future track coach: Kydia echols
Kydia Echols has been running since her days as a student at Harleton High School in east Texas. That love for running and for sports in general has shaped not only her college experience but also her future career plans.
A senior exercise and sport science major, Echols is planning to use her years of experience in track and field to guide others as a high school track coach. And with graduation just a year away in December 2009, she’s looking ahead to the coming years of molding young people both athletically and in other aspects.
Like all athletes at Wayland Baptist University, Echols has been exposed heavily to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ Champions of Character program, which focuses on core aspects of sportsmanship and integrity both on the court or field and off. That exposure, as well as her participation on the successful women’s track and field team at WBU, has shaped the kind of coach Echols feels she will be in the future.
“I’m really looking forward to trying to help the kids. It’s not always about winning but about teaching them ethics and sportsmanship,” she said. “I think that it will be rewarding to help them not only build their sport but also build their character.”
To that end, Echols is focusing on improving her own running – she’s sitting out the current track season due to a foot injury but plans to return for her senior season – as well as her schoolwork to prepare her for the classroom she will one day lead.
Echols ran cross country and track in high school, specifically the 400-meter run. She came to Wayland sight-unseen on a track scholarship and has expanded her repertoire, running cross country in the fall and picking up the 400-, 600- and 800-meter events in track. The new events have expanded her talent, and she’s had the honor of earning gold with her WBU teammates.
After relatively successful freshman and sophomore seasons, her junior season ended with Wayland’s women bearing the banner of NAIA national champions – both in indoor and outdoor competition. Echols was part of the 4x800 relay team that won first place at indoor nationals, and part of the winning 4x400 and 4x800 outdoor teams. Though she’s had individual wins before, the team win felt sweeter.
“The team winning just made everyone happy,” she said. “It was really a full team effort.”
Her hard work has paid off, with All-America titles in the 600-meter event – she placed fifth nationally in 2007 in the event – as well as the 4x800 and 4x400 relays. But she said the winning experiences have taught her valuable lessons about how to coach winning runners.
“My experience with my teachers and coaches at Wayland have helped me really want to coach more,” she said. “They’ve really prepared me and encouraged me that I’ll be able to do this.”
She said she’s also learned a lot by sharing many long hours of practice and road trips with teammates from other countries, helping her learn about other cultures.
Echols is considering continuing her education at Wayland to earn the master’s degree in education and serve as a graduate assistant in the track and field program under Head Coach Brian Whitlock. The opportunity would provide additional experience in coaching that could prove valuable once she gets into the career herself.
With track practices, out-of-town trips on many weekends and a part-time job at Wal-Mart she’s held for several years, Echols has become a master of juggling responsibilities. Still, she said the experience at Wayland has been a rich one. And when she finally leaves Plainview, she’ll take with her more than just medals and miles logged on the track.
“The people I’ve met here – my friends, the students and teachers – will be what I remember the most,” she said. “The experience in the dorms has been good too; it’s like a big family.
“There’s always someone who can talk to you about personal issues or spiritual things.”>> To support students like Kydia, click here to give to Wayland Baptist University online.