhere they go, that is pushed hard. And there is always a fear that you might be falling behind," said Jim Epps, associate athletic director at Kansas State. (3)

But there's a lot more to being a successful athlete than state-of-the-art facilities. "The bottom line in all this is that no kid ever committed to a school because they had a great turf, or the best weight room. Chemistry with the coaching staff and the players, that's everything," said Mike Glynn, then director of football operations at the University of Colorado. (4) (Still, to be on the safe side, Colorado built a new sports facility with a 300-seat dining room and fully equipped kitchen, a player lounge and snack bar, a 200-seat amphitheater-style meeting room, a sauna, and an academic counseling area with computer and reference rooms.)

Brian Hoffer, swim coach at the University of Missouri, acknowledged that his school's pool was sorely lacking when compared to other schools. "But I don't want anyone to say Missouri can't produce because of the pool. I don't believe that. Give me some water, and I'll get a kid better." (5)

While training facilities are certainly a factor to consider when picking a training location, they are not necessarily critical to athletic success. Boxers make it to the Olympics from backyard gyms located in barrios. Basketball players make it to top NCAA teams from abandoned playgrounds and antiquated high school courts. Baseball players make it to the pros from tiny towns in the Dominican Republic.

Therefore, picking a training location solely because the facilities are impressive isn't a good idea. In fact, there may be little correlation between the quality of the facility and the quality of the athletes and coaches who use it. Fancy weight rooms and plush locker rooms may be an ego boost, but they don't necessarily reflect competitive spirit. Example:

Sports facilities in Russia are falling apart, yet Russian athletes are still winning Olympic medals. The country was second in the medal count at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics, third at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, and third at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.

Even more remarkable is the success of the Russian ice skaters. Rink conditions are declining rapidly yet skaters are maintaining their previous dominance in pairs and ice dancing while now also excelling in men's and ladies' singles.

Not only are state-of-the-art facilities not necessarily the key to success, they may actually come with some negatives:

1. Athletes may be charged premium prices to train in them.

2. Budgets may be skewed so that more money is directed toward paying off construction costs than toward supporting athletes.

3. The need to cover operating expenses may be so pressing that the facilities are constantly being rented to outside groups rather than being made available to the athletes-in-residence.

What Should You Consider Before Moving Away from Home?

Leaving home is a big and often necessary step. Rarely can an athlete spend his or her entire competitive career in the same place. Examples:

Bryan Berard (the number one NHL draft choice in 1995) attributed his success to playing a year for the Detroit Junior Red Wings of the Ontario Hockey League rather than spending his high school senior year at home in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. (He didn't sacrifice his education, however. He accumulated enough credits to graduate ten months early.) "... I had to move on to make my future brighter." (6) By playing in a league that offered more games and rougher competition, he was able to demonstrate his potential for the NHL.
Jovan Kirovski moved from Escondido, California to Manchester, England in 1992 at age 16 when he was invited to play soccer for the reserve squad of the Manchester United. He left his family behind and attended high school in overseas. "I always wanted to play at the highest level. It was difficult for my parents, and the first couple of months were tough for me. But I didn't have time to get homesick. " (7)

Kirovski was at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics as a member of the U.S. men's national team. He also plays pro soccer in Germany.

Gymnast Mary Lou Retton left her home in Fairmont, West Virginia in 1983 to go to Bela Karolyi's gym in Houston. "I knew if I wanted to have a chance at a medal in the Olympics, I was not going to do it if I stayed at home." (8)

At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Retton won a gold medal in the all-around, silver medals in team and vault, and bronze medals in uneven bars and floor exercise.

The issue is not whether an athlete should move away from home, but when and for what reasons. Some move prematurely and others move without fully exploring options close to home.

