One of the most exciting things during the day for lots of Groton students is putting down their books and heading to the athletic center. Well, in the case of Track and Field athletes, it’s heading to the parking lot next to the athletic center, and a short bus ride to another school’s track. While other athletes have the appropriate resources for practice and games, track athletes must make do with what we have at school. Groton needs a track in order to increase practice productivity, make better athletes, and create equal opportunities for all athletes. 

During track season, the team usually gets on a bus and drives to Ayer Shirley High School for practice, sharing the track with the students over there. This is a 20 minute round trip, which is taken off of our limited practice time. Additionally, sharing the track limits the events we can practice as students from Ayer Shirley may be occupying different parts of the track. If Groton made their own track, our athletes would have more time to practice and would be able to practice whatever event they want. 

Offseason training is crucial to further develop an athlete’s ability. In Track and Field, offseason training is limited: we are unable to practice jumping events, and for track events, we must either run on the grass or on the pavement. This has two downsides. First, grass and pavement conditions are very different from track conditions, which doesn’t allow for as effective practice as that on a track. Second, these conditions also promote injury. Running on the uneven grass this offseason, I suffered an ankle injury, and my friend on track two years ago had a stress fracture from running on the pavement which rendered him unable to play sports for half a year. 

Another reason to build a track is to provide equal opportunities for all athletes. While every other sport has at least one field, the track team has none. This inequity is becoming increasingly obvious as the track team grows in number every year. In the last 3 years, the track team grew from barely 20 to almost 40 students. Such a large team deserves to have equally proper facilities like other teams to practice and compete on.

Having a track would not only benefit track athletes, but also any other student. Just as we have a good weight room for strength training, a track would be a perfect speed or endurance training facility for any athlete. Even non-athletes who just want to get a jog in could also easily use the track.