Merced track club to bring children, officers together

A Merced track club is organizing an event next month to give young people positive interactions with law enforcement officers.

Bridging the Gap is the brainchild of Rafeeq Hassaan, the head coach for Minds In Motion Youth Track Club. Law enforcement agencies have begun to commit to the all-day meet March 12, which will include races for youth as well as officers.

Hassaan said his team is working to round up as many young people as possible, and the event is open to all comers.

“We’re accepting anyone,” he said.

Minds In Motion has been around for about six years and is aimed at more than just track and field events, organizers said. The youth in the club are taught discipline and the importance of education.

The event in March is a way to get young people to meet officers they might otherwise never know, said Anley Tefera, also of Minds In Motion. “Our vision is to build this around positivity.”

All too often, he said, interactions with officers can be unpleasant. So, Bridging the Gap aims to show young people that officers are people, too. To that end, one of the races is a four-person relay featuring two youth and two officers. Tefera said those teams have at least two mandatory practices.

“They will actually have a chance to work together,” he said.

Along with the more common heats at a track meet, such as the 50-meter or 1,500-meter races, is the Battle of the Badge race, which will pit different law enforcement agencies against one another in a sprint.

The Merced County Sheriff’s Office has committed to the event, which will be held at Merced College, Sgt. Delray Shelton said. The track club has done most of the leg work, so it made the decision easy.

“We’d be absolutely foolish not to jump on board,” Shelton said.

Part of “community policing” is getting out to meet people, he said. The office also plans to have its specialty vehicles and equipment on display.

Shelton said the Battle of the Badge race should also give a local agency some bragging rights while entertaining the crowd.

Organizers have lined up guest of honor Randy Williams, a Fresno native who long-jumped his way to a gold medal at the Munich Olympics in 1972 and a silver in the 1976 Montreal Games.

Organizers said between 800 and 1,200 youth from all over the state are expected to be involved. The races are free for spectators, and children from 5 to 18 can still sign up and pay the $10 fee.

The club is taking sign-ups in person from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday at the McCombs Youth Center, 615 W. 15th St. The club also will take registrations at the Merced Mall from 5 to 7 p.m. Feb. 19 and 26 and March 4, as well as 3 to 5 p.m. Feb. 20 and 27.

Anyone can also sign up online at www.btgusa.org.

For more on the track club, go to centralvalleysportsacademy.org.

This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Merced track club to bring children, officers together."