The Pirate Track Club, a track and field team for the youth that comes out of Platte City, recently had nine athletes compete at the AAU National Championships and become All-Americans at Virginia Beach.
Jamar Parrish – who has been a teacher and an assistant track and field coach for Platte County High School since 2010 – created the Pirate Track Club six years ago. Parrish came up with the idea to give more kids, like his son who was seven at the time, another sport to play.
“When we started, it was more so for the kids that didn’t have anything to play during the spring and summer,” Parrish said. “We wanted to keep them active, and I’ve done track my whole life coming up, so I thought it was a good idea.”
Within four years, the Pirate Track Club went from having only seven kids to surpassing 100 total athletes from all ages in the outdoor season that takes place in the summer. The club also does an indoor season, which was what season the Pirates were in during their AAU National appearance, with less total athletes since it’s the same time as basketball and wrestling.
“It’s all about developing their athletic abilities and confidence at a young age. They want to get faster and get better at certain things and they can do track to help push them in other sports that they have bigger aspirations in,” Parrish said.
The Pirates have kids that range from 5-year-olds all the up way through middle school. In the youth competitions, there are typical events from the 100-meter dash to the 3,000-meter run, along with field events where each athlete competes in their age groups.
“They have an 8 and under group, then 9 and 10 together and then on up. They get to compete within a 2-year age gap of their age and see where they are at,” Parrish said.
At nationals, all nine Pirates who qualified finished in the top-7: Ethan Larson, Samantha Jones, Embry Wazac, Claire Babcock, Braylon Gates, Anna Kampmeyer, Ali Burress, Gabrielle Bass and Maclin Parrish. Larson, who is 13 years old, and Jones, who is 11 years old, were the only two who finished as national champions; Larson won the long jump and Jones won the 60-meter hurdles.
“The moment for me was surreal – but we don’t do it for that, we don’t do it for the recognition or for the medals. To see the kids who worked so hard and to see it result in something as huge as a national championship, that’s something they might never experience again, so it’s just awesome to watch these kids progress the way they have,” Parrish said.
Larson also finished in second place in the high jump, while Jones had a third place finish in the high jump and a fourth place finish in the long jump. Wazac – a 12-year-old – ended in fifth place in the long jump, with the remaining five Pirates finishing in sixth and seventh places in their events.
“Ethan will be coming up on a year of ever doing track, so for him to have the success he has this early is great, and it takes someone to see the talent and give him an opportunity to do something that he has never done before. His confidence has skyrocketed; it has helped him develop his confidence and develop his athleticism,” Parrish said.
The Pirate Track Club – a track and field team for children set out of Platte City – had nine athletes finish in the top-8 at the AAU National Championships to become All-Americans at Virginia Beach.
This was only the second time that the Pirates have competed at nationals, but they also had success last season in their first appearance. In 2021, they had four athletes finish in the top-8 and become All-Americans.
“This year we took nine and we didn’t know what was going to happen, but it was the most success by far. All nine kids were at least top-8 in their events, and we had two kids who were national champions. We’ve never had any, so to have both in the same was pretty cool,” Parrish said.
The Pirates have also had some success in the outdoor season as they have competed at a national meet five times. The very first outdoor national championship that the Pirates competed in was hosted at Rock Chalk Park at Kansas University.
“They (KU) bid for it every year, it’s huge, there are like 5,000 plus athletes. You have your association meet then the top-8 go to regionals – which for us includes teams from Iowa, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri – then the top-5 compete and then go to nationals. Not everyone is able to go to those venues, since they aren’t exactly in our backyard; we had to go all the way to Sacramento for one,” Parrish said.
While some top-tier competitions can be out of state or even across the country, the Pirates have most of their regular season meets in the Kansas City area. There is even an early outdoor season meet at Platte County High School – set for May 1 this upcoming season.
“It’s called a developmental meet and there are kids from all over that compete in it, and it gives our kids a chance to get their feet wet and get comfortable with being at a familiar place. That’s the first meet of the year for the outdoor season,” Parrish said.
The Pirates typically practice three time a week at the Platte County High School, depending on what facilities are available. If it’s available they use the track, but they’ve practiced at other facilities on site, as well.
Some of the athletes who have been on the Pirate Track Club have reached the high school level and the time with the youth track and field team has helped them at the high school level. Some of the athletes are still representing Pirate colors and are key contributors on the Platte County track and field team.
“Last year Platte County had the all-state pole vaulter, Maya Sullivan, and Reese Pickett who was fifth place in state in the high jump, who were in our club before they were in high school. They were key pieces to the high school team to help the girls’ track and field team bring home a state trophy for the first time in program history,” Parrish said.
Initially Parrish was the only coach, but now the Pirates have multiple other parents who help coach: Abby Johnson, Jennifer Medellin and Tiffany Burris. Even Parrish’s wife, Lauren, helps as a coach as she’s a speech pathologist and has helped with the Platte County High School and Middle School track and field programs since 2014.
“Now we are at a point that we have developed a full coaching staff. The cool thing about track is that there is something for everyone,” Parrish said.
While the Pirate Track Club comes out of Platte City, not all of the athletes on the team go to school at Platte County. They have kids that come from Liberty, North Platte, and other areas from the Northland.