Son coaches 90-year-old father in field events
SLIPPERY ROCK — It's not unusual to see dads coaching their sons and daughters. What is unusual is a son coaching his dad. Rarer still is the opportunity for the duo to compete on an international level among the world's oldest athletes.
Istvan Kovacs, a Slippery Rock University assistant professor of physical and health education, experienced that rarest of coaching opportunities when he coached his 90-year-old father at the World Masters Athletics Track and Field Championships, Sept. 4-16, in Malaga, Spain.
“He was my coach in high school and now I'm trying to return the favor,” said Kovacs. “We are having fun.”
Kovacs excelled at track and field while growing up in Hungary, holding a junior national record in the triple jump, before becoming a successful college coach, training the top national jumpers for 12 years at the University of Physical Education in Budapest.
His father, also named Istvan Kovacs, was a physical education teacher at Ferenc Erkel High School in Gyula, Hungary, where he mentored his son in track and field.
The elder Kovacs is long retired, and his son is now an American citizen, teaching physical and health education at SRU for the last 15 years. The younger Kovacs, 51, makes it back to Hungary at least once every other year and he still keeps ties to the track and field community in his native country.
The World Master Athletes championships, which attract more than 8,000 athletes ages 35 and older, also happens every two years. So Kovacs decided to leverage his knowledge of track and field and his English skills and volunteered to support — there are no designated coaches — several of the 48 Hungarian compatriots, including his own father.
“I had to apply different methods than coaching young athletes,” Kovacs said. “All these (senior) athletes are intrinsically motivated; their motivation comes from within.
“They are very self-conscious of how to jump, their technique, how to warm up and what to do between attempts,” said Kovacs. “They've been doing this for decades, so I don't have to give as much advice, but there's always a need for feedback.”
Kovacs' father placed in three events, taking bronze in both the triple jump and high jump and fourth in the weight throw. Athletes compete in age groups divided in five-year increments. There were only about a half dozen competitors for the events in his father's 90-95 age group and only 10 for the entire event.“He's now the young guy in his category,” Kovacs said with a laugh.According to Kovacs, the celebrities at the event were the two centenarians, Giuseppe Ottaviani, 102, of Italy, a long jumper in the men's 100-and-older age “group,” and Man Kaur of India, 101, the only 100-and-older female entrant in the javelin. Kovacs said a goal for many competitors is to live to 100 and run the 100 meters.“It's amazing,” said Kovacs. “They are very good at goal-setting. They have goals for the season, for next year, for five years from now. Through sports, they find motivation. That gives them purpose and happiness in life, at least for the physical aspect of life.”After Kovacs' father retired from teaching, he started training and remained active, going for a walk before breakfast, gardening and meeting friends at the local track, eventually starting a club.“I could see the health benefits when he started again,” Kovacs said. “When he was 70, he looked better than when he was 50.”His improved health is a credit to less stress from work and more time for physical activity, but also his father's commitment to a structured lifestyle and refusal to spend his retirement years relaxing, something that Kovacs learned from the other WMA competitors.“These people don't think like that; they don't go to work (anymore) but they are busy,” Kovacs said. “They have a plan for each day that keeps them sharp mentally because each of them is fit physically, mentally, socially, emotionally ... in all aspects of wellness and life.”
