Where the Parents are Benchwarmers : Northridge Pacers Track Club Gives Youngsters Chance to Run

In Little League, he’s the designated out. The one who bats ninth in the lineup, if he bats at all.

If it wasn’t for a rule that said he had to play a certain number of innings, he might never make it out of the dugout.

But there are no benchwarmers on the Northridge Pacers Track Club.

For the Pacers, the emphasis is on individual achievement, rather than team performance.

Originally known as the Northridge Knights, the Pacers were founded in 1974 with the concept of letting youngsters have fun and compete at their own pace.

“What’s nice about track and cross country is that you don’t find these kids sitting on the bench while the other kids play,” Club president Sandy Smith said. “I don’t care if you’re the slowest runner on the team, everybody runs.”

The Pacers’ cross country season began last week and will continue through the end of October. The club will practice at Cal State Northridge until its first meet Sept. 21. It will then practice at Limekiln Park in Northridge for the rest of season.

The Pacers Club is part of the eight-team Valley Youth Conference, which participates in The Athletic Conference (TAC) and American Athletic Union (AAU) meets on a local, regional and national level.

Pacer runners compete in five age groups: Gremlins, ages 5-7; Bantams, ages 8-9; Midget, ages 10-11; Youth, ages 12-13 and intermediate, ages 14-15. In track, the participants take part in three running events and either a relay or a field event.

The 150 club members are divided into varsity and junior varsity divisions.

The track and cross country seasons culminate in the Individual Event Championship Finals. For junior varsity runners, the season ends with the Junior Varsity Carnival Relays, a day of competition and fun.

Although Smith doesn’t dismiss the notion that the Pacers could be grooming a future Carl Lewis or Mary Decker Slaney, she said few are serious.

“I’d say 80% of it is recreational,” said Smith, who has been president of the club for the past two years. “Only a few kids are serious. When they’re serious at seven, they might not be serious at 15. We try to build the kids’ self-esteem more than anything else.”

Smith, who works as a part-time word processor for a Northridge firm, is assisted by two coaches: Neil Lewis, an attorney with three sons on the Pacers Club, and Randy Anderson, a physical education instructor at Reseda Baptist.

“It’s a form of exercise for myself and, hopefully, I’ll get some kids for the school team,” Anderson said. “These kids are going to excel. They’re getting good groundwork now.”

Anderson said he tries to stress proper nutrition and rest habits to the youngsters. He also wants them to enjoy running.

“It’s hard to keep work fun,” said Anderson, who has coached with the team for three years. “At this stage, they all think they can run in the Olympics. Hopefully, they’ll run in high school.”

Lewis, whose three sons--John, 10, Eric, 8, and Andrew, 5--run for the Pacers, looks at the organization as something both parents and children can enjoy.

“In the spring track season, my wife and I both coached and the three kids participated,” Lewis said. “It’s a good family sport.”

Other parents also like the Pacers’ concept that everybody runs.

Said Joanne Grant, of her 9-year old son David’s participation over the last two years: “David is really not a particularly good athlete in team sports, like soccer and baseball. So this seems to be a good thing for him to do. He does it very well and he feels good about himself. I like the coaches and we have a lot of friends there.”

“I think it’s a fabulous organization,” said Susan Taylor of Sepulveda, whose two sons, Matt, 11, and Alan, 7, run for the Pacers. “I was very impressed with the individual achievement that is stressed with the kids.”

Alan, who will enter second grade at Topeka Drive Elementary School in Northridge, didn’t take part in the past track season but is running cross country. His brother, Matt, who enters the sixth grade in the fall at First Presbyterian Church of Granada Hills-Weekday, runs the 440-relay, the 880 and the mile relay. He is also running cross country.

“I like running because it gives me more exercise,” said Alan. “You run all the time, not just when you hit the ball.”

Said Joey Mullin, a fourth grader at First Presbyterian Church of Granada Hills-Weekday: “I just wanted to start running because I felt like it. It’s fun.”

At the end of the cross country season, the Pacers hold a family picnic and photo session, in which trophies are awarded to each runner. At the end of the track season, runners receive gold, silver and bronze medals at the I.E.C. finals.

“No matter how good or bad they are, first or last, they all get something,” Smith said. “We give them ribbons after each meet so that they can see how well they did, even if they don’t come in first.”

Since every kid participates, parents cannot get upset over lack of playing time.

“In baseball, parents put a lot of pressure on their kids,” Joanne Grant said. “Parents live through their kids and you don’t see that kind of thing in track.”

Said Smith: “The nice thing about cross country is that we don’t get a lot of parents out here. “Sometimes you get parents out here (at other sports) and . . . boy, they really get upset. This is one sport where I’ve never seen a parent curse at an official.”

With every kid getting equal time, what’s a parent to complain about?