The Legendary Track Club is raising funds to send 25 of its athletes to the AAU National Championships in February at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich.
Brandon Tolliver, president of the Legendary Track Club, said the team practices at the indoor track at Lorain County Community College in Elyria and Grafton Barbell Club, but it has youngsters from Lorain, Elyria, Amherst and the village of Spencer in Medina County.
The age range is 6-18, but the members practice together which allows the more experienced children to teach others, Tolliver said.
“The majority of the kids have never run track before in their life,” he said. “I use the older kids as mentors for the younger kids.”
Tolliver said he coaches the older members to help the younger ones if they have an emotional outburst.
“You get a lot kids who say, ‘I can’t do this,’ so we want to change the mindset from ‘I can’t’ to ‘I can,’ ” he said.
Tolliver said the rest of the volunteer coaches play a big role in the development of the children.
Tyajah Henderson and Katierra Tolliver are the two other coaches based out of Elyria.
Miguel Alvarado of Lorain and Jessica Thomas of Sandusky are the other two coaches.
Ana Alvarado of Lorain is the team coordinator.
“It’s excellent because a lot of us come from a track background,” Tolliver said. “Coach Jessica ran with me at Notre Dame College.
“She’s a national champion in the hurdles in the indoor. Coach Ty is a former athlete who used to run for Elyria High School. Coach Katierra used to run for Southview. We have Coach Miguel, who is a veteran and he’s learning everything that’s going on.”
Tolliver grew up in Cleveland and moved to Elyria 11 years ago and has been involved in the community doing volunteer coaching since.
He said track has made a big impact on his life, which drives him today to help provide the opportunity for youngsters in the area.
“I got into track at an early age, and growing up in Cleveland, you had two ways to go,” he said. “It’s either street life or sports.
“When I was younger I used to battle between that, but I had a coach who had seen something in me when he saw me run. When I got into track and field, that’s when I found my niche.”
Tolliver said a focal point for Legendary Track Club is building skills that extend beyond the athletic world.
“We promote leadership as well as community pride,” he said. “Within this organization, we have peer-to-peer support meetings.”
During practice on Fridays, Tolliver said the team has conversations about emotional and environmental stressors going on in the young athletes’ lives.
He said that the club keeps tabs on how the students are doing in their academics at school as well.
The club is nonprofit and requires outside funding outside of the registration fees.
Anyone who wishes to donate, can reach out to Tolliver at 440-258-7229 or by email at nextgeneratonyd@gmail.com.
