Indoor Track: a Northeast and Mid-West Phenomena

by JY Harris, Sr.

            Indoor track is primarily associated with the Northeast and the Mid-West in the United States.  I lived in Massachusetts when my children were growing up and indoor track was a major sport from youth through college and open competitions. Most of the New England Colleges and many of the high schools have indoor tracks. Of course, the severe winter weather in New England makes it essential to have indoor facilities in order for track and field athletes to prepare for the outdoor season.

            When I was in high school in the fifties in New Jersey, I remember running in the Inquirer meet which was actually held outdoors on a board track at that time. In college at Rutgers, we practiced outdoors on a board track and all meets were outdoors on board tracks. Major national and international competitions at that time were held at the Boston Garden, Madison Square Garden, and in Chicago. In those days, the tracks were primarily ten laps to a mile. Today major meets are almost exclusively run on banked 200m indoor tracks.

            Today, the youth in the Northeast have great opportunities to participate in indoor competitions. In New England, there are meets with youth competition almost every weekend. In New York, the MAC association of USATF runs the most extensive youth program in the country at the Armory starting in December with competitors from Pennsylvania to New England having an opportunity to run on possibly the fastest track in the world. The Long Island association USATF also hosts a youth indoor series at local college facilities. The Colgate Palmolive Corp. hosts their annual indoor series for girls and women at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn with series finalists competing in Madison Square Garden at the Millrose Games.

            The Mid-Atlantic association USATF holds a very competitive youth series at Lehigh University Field House and a number of youth events are held in the Potomac Valley association USATF in Virginia and Maryland. Both the AAU and USATF hold Indoor Youth Track and Field Competitions in the Mid-West.            

           In my research for youth indoor meet schedules, it is obvious that few if any  youth indoor meets are held in the south and west. These areas are fortunate to have weather suitable for practice and competition outdoors while the northeast is buried in up to three feet of snow.