The Vandersteen clan flanked around their patriarch Ray Vandersteen who stands in the middle (photo credit: Vandersteen family)
Last month, my father, Ray Vandersteen, passed away from complications associated with Parkinson’s disease and diabetes. His passing brought about much reflection regarding the impact he had on us all, family and friends alike I truly admired my father for his high level of integrity, his humility, and, most of all, his mission to promote our sport.
My father was never in it for any glory. He invested heavily in what most coaches dislike doing or refuse to do at all. Ray Vandersteen was willing to stay up into the late hours processing entry fees, designing flyers to promote a meet, and organizing people to complete jobs that make a road race or Track /XC meet possible. The rest of us would rather get our wisdom teeth pulled.
He did these things because, in his heart, he knew it made a difference for our sport. He knew it made a difference to every last individual.
When it came to running, he made his biggest impact at the grassroots level. He was most interested in hooking young athletes into our sport. He would go to the USATF convention every year and fight for the development of programs and for money to be invested in our youth. Elite athletes like Carl Lewis and Edwin Moses knew him well, not because they worked with him directly, but because they supported his efforts to do what is most important - promote our sport at the youth level. When my father passed away last month, I heard from countless people telling me that he was the reason they are where they are today. He took the time to do the little things to support emerging athletes and coaches. Ask Craig Virgin. Ask Mike Prizy. Ask Scott Erwin. Ask anyone involved in youth Cross Country and Track and Field in Indiana or Illinois.
I received this excerpted message from Craig Virgin: “I mainly remember your father when I was a high school and college runner trying to find out info for big track/x-c meets up in the Chicago area. Then, when I was first back here, after my failed experiment with Nike's Athletics West in fall of 1978, I had more contact with him as I was trying to get my AAU registration straightened out... since I lived in Illinois... but later found out I was in the Ozark Association territory. He always was very helpful and encouraging.”
As a youth growing up in Bloomington, Indiana, in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s, my dad was a huge reason running became so popular in that town. He founded the Bloomington Track Club, made up of skinny middle school kids who knew nothing about the sport. He would drive us to meets in his pick-up truck, with the cover on the back, and we would sleep in YMCA’s or anywhere else we could find to get some rest before the meets.
Most of those middle school kids from the Bloomington Track Club would later feed into Bloomington North High School. In 1980, they won the Indiana State Meet with 34 points. Many consider them to be one of the greatest high school Cross Country teams to ever toe the line in our country. Another young man on this club team, from a little high school called Owen Valley, would go on to set the Indiana High School course record. His name was Curt Carey. Still another, Ken Waterhouse, would jump into a run-a-thon sponsored by the Bloomington Track Club, and discover he was a good runner. He went on to win the State Cross Country Championship, less than one second from beating Carey’s state record. I was not immune to his magical touch. Under his guidance (and the genius of Marshall Goss at Bloomington South), I was a pretty good runner, too, winning a Junior Olympic National Cross Country Championship in Longview, Washington. The winner of the oldest age group that day was Jim Spivey, later running for Sam Bell at Indiana University in Bloomington.
Bob Woodley was one of the original Bloomington Track Club kids. Bob now resides in Chicago, and offered this tribute: “Ray had such a huge impact on all of my family when he founded the Bloomington Track Club. I can honestly say that he changed our lives forever, in a really positive way. I'm still running to this day, in large part because of your father. His positive attitude, hard work and organizational skill made the track club possible. And he was a kind mentor who I remember with fondness. A really great guy.”
However great he was at coaching, it was his organizational skills and promotional efforts, as Bob mentioned above, where he made his true mark. It seemed that every organization he founded would be built into something great. He founded the YMCA in Bloomington. He started two road races, The Spring Fling and The Morgan Monroe Miler. When we moved to Sterling, Illinois, he was charged with managing the Westwood Sports Complex and coaching the Sterling Track Club. That club grew to over 240 members and won three National USATF Cross Country Team Championships in one fall!
The following is an excerpt from one of his former runners at the Sterling Track Club: “So that one day, and I mean just that one day, my life forever changed. So when I say your Dad was in my life for a lifetime, I mean that. The greatest thing that happened along the way in reality doesn't have to do with my running accomplishments, but it has to do with your Dad seeing something in me that I never saw before.”
He founded the Illinois chapter of USATF during this time, and Illinois USATF hosted many meets, including the Youth National Track and Field Championships hosted at York High School. Youth Track and Field and Cross Country in Illinois were never more popular than when he was in charge of USATF. He was able to partner with high school coaches, such as Ken Jakalski at Lisle High School and the late John Davis and Dave Pasquini at Glenbrook South, to offer opportunities for young athletes.
His influence in promoting our sport will always live on in so many of us. I am convinced this is why Tony Jones and Bob Geiger have this bug. I am convinced this is why we started a community-based Track and Field series in the Naperville area. The Naperville Twilight Meet every fall is at the core of his vision – promote our sport and provide an environment where kids have fun and succeed at the same time. I see his influence at the Hornet-Red Devil Invitational and the positive relationship he had with Mark McCabe at Hinsdale Central and the retired Dave Jackson at Hinsdale South. His legacy lives on.
I guess the biggest reason I am sharing all this about my father is that we must never forget that it is the behind-the-scenes work, coupled with our direct influence as coaches, that allows us to be effective in our roles. Too often we say, “Why am I organizing this?” or “Why am I doing all this work to communicate to others about an event?” or “Why am I recruiting all these people to help?” or “Why am I updating my webpage?” The next time you ask yourself one of these questions, think about the bigger picture. Think about the influence you have other than actually coaching. It most assuredly matters to our emerging youth in ways you, or they, don’t even realize yet.