Monday, September 24, 2018
By Brian Foley, Web Content Specialist
This fall, Milwaukee Recreation continued its youth sports expansion by adding cross country to its middle school sports ledger.
Previously, various groups around Milwaukee organized middle school cross country through a partnership, but by joining the Milwaukee Recreation umbrella, the sport now has the permits, the equipment, and the branding on par with the other middle school athletics offerings. Milwaukee Recreation also provides all middle schools with the opportunity to join the cross country league, something that was not an option prior to 2018.
During last week's meet at Washington Park, hundreds of runners - across separate girls and boys races - participated in the second event of the season with impressive fanfare from family and friends. Milwaukee Recreation hosts seven middle school cross country races throughout the year, with each one listed at roughly 1.8 miles. Nineteen teams and over 300 athletes are registered for cross country this year.
For many of the participating students, cross country provides another outlet to exercise, stay active, and hone their skills before another sports season. But some also recognize the life lessons that come from persevering through a long race.
"[Cross country] teaches you to just keep going, even if you feel like giving up," Humboldt Park eighth grader Eli Jorgensen said.
By promoting and expanding cross country to everyone in the area, the goal of this inaugural campaign with Milwaukee Recreation is to increase the options for young athletes.
"We feel that giving middle school participants more sport options at a younger age will help them develop various athletic skills, which will ultimately make them better athletes as they decide the sport that they want to specialize in," Middle School Sports supervisor Thomas Scholle-Malone said.
There should also be a carryover effect for high school sports. MPS only fields seven high school cross country teams right now, but if more kids are exposed to the sport at an early age, there should be significant growth at the next level as well. Jorgensen and his cast of Humboldt Park cohorts echoed that sentiment, saying they would all like to pursue cross country in high school too.
Though Milwaukee Recreation is only in its first official cross country campaign, the league has already surpassed expectations. "The large number of student participation, coach involvement, and spectator support in the first two weeks has been amazing," Scholle-Malone said.
The rest of this 2018 cross country season is about spreading the word and building a sustainable league for the future. Cross country is also a relatively inexpensive program that requires few resources from each school.
"[We want] to create a middle school cross country league that motivates and prepares our young athletes for the high-level competition that they will encounter at the high school level," Scholle-Malone said. "We also want to show parents, coaches, and schools that their children can become better athletes by participating in more than one sport during the school year."
After just two weeks, it's clear this revamped league is building towards something special. The next five races should be just as exceptional, with many more competitive years to follow.