DAPHNE, Ala. – Track and field coach Jeremiah “Jay” Condon is using his United States Sports Academy master’s degree to transition from coaching at the high school level to the collegiate ranks after being hired by Castleton University in Vermont.
A Vermont native, Condon was hired to coach the Spartan men’s and women’s track and field teams after several years coaching at Granville High School in Granville, N.Y. He earned his Master of Sports Science degree in sports coaching in 2007 while working as a sixth-grade teacher in the Granville Central School District. He said his Academy education directly led to his coaching career.
“I decided to pursue my Master of Sports Science degree in sports coaching at the United States Sports Academy because I wanted to focus on skills I would need as a coach,” Condon said.
“I always wanted to coach at the highest level and thought the education and skills the Academy would teach me would help, and they did. I think earning a degree at a college that focuses on sports is great. I enjoyed my time at the Academy.
“The Academy is a great place for anyone who is looking to focus on a career in sports.”
Condon served as head varsity track and field coach at Granville from 2008 until 2013, when he became the assistant track and field coach at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, N.Y., where he recruited athletes and developed practice plans. He then worked as the assistant track and field coach at Hudson Falls (N.Y.) High School, working with the “jumping” athletes and then coaching the throwing event athletes.
Condon returned to Granville for the 2017-18 academic year. There, he developed skills training for all events as well as a strength and conditioning program. He also coordinated schedules and budgets and managed home meets.
Condon said the transition from coaching high school athletes to the collegiate level has been rewarding.
“As the head track and field coach at Castleton, I’m responsible for all aspects of the program — recruiting, meet entry, and teaching of the different events. I have a couple of assistant coaches who have event areas they teach as well.
“I love all aspects of what I do. Each piece of the position has rewarding parts. The transition has been good.
“The biggest difference between high school and college is the recruiting piece. There is a lot of emailing and many phone calls to student-athletes who are interested in Castleton.”
Condon said he has been involved in sports for as long as he can remember. He has coached since he was 19, when he coached goalies for a local youth ice hockey team. He has also coached soccer and football at various levels.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in childhood education from the College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y., where he created the ice hockey club and was named the 2005 Student Association Advisor of the Year.
“Jay’s experience both as a head coach and in coaching different disciplines within track and field is exactly what we were looking for,” Castleton Associate Dean for Athletics and Recreation Deanna Tyson said. “I anticipate Jay continuing the progression of a track and field program that is still growing.”
The United States Sports Academy is an independent, non-profit, accredited, special mission sports university created to serve the nation and world with programs in instruction, research and service. The role of the Academy is to prepare men and women for careers in the profession of sports.
The Academy is based in Daphne, Ala. For more information, call (251) 626-3303 or visit www.ussa.edu.
