Janet Ourada

By CHRIS BASNETT
Hub Sports Writer

KEARNEY - There are things one comes to expect when winter turns to spring in the Kearney area.

The weather gets warmer. The grass starts to green up. Janet Ourada of Kearney leads the Kearney Track Club into another season.

It is the club's - and Ourada's - 23rd season of competition. She started the club in 1981 to give her daughter Tammie and other youths in the area a chance to hone their skills.

"I just got hooked and kept going," Ourada said.

For her willingness to keep going, and for her leadership and dedication to the Kearney Track Club, Ourada receives the Freedom Award in the Sports Category.

"I firmly feel that Janet Ourada is one of the key reasons why the track teams at Kearney High School and numerous other schools have had the successes they have had," said Wrex Phipps in his nomination letter. "While most adults may enjoy Saturdays during the summer at home or on vacation, Janet volunteers her time to attend track meets with the youths she has worked with."

The club, which has averaged more than 40 members a year since its inception, was born of necessity more than anything else.

In order for a state-championship-winning Kearney relay team to compete at a regional competition, it needed to be a member of a certified club. Because Kearney didn't have a club at the time, Ourada and fellow coach Nellie Hunt "filled out all the paperwork at the state meet in Columbus and submitted it right there at the meet," Ourada said.

From those humble beginnings came one of the most successful track clubs in the state. The club belongs to the United States Track Association.

Ourada estimates she has worked with more than 900 youths since 1981. She says that each year is just as rewarding as the one before it.

"I love seeing the growth in the kids - not just how they mature as track athletes but how they mature as people and the self-confidence that they gain," Ourada said.

Ourada said the reason she keeps coming back is simple.

It's just so enjoyable," she said. "Everybody works together. Even though track is kind of a solitary sport … they (work together). We just really, really emphasize that it's more important to help each other than it is to win ribbons or medals, and the kids realize that."

After more than two decades of coaching, driving to meets, organizing schedules, organizing lineups and taking care of entry fees, is she ready to call it quits?

"I don't know," Ourada said with a chuckle. "I say that every single year, but then I enjoy it so much that I keep saying 'well, maybe one more year.' There's so many great kids that I want to see mature and develop."

Ourada said her job has been made easier by the close-knit nature of the athletes she works with.

"It's a diverse group - we have kids from Southern Valley, Grand Island … but they're such a cohesive group," she said. "The thing I always tell them is, 'If someone breaks a shoelace before their race, you take a lace out of your shoe to give to them.'

"And they do those sorts of things at meets without me even having to tell them. I'll look over and see 17-year-olds helping 9-year-olds get their blocks set. It's just incredible."

Ourada doesn't have one standout moment from her years of coaching, saying there are too many to choose from.

"I could just talk forever about all the memorable moments I've had," she said. "The kids are just incredible. They've given me so many moments over the years."

e-mail to:

chris.basnett@kearneyhub.com