by Larry EderTerry Crawford, a long time collegiate coach, member of national coaching Hall of Fame, former Olympic head coach was named as the USATF Director of Coaching by Doug Logan. Logan is working on addressing the need for a stronger coaching education program and reaching out to the 44,000 head high school, college and club head cross country and track coaches and 81,000 assistant high school, college, and club cross country and track coaches across the U.S. Those coaches are responsible for coaching 1.6 million athletes 46 weeks a year, six days a week, two hours, fifteen minutes a day. Add the 9,000 junior high coaches and their 1.8 million kid running twelve week xc and nine week track seasons, and you can see the strength of our sport and the natural farm team we have in this country!
Terry Crawford named Director of Coaching
INDIANAPOLIS – Terry Crawford, a national coaching Hall of Famer, former Olympic head coach and longtime USATF contributor, on Wednesday was named USATF’s first Director of Coaching by CEO Doug Logan.
Among other duties, Crawford will serve as liaison to coaches and the coaching community, oversee USATF’s Coaching Education program; develop a coaching certification program; oversee Team USA coaching staff selection and credentialing; and direct the track & field residence program at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center.
“Without our coaches, our athletes cannot be successful,” Logan said. “Early on in my tenure I recognized the imperative that USATF devote staff and resources to serving their needs. The respect Coach Crawford has from her peers as a coach, administrator and coaches’ advocate will serve her well as we strengthen our ties to coaches and revamp the programs that serve them.”
“I am very excited about this next phase in my career,” Crawford said. “To be able to elevate USATF’s service to coaches, and by extension, to athletes, is something I couldn’t pass up. I am looking forward to being part of this new era.”
Crawford coached at the University of Tennessee from 1974-’84, winning the first national title for any Lady Vol athletic team in 1981. At the University of Texas from 1984-1992, she led the Lady Longhorns to five national championships, including the only women’s “triple crown” in history when Texas won the NCAA cross country, indoor track and outdoor track titles. She has coached at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, as Director of Track & Field/Cross Country, since 1992. In more than 30 years as a head coach, Crawford has coached twelve Olympians.
The 1988 Olympic women’s head track and field coach, Crawford also has served as a national team coach at the IAAF World Track & Field and World Cross Country Championships, World University Games and Pan-American Games. She was a 1996 inductee into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Hall of Fame. That organization in 2008 also established the Terry Crawford Program of the Year Award, awarded annually to the most outstanding NCAA Division I women’s cross country and track & field program, based on the places finish at the NCAA Division I cross country, indoor and outdoor track championships.
She has served as President of the Women’s Collegiate Cross Country Association and as President of the U.S. Track Coaches Association (1999-2001) and is a former member of USATF’s board of directors, as chair of the USATF Coaches Advisory Committee.
About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world’s oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States.
For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org
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