Meet Our Founder

Fifty years ago, our founder – James Barber – started this club.  Here is a Q & A between Jake Halpern (of the New Yorker and the New York Times) and the legendary “Coach B.”  

Jake:  What led you to start this organization?  

Coach Barber: So I just decided one day, along two of my former students – Rachel Hamlet who is currently a principal in Baltimore – and Dianne Wright who is now a retired educator and nationally respected Track and Field Official, who actually just officiated at the Olympic Trials in Oregon – to do something [for kids] for track and field.  And the decision was: If we're going provide an activity for kids, we had better do something for parents. Because parents have to bring the kids to the program. 

So we advertised. We sent a note down to Channel 8, Channel 3, The Journal-Courier – which was the other newspaper in New Haven at the time – and The Register, saying that a youth developmental track and field and parents’ fitness programs was going to start at Bown Field on a particular date. We got a good turnout from the media.  But it just so happened that, the day of the program started, it rained. So [there were] no kids except my son. [Laughter] 

Jake: Wait, wait, so what did you do when there were no kids there and the camera crew was rolling?

Coach Barber: We talked with the reporters who were there. We told them that the rain wasn't going to stop us. We would be back again the next day. 

Jake: Were you pretty confident that it would work? 


Coach Barber: I really felt like yeah, because I had talked to a lot of kids – kids from Elm Haven Projects, kids from the Dixwell area, kids from the Newhallville area.  So I thought these kids were going to come. And they did. They did. The next day we had a total of about 37 kids that showed up. And then it just grew. Kids started coming from Elm Haven projects, kids were coming from West Haven by bike, and then the kids on the shoreline got wind of what was going on. And parents from Branford and East Haven started bringing their kids. And the program just grew.

tHE NEXT DAY WE HAD A TOTAL OF ABOUT 37 KIDS THAT SHOWED UP. AND THEN IT JUST GREW… and the program just grew

Jake: You said that you thought the key to it was making sure there was something for parents. 

Coach Barber: Yeah. 

Jake: What did you do to get the parents involved? 

Coach Barber: Okay, when I sat and had my second meeting with the parents, during the second week of the program, it was after I looked in the stands and realized that my parents were just sitting there segregated. My black parents are sitting here. My white parents are sitting here.  And there's this separation of adults. I'm like, Whoa, this is not what this is all about.

So I met with the parents and I said to them, “I'd like to see some of the parents come down and kind of help me work with the kids.”   And a lot of parents came down and helped the kids stretch. We've also  got a lot of parents who started stretching with the young athletes as well as walking around the track individually and eventually in small groups.  And the more that they got involved, I think the more that they felt like it was their program also. So they made a greater commitment.  

One of the things I said to parents during our discussions was: “In order to keep this program alive, I want to give you four options: [become] chaperones, fundraisers, coaches, or officials.”  Because we didn't have automatic timing systems during that time. I taught all of the parents how to officiate. I brought a whole bunch of $10 watches and taught the parents how to time running events. 

I think what really was the sustaining factor was that the parents felt a part of the program. It wasn't a program where you just came and dropped your kids off. 

Jake: Did the parents buy into this right away or did it take some convincing? 

Coach Barber: I would say probably by the third week of the summer, I had a lot of parent involvement. 

Jake: You said that when the parents initially showed up, it sounds like self-segregated into white and black.

Coach Barber:  Yeah. They did!

Jake: It almost sounds like you gave them a job to do, and when they had a common purpose or a common job, then they just started interacting and…. 

Coach Barber:  Yeah  … it literally was not hard at all.  Then they just got involved in different aspects of building the program and helping other children. 

I think what really was the sustaining factor was that the parents felt a part of the program. It wasn't a program where you just came and dropped your kids off. 

Jake: When you started this thing, would it have been the summer of 1975? 

Coach Barber: Yep.  

Jake: Did you have any thought that this is something that might be continuing half a century later?  

Coach Barber: Not really. But I never had a feeling that it was something that was just going to be a one-and-done. Because each year, the numbers [grew] and [we had] kids coming to New Haven from as far away as New Milford and East Lyme – so then you know that you've got something good. 

So, as the program developed, I never felt like it was going to die. My concern was, after 25 years of me coaching [in 2000], when I took over the head coaching job at Southern, my plate was so full.  My concern then was, what's going to happen?  

But when I sat and talked to the parents and shared with them my concern – that as much as I didn't want to, I was going to have to end the program – the parents very quickly said to me, “Oh, no, no, no,  no, no, no, no, no, no.  You've given these kids so much of your life. There's no reason why we can't pick this up and run with it.”  That’s when Bill Thompson and Lloyd Gibson took over the job.  

Jake: Were you surprised and or moved by the fact that they had done this? 

Coach Barber: I was moved. I wasn't necessarily as surprised as I was just emotionally moved. 

Jake: I want to ask you about something. You seem to have a strong belief that the club should run on volunteers – volunteer coaches, parents volunteering – that there shouldn't be a club where there's paid positions. Can you explain why you think that's so important?  

Coach Barber: Yeah.  In youth programs that I've been involved in, that have been successful, they were never dependent upon somebody getting a paycheck.  I think people who make a commitment to young people, or anything on a volunteer basis, are more likely to be there if the money runs out.  So, let's not get caught up in money. Let's do what we think should be done for the young people.  And if the money comes along with a stipend grant, okay. But let's not have the program be dependent upon if I can pay this coach here.  

Jake: If you had to describe or sum up, if someone said to you, New Haven Age Group Track, what is it about? What is the most important thing that you all offer? How would you describe it? 

Coach Barber: For me, it's always been a quality program that worked with the whole child, and whenever possible, with the family.  Kids deserve the very best. They didn't ask to be born, you know what I mean? They deserve the best that society can provide them.  Provide them with a quality experience, but work with the whole child. Their academics are as important as their performance on the track.  Out of all of the kids that we had worked with [thousands of them], we only had two kids to what I call go astray. 

Jake: Running a club like this requires a ton of dedication.  You had your own job, you're a husband, you're a father, you're involved in your church, you have all that, and then on top of that, you spent countless hours doing every aspect of running the club. What was it that kept you motivated, that got you feeling energized about doing this? 


Coach Barber: The kids. They're the ones who, when I would come to Bowen Field, would ask: “Alright, Coach Barber, what are we doing today?”  They knew full well that I stayed up to – sometimes twelve o’ the clock at night – writing up workouts.  But in fact, the kids were so appreciative.  …When I look at this 50 years later, and I'm still in touch with kids who came to the program, you know? Some are doing significantly better than others, but everybody's doing okay.

Kids deserve the very best. They didn't ask to be born, you know what I mean? They deserve the best that society can provide them.  Provide them with a quality experience, but work with the whole child.

Jake: Going forward, what do you hope this club becomes? 

Coach Barber: I wanted it to be respected, not just throughout the state, but throughout the States.  I remember Bill Thompson and I taking the kids down to the National Junior Olympics Championships at LSU.  Two of our athletes Julie Torre from East Haven and Jessica Albert from Branford were competing in the 10,000 meters. It was so hot in Baton Rouge that they had to run their 10,000 meters at 5 o'clock in the morning. Jake, you know Julie and Jessica had such a great relationship with the other young athletes that I had to allow other kids on the team to get up at five o'clock in the morning because they all wanted to go see Julie and Jess run 10,000 meters. No one wants to get up at five o'clock in the morning!  But it was the relationship that these kids all had. That they wanted to be sure that Julie and Jess had their support. So for me, those are the kinds of things that kept me going, inspired me, and made me want to continue to do it for as long as I could do it.