Track Personalities

I coached basketball for 4 years. Each kid I had was pretty similar, attitude and personality wise. They varied in skill level for sure, but all in all they acted the same. I had a bad apple or two in there, don't get me wrong. But even those kids would respond to things the same as the others.

Now that I've coached track for two seasons, I've really realized the personality differences. It could be that I coach boys and girls now rather than just boys, or maybe that it's on the varsity level whereas when I coached basketball it was 8th grade. I'm not really sure, but either way, track stars are their own breed.

So here we go. I give you the list of track and field personalities:

The Stars: You'll have alphas in nearly everything and track and field is no exception. They are the leaders, both athletically and vocally on your team. They are your captains.

The Assassins: Assassins are silent killers. They keep to themselves the majority of the time. They are very focused or a little shy (maybe both). These types are very common and successful in track.

The Coaches: Very common amongst jumpers and especially pole vaulters. They are always helping each other. They'll even give advice to their competition, which can result in setting themselves up to fail.

The Independant: Not to be confused with Assassins. They are similar to them however. They probably don't have the same focus and intensity as your assassins. Their work ethic varies greatly. They can be lazy or one of your hardest workers who spends time after practice working alone because they may not get along with their teammates.

The Teammate: Teammates are always cheering and rooting for their team. After their events are over, they might even be more excited to watch their teammates compete.

The Aggressors: These are your feisty and angry ones. Very common in your throwers. A lot of these can be on the football or wrestling teams as well. The majority of the time they are males, but I've seen several female Aggresors as well.

The Goofs: The goofs are the ones that are always cracking jokes and making others laugh. The good news is that they are always upbeat and positive. The bad news is that they may not always be the hardest workers. Although that isn't always the case. They may just want to be social while the practice or compete.

This is definitely not all the personalities in track, but it fits most. Eventually I'm going to write something on each personality and share experiences with each.