Coach Derrick Simmons (left) poses with runner James Chandler after the Midwest City meet on June 10. (Courtesy/ Lawton Lightning)
Summertime means long days at the pool and relaxing vacations, but for Derrick Simmons, it signifies something even greater.
The sound of beeping stopwatches. The slapping sensation of aluminum batons during relay exchanges. The thundering rumble of runners making their way around the unforgiving oval.
Those are only a few of the sounds that make summer Simmons' favorite season.
Simmons is the head coach of the Lawton Lightning, a track and field team competing in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and the United States of America Track and Field (USATF) youth programs.
After completing military duty at Ft. Sill, Simmons contemplated moving back to his home state of Florida, but instead decided to stay in Lawton. It didn't take him long to notice a common trend during the summer – wandering kids.
Simmons, wanting to improve the community, decided to make a change. That drive to make a difference allowed him, with the help of several veteran coaches in the area, to create the Lightning.
“There was nothing for the kids to do during the summer, and I didn't like seeing kids running around the streets and getting in trouble,” Simmons said. “I came up with this because it's more of a positive thing and keeps the kids off the streets and gives them something to do.”
Since the team's inception in 2012, Simmons has worked every year with athletes from ages 6 to 18, helping them polish their track skills and teaching them how to work hard.
With the season spanning about four months, Simmons said he and the coaching staff try to instill as much positivity and discipline as possible before the kids go back to school in the fall.
“Our motto is 'Do Work,' which we came up with when we first started,” Simmons said. “It's something positive for them to do. The less kids I see that are in the system for getting in trouble, the better I feel.
“So the more kids we have out here, the merrier I am. Because I know I'm helping those kids and giving them something to look forward to. I'm sympathetic toward the kids because I don't want anyone starting with a bad rep.”
The Lightning began with only eight members, but it has now grown to sport 70. Although most come from Lawton, Simmons doesn't want limit the kids based on their location. The next closest youth track team is the Oklahoma City Sprinters, more than 1.5 hours away.
“I've got some kids from Cache, Elgin and surrounding counties because we're here for the kids,” Simmons said. “I don't make kids try out because if they want to do it, that's what we're here for. Once they get here, I figure out what they're good at, and we'll practice on that.
“We're definitely not limited to Lawton, even though the that's the team name.”
That openness has allowed the young athletes from all over Southwest Oklahoma to develop not only as a team, but also as a family.
The southern parking lot of Eisenhower High School is mostly empty aside from the parents who come to see their children practice under the guiding eye of Simmons.
That is just how how he likes it. In his eyes, family isn't only important, it is necessary.
“We try to make it more of a family-oriented group,” Simmons said. “That's why I require parents to attend the meets too. We have a lot of kids in schools now whose parents don't even show up.
“The kids are looking in the stands and there's no parents there, which can be a negative action toward the kids and cause them to act out.”
Simmons doesn't put restrictions on events either. The Lightning offer a variety of competitive and fitness opportunities.
If young athletes want to test their speed in sprints, they can do that. If they want to measure their endurance and stamina with long-distance runs, they are more than welcome to. If they have found their niche in jumping or throwing events, they can further develop those abilities.
Simmons is technically the face that runs the team, but every coach has equal value in his eyes because they all play a vital role in the team's success.
Simmons said it takes a balance of all events to experience the success the team desires because points and medals aren't earned in only one type of event.
“We have a coach for every event that goes on in track,” Simmons said. “Even though it looks like I'm in charge, we didn't give titles because we're trying to build a family. We don't need titles. We're all coaches, and that's how we look at it.”
That coaching style is responsible for the team's ability to thrive in every facet of the sport. More times than not, most of the Lightning athletes leave meets with hardware around their necks.
However, Simmons said he doesn't want that causing his team to lose sight of its true goal – the Junior Olympics.
“I know they're going to medal every meet, but I don't want them to get too much into that before the national meet,” Simmons said. “We have a destination we're trying to get to. The medals are fun to enjoy in between, but the more kids we get to nationals, the better I feel.”
The Lightning are still early in their campaign to reach the Junior Olympics.
Simmons' squad takes part in the Oklahoma district qualifier meet at Cherokee High School in Cherokee on Saturday. The top eight individuals and relay teams in each event of each age division will advance to the USATF Region 9 Championships, which will be held July 6 to July 9 at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo.
Similarly, the top five from each event and age group will advance to USATF Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships in Lawrence, Kan., held July 24 to July 30.
Simmons said as long as his athletes maintain the lessons he has taught them, he will be satisfied, regardless of the end result.
“One thing I want them to take out of this is to never give up; don't quit,” Simmons said. “I want them to always strive to do their best, be respectful and shoot for success. The sky is the limit; that's what I tell them all the time.
“As long as they are successful and positive young men and women when they leave here, that's my reward out of the whole thing.”