Professional Discourse Community

 Professional Discourse Community - cross-country coach


The sport of distance running, whether it is cross-country or track, has many components. These components might include training plans, races, strength/conditioning, and recovery. If one is running for an organized team, whether it’s middle school, high school, or college, coaches will be responsible for the following components. Overall, a cross-country coach must maintain an active roster so that a competitive team can be formed. Next, a distance coach should teach all the fundamental aspects of long-distance running. Athletes should learn through daily practice sessions. Finally, a distance coach should conduct and supervise each practice so that each athlete’s performance can be evaluated and developed. Through multiple resources, examples of Swales discourse community characteristics are shown, along with the different aspects of coaching. 

USTFCCCA 

The first source I highlight is the official website of the U.S Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association. This website consists of countless types of information for coaches across the nation. All divisions of Track and Field and Cross-Country are included on the website. The divisions consist of NCAA (Divisions: I, II, and III), NAIA, NJCAA, and High School. What makes the following website so important is that website is used for coaches to register for meets, see results, and check the weekly coaches’ polls for their respective divisions. Overall, The following website is very important for new coaches to get used to navigating. Since the website also helps aspiring coaches find opportunities to coach around the nation. This is done by viewing available positions and filling out applications that are connected to the website. 

RunDoyen

The next key resource is one that is more focused on the athlete’s perspective on coaching. This website helps athletes find coaches or personal trainers that match their style or skill level of running. The following website highlights many coaches from different athletic backgrounds and experiences, from NCAA Division I athletes to runners who have qualified for the Olympics. The website does an excellent job of giving a great overview of each coach's experience and accomplishments. Different types of coaching services and training plans are also offered for athletes to browse on the website. The coaching services offered to athletes consist of both running and nutrition plans. Since nutrition plays an even role when it comes to improving one’s ability to run long-distance races. Training plans consist of a range of distances for runners of all abilities. Distances range from 5K all the way up to Marathon. The following plans also allow a runner to train at the goal time or pace they want to run for that distance. 

MileSplit

The final resource mainly focuses on running at the High School level. The following website is very common in the High School running community. High School runners use MileSplit to check results for races within their state or around the entire country. Using MileSplit, athletes can also watch videos of races from previous meets. Furthermore, in recent years MileSplit has added live-streamed events, so athletes don’t miss the action. As well as helping High School athletes keep track of their results, Milesplit is also very helpful for coaches. As coaches can use MileSplit to keep track of athletes they are interested in recruiting. Overall, the website is a great resource for athletes and coaches equally.


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