The pros and cons of leaving home should be weighed carefully. Points to consider:

1. Homesickness.

Some athletes find being in unfamiliar surroundings very disruptive to their training. Examples:

When 1990 world champion figure skater Jill Trenary was 22, she moved from Colorado Springs, Colorado to Cleveland, Ohio. Her coach, Carlo Fassi, had returned to Italy so she needed to make a coaching change. But in less than a year she was back in Colorado and had ended her amateur career. "I was lonely in Cleveland. It was a new city, a new rink, new surroundings. I didn't know a soul there. I'm tough, but I missed my support group and the surroundings." (9)
Brian Olson (a two-time U.S. judo champion and member of the 1996 Olympic team) was 17 when he moved from his home in Tallahassee, Florida to train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. "It was a tough decision. It turned out to be a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. The first Christmas I had to stay out here away from my family. That was hard -- going through the holidays was probably the hardest thing." (10)
Emma Carrick-Anderson (a skier from Scotland who participated in the 1992, 1994, and 1998 Winter Olympics) spent four years at an Austrian ski school. "At 15 it was tough, going there not knowing anyone and not speaking the language very well. Although I did German in Scotland, and had a six-week crash course before leaving, I didn't understand much of the lessons for the first month. I wondered if I had made a mistake. I was often homesick in the first two years." (11)

Still, some athletes prefer to train away from home. Examples:

Thomas Osano, a runner from Kenya (who was the top road racer in the world in 1993 according to Runner's World magazine), spends time training in Boulder, Colorado. "Boulder training is good. I have most of my time free to train. At home, I'd have to be with friends and family members. My training would be disturbed." (12)
Another runner, Rosa Mota from Portugal (who won the marathon bronze medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics), trains in Boulder for the same reason. "When I'm home, people always want to talk to me, and newspaper reporters always come to my house. Here, I have more time for training, resting and visiting my friends." (13)

2. Expense.

Any change in location is going to involve some expense. It can become substantial if an athlete is boarding at a training location while still maintaining a home elsewhere. Examples:

Mary Lou Retton moved to Houston at age 15. "All of the money for training and expenses and everything, living away from home, came out of my mom and dad's pocket." (14)
At age 16 tennis player Kevin Kim decided to move from Fullerton, California to Tampa, Florida to attend the Palmer Tennis Academy. He had won the 16s Clay Courts national title and felt he needed to train with more challenging competition.

In California he lived with his family and attended public school. In Florida his living expenses and private school tuition ran $32,000 a year. "All of sudden I'm washing my own clothes and I'm eating somebody else's cooking. It's not as good as my mom's." (15)

In 1996 he won the boys' 18 national title. He received a tennis scholarship to UCLA, attended for a year, and then turned pro.

Sometimes when athletes (particularly young athletes) relocate, family members relocate with them. Knowing that their parents or siblings have made such a sacrifice can be stressful for them. Examples:

Gymnast Jennie Thompson (who won the U.S. junior title in 1993 and was fourth at the senior level in 1994) moved to Oklahoma City to train with a top coach, Steve Nunno, in hopes of making the 1996 U.S. Olympic team. Said her mother, Samm (who moved with Jennie while her brother and father remained behind in Texas), "Everything's just real hard now. There have been times I've wanted her to quit. But I've already given it so much, 100 percent, how could I give up now without feeling like I'd failed?" (16)

Thompson narrowly missed making the team, but continues to train and went to the 1997 World Championships.

Another gymnast, Chelle Stack, moved with her family from Philadelphia to Houston to train with Bela Karolyi in hopes of making the 1988 U.S. Olympic team. Three months before the team trials, Chelle wanted to quit, but her mother Carrol said no. She told her, "I put this much time and effort into this and, by God, if you think I'm going to let you quit now, you're crazy. If I have to literally go out there and get up on the beam with you, you're going to do it. If I have to beat you every day, you're going to do it."

