NSAF Develops the Stars of Tomorrow
The Team USA delegation poses after the 2013 Caribbean Scholastic Invitational. Courtesy of Layla White.
Roster spots for the Caribbean Scholastic Invitational are traditionally reserved for underclassmen as opposed to graduating seniors, to expose rising stars to international competition.
"I think it changes them. We found that when we brought all the kids to Puerto Rico," Spier said. "We try to elect underclassmen kids as much as possible. They go down there nervous and afterward, they're confident and it's really amazing. We’ve gotten emails back from kids saying if it weren’t for this, they wouldn't be the athletes they are today."
Layla White, a four-time North Carolina state champion and 2015 graduate of Cary High School, competed at the 2013 Caribbean Scholastic Invitational. She said the experience changed her approach to the sport.
"[It] didn't really change the way we ran, it was more of a mentality," White said. "
On the 2013 trip, White and the other athletes practiced breathing techniques with a balloon and met with a sports psychologist.
"I didn't even know there were sports psychologists!" she said.
But the biggest takeaway may have been networking and exchanging advice with other elite athletes. White, in particular, dealt with a lot of pre-race anxiety as a young runner but the travel experience helped her develop coping strategies.
"[Caitlind Smith, now of the University of Texas] l told me to take practice as if it was a track meet and so always work hard at track practice so when it comes to track meet time, it's easier to perform well. Some people would say to take it easy because I was so young, but she would tell me to always work harder at practice to make the track meet easier.
"One girl told me that we shouldn’t be really nervous or scared about what we run because we run 1,000 times and we'll PR or have a bad race but it's rare that we’ll have a bad race."
On actual race day, White was quite literally in a foreign land, as she did not understand the Spanish meet officials. She finished runner-up in the finals of the 400m, clocking 55.47 - not her best time, but a solid result.
"I was just so happy with everything because I was doing something new and totally different in a new country and different place!"
(Pictured: Marquavious Johnson, Layla White, Ricky Morgan, Jr. and another Team USA athlete pose at the 2013 Caribbean Scholastic Invitational. Courtesy of Layla White.)
White, who will compete for the University of Tennessee next year, is an alumnus on a list that includes IAAF World Championship medalists and adidas-sponsored sprinters Bianca Knight and Jessica Beard.
This year's crop of athletes includes more than a few faces who could potentially represent Team USA at the World Championship and Olympic level one day.
Brothers Noah and Josephus Lyles of T.C. Williams, Va. have already participated in the IAAF World Youth Olympics and World Junior Championships, as has the nation's top-ranked 100m sprinter Ryan of Clark of Banneker, Ga.
Two of the most promising athletes in the group are field event stars Ja'Mari Ward of Cahokia, Ill. and Sophia Rivera of Brentwood, Mo. Both athletes were New Balance Nationals Indoor champions this past March - Ward in the long and triple jumps, Rivera in the shot put. Ward is currently ranked U.S. No. 1 in the triple jump at 51-11, U.S. No. 2 in the long jump at 25-6.5 - behind only fellow Cuba-bound star Grant Holloway (25-8.75), who could compete and contend for the win in not only that event, but the high jump, 400m hurdles and 110m hurdles, as well as the sprint relays. Rivera is the nation's most dominant female thrower; she ranks U.S. No. 2 in the javelin (175-10), U.S. No. 3 in the shot put (51-1.75) and U.S. No. 17 in the discus (154-9).
Sophia Rivera has developed into the most versatile thrower in the United States.
Ward and Rivera have benefited from the NSAF-sponsored programs Project Triple Jump and Project Kultan Keihas - Javelin Gold, which connect potential future stars to the best training and clinics, as well as cover elite meet entry and travel expenses. NSAF takes on eight athletes in each discipline per year.
Rivera was an athlete who simply showed up to a throwing clinic in Chapel Hill, North Carolina two summers ago. The unknown freshman with a natural arm struck the eye of one of the elite coaches.
"He saw something in her and said, 'come over to the runway and take some throws,'" Spier recounted. "And she started throwing 130 out of nowhere. She was second in Kansas Relays [in 147-0.5 the following year], throws [156-11.75] at Juniors. This year, she opens up at the Kansas Relays with [162-9] and then at an invitational meet in Missouri, she threw 175-10 [U.S. No. 5 All-Time at the time, now U.S. No. 6 All-Time].
"In absolutely horrible conditions at the Penn Relays, she throws [169-6.75] and beats Madison Wiltrout, who is now the national high school record holder," Spier said. "She is really the success story of the group."
The organization also offers financial support, including travel stipends, to athletes who qualify for events such as the USATF Junior Trials for the IAAF World Youth Championships, but who lack the resources to travel and participate.