Print

Share

• Email to a friend
• Add This

Feeds

• Local Sports

Article Rating

Current Rating: (

5

/5)

Low High

(Rated

2

times)

By Brett Smith, Sports Editor, June 22, 2008

Last updated: Sunday, June 22, 2008 11:41 PM EDT

Carlisle native Chris Boyles has a sense of humor about him.

“To put it in perspective, a person who takes first at the Olympic track and field trials will get $4,000. Meanwhile, I saw there is a national bed making championship and the winner gets $25,000.”

You can’t help but laugh a little when the decathlete tries to understand that logic.

Boyles can laugh at it now, too. At 28, he’s the “been there, done that” guy.

He was an All-American goalkeeper for Messiah College and helped them win their first NCAA Division III national soccer championship. In 2002, he was a NCAA Division III decathlon champion. He’s played minor league soccer. He’s been all over the world for competitions. He finished 10th at the 2004 Olympic trials. He’s been ranked as high as 17th in the world in the 10-event competition.

He’s been through the struggles too and seems to have come out the other side relatively unscathed — Boyles is currently dealing with a nagging ankle injury. He’s lived off cheap Chinese takeout. He’s moved from town to town. He’s emptied his own pockets for the sake of his training. He’s worked late into the night, only to get up early the following morning to put in three hours of training ... only to go right back into work.

Yes, Boyles really has been there and done that.

Such is life for the decathlete, and many other athletes who aspire to compete at the Olympic level.

Some are fortunate enough to have contracts with companies who pay them to train. Most do not.

That’s something 2004 Shippensburg graduate Caleb Courage is finding out right now. The two-time Division III national swimming champion in the 100 free is delaying his senior year at Grove City College to focus on training for the Olympic swim trials, which are scheduled to start June 29 in Omaha, Neb. — two days after the start of the track and field trials in Eugene, Or.

Both Boyles and Courage are calling North Carolina home these days. Boyles spends his time at Wake Forest University to train under Scott Hall, the chair for decathlon and vertical jumps with the USA Track and Field High Performance Committee. Meanwhile, Courage is just north of Charlotte working with the Mecklenburg Aquatic Club and a special Olympic preparatory group of swimmers.

Right now, Courage has begun to taper the amount of time he’s spending in the pool. It’s a welcomed break from the eight restless months he’s spent with Mecklenburg doing a rigorous routine of nine swim practices a week, along with hours in the weight room. It’s all part of the process for the former PIAA champion who will compete in the 50 and 100 free at the trials.

Courage is learning the game. He plans to return to Grove City College once this is all over and chances are he’ll have a life lesson or two advantage over the rest of the seniors — real world experience without being in the real world just yet.

“It’s been a big change,” said Courage. “Going from a dorm and food being provided for you to living with people you don’t know and cooking your own food. It’s different. ‘Don’t spend money’ has been my motto. It’s a learning curve and a very good one. I feel like I get the opportunity to move on from college, but still get to go back.”

It’s important to remember that these athletes are where they are by choice. No gun is against their head. They are chasing a dream. At any time, they can call it quits. The lack of funding could easily sway someone to throw in the towel.

Boyles has contemplated stepping away from the track as recently as this year. At 28, he know’s he probably doesn’t have much time left to compete at top level.

“I’ve always said I would quit running when I’m not having fun anymore or I’m not getting better,” said Boyles. “Earlier this year, I hated to feel this way, but I thought I might shut it down after this. But now I’m thinking I’m going to give it one more year.”

It’s not cheap to train. Both Boyles and Courage can tell you that.

So can Dan Austin, who graduated from Cumberland Valley High School in 2001. Austin went on to set the Williams College record in the discus (196-11) and win the Division III title. He later spent time as a coach at Gettysburg College.

“I’m actually done working there (Gettysburg), but I was an assistant track and field coach, in charge of throwing. I was working at Starbucks in the mornings, the early mornings. I’d return in the afternoon and coach in the evenings.

“It worked out pretty well, but even that wasn’t nearly enough to cover rent and travel expenses to California. I was lucky to have the support of my parents. Most of the big discus competitions are on the west coast. I have some special shoes and some discs. Other than that, my coach has helped me out and hasn’t charged me anything.”

That means raising money and taking donations to support the expenses that come with the extensive training.

A fundraiser is planned for June 26 at The Links of Olde Scotland in Shippensburg to help bring in money for Courage. Proceeds from miniature golf, the driving range and batting cages will help with his costs for working out with Mecklenburg.

The hopeful swimmer doesn’t have time for a full-time job, but has tried to work when he can by lifeguarding and giving private swim lessons.

Courage didn’t arrange the fundraiser, but is appreciative of all the support he’s received.

“A lot of people have been really gracious,” Courage said. “I’m not getting paid to do this. I am not a professional. I never got paid so I can go back to swim in college next season. In a lot of other countries, something like this is subsidized by the government. Here it’s not. There’s just too many good swimmers here. It’s been amazing how many people have been willing to help me, from private donors, to my parents and grandparents. I didn’t put together the fundraiser at The Links, but it’s really exciting people are coming together to help me out.”

It’s the help of others that Olympic hopefuls just like Courage, Boyles, and Austin all rely on. In just another week, the fruition of all those dollars contributed, all those hours spent on the track, in the circle, and in the pool, pays off for the three of them.

And Boyles probably knows as much as there is to know about raising money as anyone. He’s had to rely on it as he’s traveled all over the world to compete. He’s held golf outings. His old Messiah soccer teammates and coaches have contributed financially. If not for his parents, he would have stopped all this a long time ago. They helped him buy $450 pole vaults (he now has six of them). For one of his birthdays, he received a $375 discus. He’s received donations from strangers.

“It’s a humbling experience,” said Boyles. “People that don’t know me are willing to help me with my dream. A guy overheard my parents and I talking at breakfast one morning. Now he’s done my taxes the last three years.”

What’s made it easier these days for Boyles is The Home Depot’s Olympic Job Opportunity Program.

The program puts qualified athletes on salary and they are expected to work 20 hours each week for the year, which gives them plenty of time to focus on training for their particular Olympic sport.

“I’ll tell you something,” added Boyles. “When I moved into the Olympic Job Opportunities Program, it was a huge relief. And you always hear companies saying they are a proud sponsor of the Olympics. Well athletes don’t see too much from those companies. But Home Depot is one of the companies they do see from.”

After his decathlon days are over, Boyles is considering using his knowledge of how to raise money for training to help other athletes that will face similar situations as he has been in. With interest in Web and graphic design, he’s thought about reaching out through his Web site www.chrisboyles.com.

Of course, if that falls through for Boyles, there is always the national bed-making championships.