Coaches Spotlight- Matt Henson
Interview
1- Congrats on having a great regular season. When did you first become interested in Track and Field?
I messed around in middle school track a long time ago when I was a kid, but I got involved in track when I first started teaching & coaching because my head football coach told me he needed me to coach track because we were going to another school together. I was thrown in the fire quickly. In high school, I played football, basketball and golf and was fortunate to be in a small school where I had the chance to play a little.
2- Did you compete in HS or College as an athlete? or another Sport?
No. I was just a student. I wasn’t good enough at anything unless you ask my dad
3- Describe your journey from novice Coach to your Head Coaching position now
I wouldn’t consider myself an expert now by any means, but I watched and learned. I became a head coach two years into starting my career and I knew nothing. We won the county championship that year, our conference and were runners-up at our version of sectionals. I took a bunch of kids to state and won a relay title that year and our team finished 6th, and realized that if I was going to stay involved, I had to educate myself in the sport because I did very little to enhance those kids that year except from what I was absorbing through calling other coaches and talking about how to train them.
I left that year and went to our big rival down the road to learn under Robert Steele, one of the most renowned high school coaches in the southeast and a triple jump genius. Once I finally beat him, I realized if I wanted to keep doing it, I needed to learn how. I stayed there a couple of years with Coach Steele, and then I came to Georgia. In two years with him, I was part of enough individual and team state championships to satisfy most people for a career. We competed in indoor track, too.
4- How important is it to have the full support of the AD and resources available to succeed?
It’s critical. I inherited a great situation because my AD (Mark Whitley) was the former track coach, too, and he is very involved in our program. He still coaches with us. Mark is dedicated to making sure we have everything we need to be successful and keep trying to raise the bar.
5- What are some of the challenges in building a successful program?
Organization, geography & payroll. We do not cut, so we begin with a ton of kids of all levels of ability, shapes and sizes. Our practices take care of the rest. We have to work on grouping at practice so we are able to make sure we are improving everyone through our training.
Because we do not cut, we have to maintain a relatively large staff of coaches. I am very lucky to work with my coaches because they are truly experts in their areas. They have been very involved with improving the track culture at our school. We will be expanding our staff again this coming season
6- Do you have a supportive Track Booster Club?
Yes. Our track booster club is second to none. They love the sport and kids. We have several parents who have kids graduated from Parkview and the program who still remain and help as much as they can. They work very hard for us. The percentage of parents/families that join our club is amazing.
7- Has Middle Track the past few years in your feeder schools helped contribute to the HS program's success?
Gwinnett County does not have middle school track, and we have approached our middle school about sponsoring a running club through our program. We are still working on that and think it is going to happen very soon.
8- What are your program's Goals every season? County/Region title, State Championship?
We established three goals we try and adhere to every year. In our region/county/classification, the competition level is very high and in track, there are so many variables that predicting anything sets people up for failure. We want to do the following things every year:
1. Establish our legacy for that season.
2. Survive Monday practice.
3. Improve as a team/individual/coach every day.
Of course we all want to win titles, but we try and use our County Championship as a barometer as we prepare for region.
9- Assess your team's Region meet and the opporunities faced at Sectionals to advance.
Our region meet was a testament to how good all the teams really are. The boys and girls and winners were clearly the champions, but from top to bottom, every team is putting a quality product on the track/runway/circle every event.
As far as sectionals go, we are excited about our opportunities for the kids who are competing to advance to the state level. We feel like we have a legitimate shot to get to Albany and Jefferson with our kids. For the first time ever, we are facing an issue with prom but we are going to take those we have who are competing and give it a shot.
10- What advancements should the GHSA make to bring our Sport on par with the 'other' 47 states ?
I was fortunate to be involved in track in another state where we were already doing things I think would benefit us here. Coach Gower and I feel very much the same way.
· Begin the season later/end later (too compressed as it is)
· Qualifying times/marks for sectional advancement & Region winners instead of top 4
· Combine the boys/girls state meets
· Add the 4x800m/4x200m/weight throw to competition (gives us another mid-distance relay, sprint & field event)
· Only allow one relay per school by region meets
Bonus- What has been among your favorite accomplishments for the school you now coach at?
Three things—but first and foremost, the track & field meet product we produce at our events. The sheer volume we host on a six lane track is unbelievable. My staff works tirelessly to make our meets run efficiently, and I am very proud of what we are able to accomplish every year. We are very proud of how we run our meets and are able to allow many kids to run at meets with a larger crowd/field of athletes than they may ever run at again, even the JV level.
Building relationships with the youth track organizations (PT Elite—Phil & Brenda Logan, SMART Athletics—Ray Lanier, Karsten Edwards, Pam Hudson, et al) and watching the track culture evolve in our area. The Middle School State Track Meet has become an amazing event for the youth of track & field, and
Finally, being a part of Gwinnett County track & field coaching pedigree is amazing. Since I came to Georgia in 2002, Gwinnett County has had at least one team in the top 4 or 5 every single year in at least one gender, and often multiple teams, and numerous individual state champions.
We have great track & field across this state at all levels, but our county seems to always have a say in the state championship. I am very proud to be a member of a great community of teachers/coaches.