Athletes from the West Texas Track Club will get another chance to compete against some of the best in the Region 18 at this week’s AAU Regional Meet.
The three-day meet will begin at 8 a.m. Thursday and continue through Saturday at Ratliff Stadium.
The top six individuals in the running events and top six field finishers as well as the top six relay teams and top three multi-event finishers qualify for the AAU Junior Olympic Games in Des Moines, Iowa.
Athletes from as far as the Texas Panhandle, New Mexico and the metroplex will be expected to compete at this week’s meet.
“It’s a big opportunity especially another opportunity for our kids to be active and participate in a safe and competitive environment,” West Texas Track Club coach Eugene Neboh said. “They’ll also be able to compete against kids from outside of the area that they won’t typically see. We have teams coming from Dallas, Amarillo and Austin. It’s just another competitive environment in which we won’t have to travel very far. It’s a great opportunity to see what the kids have.”
This is the second consecutive year that Ratliff Stadium will be hosting the Region 18 AAU Track and Field Meet.
“It’s definitely a God-given opportunity,” Neboh said. “We’re excited for all the work we’ve put in the leaders so they can see this as a potential destination to promote their products and to also show that we have track athletes out here who want to compete at a high level. We just have to showcase that ability. Not a lot of our athletes are able to travel out of town due to other sports obligations or maybe a financial situation. This is a good way to eliminate those factors and let the kids compete.”
About 115 athletes from the West Texas Track and Field Club will be competing.
“It’s been a good season,” Neboh said who has helped coach the West Texas Track Club over the years along with his brothers. “It’s been an eye-opening season. We’ve had some kids come and go. We’ve had to adjust a little bit. But we’ve had people step up and a bunch of parents who have helped out with the meets as well. It’s a growing and positive experience.”
Boys and girls up to age 18 will be competing at this week’s meet.
Thursday’s running events will begin at 8 a.m. with the Decathlon while the field events will begin with the discus at the same time.
At 5 p.m., the 100 meter preliminaries will begin.
Friday’s events will begin at 7:30 a.m. and Saturday’s events will also begin at 7:30 a.m.
The West Texas Track Club members have been busy competing at different meets this summer with Ratliff Stadium also hosting the Nikolas Moralez Mini Olympics last week.
Next week, Ratliff Stadium will host the annual Dan Cepero Meet.
“It’s not tiring but it is rewarding,” Neboh said. “We had a few students receive scholarships at the Moralez Mini Olympics last week. Just seeing them grow and mature as athletes has been a pleasure to see. Yes, it does get tiring but God has placed us in this area for a reason. If he didn’t want us to do this, he wouldn’t give us this opportunity.”
It’s summer in West Texas which means the temperature will be high each day.
However, these past two weeks have seen triple-digit heat which has made it even more challenging to make sure the athletes are staying hydrated.
“That’s always a challenge, even if it is 80 degree weather with a breeze, it’s still hard to get children to drink the amount of water that they need,” Neboh said. “That challenge only increases with the heat. It can also increase tempers. Kids can get frustrated. That’s when we know we have to be patient. We have a lot of first time kids doing summer track that are still learning the ropes and trying to figure out how to drop their times and have a good meet. It’s always a feat. You can’t force them to do it. they have to want to do it.”
Still, for Neboh, it’s been a fun season, seeing his athletes compete.
“I enjoy seeing the kids with the ‘a-ha’ moments when something finally clicks for them,” Neboh said. “Like when they realize we’re not here for ourselves, we’re here for them and they can see their best interests. I think that’s been the best moment for us so far this year.”
