Twelve young athletes from East Oakland have qualified to compete in the 2025 USATF National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships in Georgia.
The athletes trained under East Oakland Track Gems, a nonprofit aiming to mentor youth in track and field. The competition, which will take place from July 21-27 at Savannah State University, marks the team’s third consecutive trip to the Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships.
Twelve represents a record number of qualifying competitors for the team, which in the two prior years sent a combined five athletes — a relay team and one individual.
The group planned to practice from 6-7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday as a final push during their last week of practice, according to Traivon Soto Johnson, the team’s head coach.
Soto Johnson shared that he believes the team’s competitors in field events stand the greatest chance of finishing in the top eight who would receive medals, but that he hopes some of the track event competitors can make it to the semifinals and “possibly the finals as well.”
“I don’t think some of them are aware this is going to be a different level of competitiveness. It’s going to be highly competitive because now this is the last meet of the year,” he said. “I told them yesterday, ‘This is the show: y’all should be going all in.’”
Crowdfunding the trip
The group is aiming to raise $10,000 on GoFundMe to support transportation, housing, and meal costs. An account had raised more than $6,100 as of Tuesday afternoon.
In the future, Soto Johnson said, the team hopes to “raise funds earlier” in order to “be ahead of the game.”
“This is our third consecutive year, so at this point, I now foresee that we’re going to go every year,” he said.
“It’s not always about getting on the medal stand because it’s also about the experience. Some of these kids have never left Oakland. … These kids are having an opportunity to leave and travel. …”
Traivon Soto Johnson, EOTG coach
Soto Johnson added that he valued the trip for the experiences and growth it would provide the young athletes.
“It’s not always about getting on the medal stand because it’s also about the experience. Some of these kids have never left Oakland — well we don’t say never left Oakland because other track meets — but to leave and go to a whole other coast,” he said. “These kids are having an opportunity to leave and travel. Get on a plane, get housing, get transportation, get meals, get back and forth, get to go to a university and see what a university is like. I don’t think they fully understand it yet, and they won’t until they get older.”
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