Chelle did make the team, although a fall during the compulsories at the Olympics left her and her family disappointed. Said her mother, "We went through everything and this was it? Everybody had thought she was going to be the next Mary Lou, and she didn't even make the finals. There was no glory." (17)

Yet another gymnast, Mohini Bhardwaj, moved from Cincinnati to Altamonte, Florida to train at Brown's Gymnastics, a top U.S. gym. For awhile she boarded with the gym's secretary; then her mother moved to Florida to join her for a final push to make the 1996 Olympic team. "My mom basically sacrificed everything to come down here for me. In a certain way, that puts pressure on me, but I'm also more relaxed now. No way would I be able to get through this without my mom. If she hadn't come down here, I probably would have gone home." (18)

Bhardwaj didn't make the team, but she did go to the 1997 World Championships (where she placed fifth on the vault--the highest individual finish for the U.S.). She attends UCLA and is a member its gymnastics team.

3. Relationships.

Leaving home often means leaving family and friends behind. Examples:

Gymnast John Macready moved from Los Angeles to San Diego at age 14 to follow his coach, who was relocating. In 1993 he moved again, this time to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. "I look back on it now and I really miss my family. I didn't realize when I was leaving that I was leaving for the rest of my life. Now I'm 20 years old. It's not like I can go back and be a kid again." (19)

Macready made the 1996 Olympic team. He continues to train at the Olympic Training Center, attends the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, and went to the 1997 World Championships.

Seventeen-year-old speedskater Kirstin Holum left her home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to train in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in preparation for the 1998 Olympics. Even though she was accompanied by Dianne Holum, her mother and coach, Kirstin still questioned her decision. According to Dianne, "On the rink she said, 'Maybe I should have stayed back home for training. I feel like I'm losing the excitement of sharing this with friends.' A lot of it is Kirstin's personality. She is the kind of athlete who misses her friends. She's more of an outgoing type of person, and school means a lot to her." (20)

Kirstin competed in Nagano, finished the season, then retired from competition to attend art school.

British professional cyclist Chris Boardman (who won a gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the 4000 meter individual pursuit and a bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in the 52 kilometer time trial) leaves his wife and four children behind in England much of the time. "For months of the year I spend two days at home, then go away for nine days, two days at home, go away for 10 days. The children are growing up and I'm not there. They don't wait for me to come home to grow up." (21)
Figure skater Todd Eldredge (who was world champion in 1996) has followed his coach, Richard Callaghan, around the country from rink to rink. He's lived away from home since he was 10. At first he lived with another family; then his mother left her husband and other son behind to join Todd. Said Todd's father in 1991, "We started off as a family of four. It dwindled to three when Todd joined Callaghan in Philadelphia at age 10, and now we're down to two. We're two here, and they're two there.

"People ask me how's his life, and I tell them they know as much as I do. When I get to see him, it's almost like seeing a different person. You know how fast they grow." (22)


1 Rocky Mountain News, November 1, 1991.
2 The Denver Post, October 3, 1994.
3 Omaha World-Herald, September 21, 1997.
4 Rocky Mountain News, November 1, 1991.
5 The Kansas City Star, June 29, 1997.
6 Providence Journal-Bulletin, September 25, 1994.
7 The New York Times, June 29, 1997.
8 Anne Janette Johnson. Great Women in Sports. Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 1996.
9 The New York Times, December 21, 1991.
10 (Colorado Springs) Gazette Telegraph, January 12, 1996.
11 The (Glasgow) Herald, October 28, 1995.
12 The Denver Post, May 12, 1992.
13 Boulder Daily Camera, May 7, 1992.
14 "Larry King Live," CNN, February 11, 1994.
15 Los Angeles Times, October 4, 1994.
16 The Dallas Morning News, October 15, 1995.
17 Joan Ryan. Little Girls in Pretty Boxes. New York: Doubleday, 1995.
18 Orlando Sentinel Tribune, January 25, 1994.
19 (Colorado Springs) Gazette Telegraph, September 12, 1995.
20 USA Today, January 28, 1998.
21 The (London) Independent, June 30, 1997.
22 Los Angeles Times, March 10, 1991.

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