Mention the term "distance learning" to anyone in the world of track and field, and they most likely will think of instructing athletes on the finer points of competing in races of 1,500 meters and longer.

However, a recently implemented initiative of the U.S. Track Coaches Association (USTCA) may cause a shift in persons' minds to the commonly known educational concept of distance learning as taking courses outside the classroom.

The USTCA is offering its Track Coaches Diploma Program via its World Wide Web site at www.ustrackcoaches.org. Currently, the program consists of five courses based on the track and field disciplines -- sprints and relays, hurdles, middle and long distance, throws, and jumps.

Jimmy Carnes, USTCA executive director, said the program evolved from his involvement on the board of trustees of the United States Sports Academy in Daphne, Alabama. The academy is a private, nonprofit graduate school that offers sport-specific programs to students, teachers and administrators around the world.

"Distance learning is a priority of the U.S. Sports Academy," Carnes said. "I looked at it as a way to reach the multitudes and deliver quality instruction for track and field coaches."

Carnes first shared his concept with the coaches association more than two years ago. It gained momentum when he began contacting potential instructors early in 2000.

"I focused on coaches who had recently retired," Carnes said. "My thought was that these were persons intensely interested in the sport who might have some time to spend on developing curricula."

Carnes was successful in recruiting several highly regarded teachers, including some with impressive NCAA credentials. Jim Bush, whose course is entitled Coaching the 110-Meter Hurdles, directed the University of California, Los Angeles, to five Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships from 1966 to 1978. Terry Crawford's University of Texas at Austin squads captured three Division I women's indoor titles and one outdoor championship between 1986 and 1990. Crawford, however, does not fall into the category of recently retired coaches, as she is the current head men's and women's track and field coach at California Polytechnic State Institute.

"I feel fortunate to be involved in this project in its infant stages," Crawford, the 1988 U.S. Olympic women's track and field team head coach, said. "It was a thought-provoking exercise writing my course on coaching middle distance runners.

"When you're actually on the track, coaching really is second nature. Putting together a course, especially one that needs to be comprehensive due to the lack of face-to-face contact with the students, really takes a lot of organization."

Another reason for comprehensiveness is the program's hope of reaching coaches at all levels. "We would like to think this will benefit young coaches, as well as those working with elite athletes," Carnes said. "There are an increasing number of volunteer coaches in both high-school and collegiate programs.

"We need to find a way to reach those individuals and assist them in their learning."

The cost for each course is $60. For an additional fee, students can receive four continuing-education credit units for each course completed. Since the U.S. Sports Academy has accredited the Track Coaches Diploma Program, there also is an opportunity for students to register for the academy's master's degree program and apply the credits toward degree requirements.

Carnes has been challenged in finding examples of athletes demonstrating proper techniques to accompany each instructor's notes. "Since we are not interacting directly with our students, visual aids are huge," Crawford said.

Placing video clips on the Web site was found not to be beneficial. "The action was too quick to reinforce what was being explained in the written materials,"

Carnes said. Consequently, the executive director has found himself watching videotape frame by frame, trying to identify the exact images that illustrate the instructor's points.

Bush's 110-meter hurdle course alone undoubtedly kept Carnes in front of the video screen for some time. Among the 16 unit titles are Warm-Up and Stretching, Approach to the First Hurdle, Flight over the Hurdle, and Sprinting Between the Hurdles.

Along with the actual event technique teaching, each course includes a history of the event, a list of definitions, coaching tips and training schedules. There is no defined length of time for completion of the courses. "We encourage individuals to go at a pace with which they are comfortable," Carnes said.

The Track Coaches Diploma Program is one of the first Web-based teaching ventures to be offered by a coaches association. The National Soccer Coaches Association of America Coaching Academy includes several diplomas, all of which include residential courses. The National Fastpitch Coaches Association will hold four one- or two-day sessions during its 2001 Coaches Clinic Series.

Although Carnes is pleased to have USTCA be one of the first coaches organizations to provide such a program, he realizes there is still much work to be done. "Continuing improvement is the goal. It's fun to see the program happen, but we're not where we want to be."

Since the courses are all new, the current instructors expect to make some adjustments in their offerings. "The material will continue to be edited and updated," Crawford said.

Carnes also is planning on adding coaches for each discipline. "We realize that there is more than one way to teach each event. This will enable coaches to study different approaches and find the one that best fits their style."