Cross country coach redefines commitment expectations

“Ball is life!” “The grind never stops!”  “Give it 110%!”

Cliches like these pop up in every sports movie, t shirt and commercial. But one place in which these phrases won’t be heard is Westside boys cross country. Instead, head coach Andrew Easton has formed his own view on the meaning of commitment.

“This year, we decided to build a lot of what we’re doing around the idea of being committed, and what that looks like,” Easton said. “Your typical rhetoric that you’re gonna get from a sports movie, for example, would be, ‘Well, if you’re committed to this team, it matters more than anything!’ We really try to take the approach to just recognize the guys have a lot of things they’re committed to.”

His approach hit its mark with junior runner Samir Ali.

“[Coach Easton] has brought this theme of commitment,” Ali said. “It’s not necessarily commitment just to running for cross country, but to everything in life. [He says,] ‘I don’t wanna be this coach that says you have to be 100% completely committed to Westside cross country, and that’s it.’ [He says] ‘No. Family, friends, school… A lot of that stuff, for most people, will come before running.’”

Easton hasn’t failed to recognize his runners’ prioritization of commitments.

“We did a fun activity where we put down our commitments in order,” Ali said. “Just ten of our commitments, and we put them in order, and [he said,] ‘Running had better not be your top commitment.’”

Straying away from the ‘typical rhetoric,’ Easton has opted for a more relatable philosophy.

“We wanna just talk about what it looks like to be committed, what it means to honor those commitments; what it means to be led by your commitments over your emotions,” Easton said. “Emotions are a big part of what you hope to get out of your commitments.”

Easton’s alternative philosophy helps his athletes self-motivate, mitigating the need for brashness on the part of the coaching staff.

“When you wake up in the morning and you don’t feel like going to practice or investing in the things that matter, then it’s that investment that can sort of get you more invested,” Easton said. “It’s kinda weird how that works sometimes.”

The re-envisioned meaning of commitment has struck a positive in the early stages of the season.

“It’s interesting, Ali said. “It’s definitely a lot different than most coaches, which I like.”

Varsity boys cross country continues its commitment driven quest Friday, September 8  at Walnut Grove.