Dads Run The Extra Mile

This season the CB Cross Country dads have taken the Falcon runners to the next level.

The cross country dads have become more involved this year than they have ever been before. One “team mom” is actually a dad and another is the assistant “team mom”. Michael Sparks, Ryan Wong, and Stu Wiseman have especially stepped up.

Mr. Sparks and Mr. Wong help with organization and Mr. Wiseman has become almost a coach this year in his help running practices. The dads are really instrumental in the cross country program.

Whether it’s encouragement after a tough practice or advice during a race, the cross country dads do it all.

The head coach of cross country, Mr. Danny Delgado (’79) is grateful to the dads for really stepping up this year and at times acting as stand-in coaches.

“With such a large team and not many assistant coaches, the help of the dads really makes practices run more smoothly”, says Coach Delgado.

Even with all of the positives to having more help, it’s not always easy for the dads.

Coach Delgado knows from the experience of coaching his own kids that sometimes it’s hard to separate kid from sport. His advice to the cross country dads is to “always have the kids’ best interests at heart”, a piece of advice which the dads always follow.

Mikey Sparks (’16), is one of the few on the team who has a dad helping out. According to Sparks, the dads make sure the runners are all ready for races and that they stay on task.

“I know my dad especially tries to be as involved as possible in the training,” Mikey says with a smile. “He likes to be a part of cross country and is very serious about our success.”

All the runners on the team feel the impact that the dads make, even if their dad is not involved.

“The dads make practices more fun,” Reagan Tweedy (’16), points out. She thinks that the dads bring a positive element to the team because they are supportive in a different way than the traditional cross country coach.

Motivating and always armed with a positive comment, the cross country dads have certainly made a huge impact on the team.