There has been a resurgence of interest in track and field in the past few years and according to Coach Myles one of the coaches of Levittown's middle schools, "We have a roster of 45 young athletes from Salk and Wisdom and that's our largest ever!" Apparently it is not isolated to the middle school level either. In a conversation he had with Coach Bradly, one of the high school level coaches, their roster is up to 85 athletes! Coach Bradly said the team is so big that the coaches may decide to form two teams next year, one from Division HS and one from MacArthur HS.

So why the sudden interest? "First of all, it is a very exciting sport to watch and compete in, there are many diverse events for young athletes to try," says Coach Tony, commissioner of the Levittown Unit of the PAL. "Personally, I hope they don't split them up! I remember many of our 'adults in training'." (That's what he calls them.) He thinks of them as adults who have not yet matured, but are a rough cut of what they will be. They are in constant training to be adults and he holds them to a higher standard.

"I have had the privilege of working with some of these young athletes. Many of them came through our program. I still go to see them work out or compete if I am not coaching myself. At the middle school level, they continue to cheer each other on and I hope that will continue on in high school. These young athletes enjoy the comradery of competing together and usually it is the only time they will see each other.

"I have a unique relationship with Coach Myles in that he coaches my daughter and I coach his!" On Saturdays he even gives us a hand to organize the athletes. Good thing too, we have 120 competitors on the Levittown PAL team (ages ranging from 5 to 15 yrs. old), so things can get quite busy."

So why the upsurge in team rosters? Some point to the PAL Track program as a main reason. " Well, thank you for the vote of confidence!", says Coach Tony. "The program works because the athletes have time to learn the skills they need, build confidence in their changing abilities and have no pressure to win. We teach them in a fun way. Some like to practice and not compete and some like to compete and not practice. If they want to win, they have to work for it. It is up to them. Here they have the opportunity to try out different events to see if they like them. We know that they are under pressure all day and it doesn't end when school is out. They have research and projects to complete, the last thing they need is more pressure."

What do you think are the key factors to the success of the PAL? All the PAL programs have traditionally been feeder programs for the middle school and high school level. It appears that their continued success is due to their unique organizational team. "I can't take credit for what the PAL team does as an organization. These are dedicated volunteers that love empowering children," says Coach Tony.

"They each were exposed to this level of professionalism by working with the PAL officers like Officer John Hofmann who has been a fixture in the community for over 20 years and our current Officer Rich Barkey whose only concern is the welfare of the child. They make no bones about it when a decision needs to be made, the child wins. I found out that it takes a special police officer to be a PAL officer. I believe that the parents are very comfortable with their children joining our teams because they feel safe here and that is important.

"Our office worker Ruthann Krantz keeps it all together, she is the glue! She works closely with Officer Rich and fields all the phone calls, orders the uniforms, equipment, trophies and ribbons. I don't know how she does it! Our board members have all had children go through the programs and were so impressed with the PAL that they stayed on to make sure that all our youngsters have the same experience!"