Beyond the Track: Melvin Anderson
05/14/2019
Melvin Anderson is celebrating 20 years this year with the Track Minnesota Elite, a participating team in AAU Track and Field events. Anderson founded the track club in 1999.
Melvin Anderson was first introduced to the Amateur Athletic Program (AAU) when he got his son involved in one of the AAU Track and Field summer programs. After seeing his son participate, Anderson decided to help with coaching and developing youth athletes into be successful on the field as well as in college and beyond.
Anderson himself was a product of an athletic program scholarship. “I am from Pittsburg originally and came to Minnesota on a football scholarship to University of Minnesota,” said Anderson. He then signed to play for his hometown Steelers. “Once I was done with the NFL, I went back to Minnesota and just kind of started giving back. I see what one little scholarship did to my life, and now I have three businesses giving back.”
At the University of Minnesota, Anderson was under the tutelage of the “master motivator” Head Coach Louis Holtz, whom was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008. “I learned a lot from him as far as how to motivate kids into doing their best and providing them a platform to do that,” said Anderson.
In 1999, Anderson applied these learnings into his own club, the Track Minnesota Elite, where he looked at using track a little differently. He approached the club as more of a social venture. “We are a non-profit but at the same time we have always been building the capacity to be here 20-40 years from now and at the same time developing facilities to support our programs,” said Anderson. “There are many programs that came and went, and we take pride in being here 20 years later.”
Part of Anderson’s AAU success is the blueprint in which he coaches these kids. “We have had 90 percent of our kids go to college in the last 15 years,” said Anderson, “Right now we have 46 kids in college, running for Oregon to Colgate, Columbia to Kansas, Wisconsin and Minnesota, but more importantly, the kids gain a different level of confidence that influences their social and academic behavior.” The athletes in Track Minnesota Elite also learn to develop life skills, character and leadership. “We are trying to help kids and families to be great, not just survive. We teach them to leverage their talent to be a launching pad to college or into the fitness world or where ever their path might drive them,” said Anderson.
The AAU offers the system in which these young athletes can showcase their talent. They have the opportunity to not only compete against other athletes in their state, but also from around the country during the AAU Junior Olympic Games each summer. The athletes learn to “manage success, failure and stress,” said Anderson. “When our kids come back from [Junior Olympic Games] every year, they come back different. They come out of Minnesota and go against kids from Florida, California and Texas. When they come back, they are different because, AAU provides the platform to practice success and failure in one track meet in one season.”
With 22 national All-Americans and several gold medals each year, Anderson’s team can be considered as one of the best youth track programs in the country, but beyond coaching track, Anderson is focused on a family approach to health and wellness. With a recent federal grant, “we were able to add on a fitness, nutrition and wellness program which is evolved into one of the leading health and wellness, weight management program for obese and diabetic families,” said Anderson. He and his team of coaches were able to apply their expertise of in fitness and getting kids fit around the track and expand on it to create a full scale wellness model. Obesity is a major concern to the younger generation, and Anderson strives to provide the opportunity for families lead a healthier lifestyle. “We will meet them where they are at, between the athletics, the health and wellness or the youth development because every kid is not a track athlete,” said Anderson. “This is where we provide the alternatives around leadership, life skills, offseason fitness training for kids that do other sports and then of course the track and field.”
What started as a small track program in 1999, Anderson’s Track Minnesota Elite has blossomed into a multifunctional program to encourage athletes of all ages and sports to seek the best life they can make for themselves. “It is what I have been put here to do,” commented Anderson. Twenty-years of devotion by Anderson, and he has definitely left his stamp on the world.
AAU’s inaugural Track and Field Day is June 1. Show your AAU pride by posting a photo on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #AAUTrackDay. The AAU Junior Olympic Games for the 2019 season will take place in Greensboro, North Carolina from July 24 – August 3. For more information click here.
Anderson himself was a product of an athletic program scholarship. “I am from Pittsburg originally and came to Minnesota on a football scholarship to University of Minnesota,” said Anderson. He then signed to play for his hometown Steelers. “Once I was done with the NFL, I went back to Minnesota and just kind of started giving back. I see what one little scholarship did to my life, and now I have three businesses giving back.”
At the University of Minnesota, Anderson was under the tutelage of the “master motivator” Head Coach Louis Holtz, whom was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008. “I learned a lot from him as far as how to motivate kids into doing their best and providing them a platform to do that,” said Anderson.
In 1999, Anderson applied these learnings into his own club, the Track Minnesota Elite, where he looked at using track a little differently. He approached the club as more of a social venture. “We are a non-profit but at the same time we have always been building the capacity to be here 20-40 years from now and at the same time developing facilities to support our programs,” said Anderson. “There are many programs that came and went, and we take pride in being here 20 years later.”
Part of Anderson’s AAU success is the blueprint in which he coaches these kids. “We have had 90 percent of our kids go to college in the last 15 years,” said Anderson, “Right now we have 46 kids in college, running for Oregon to Colgate, Columbia to Kansas, Wisconsin and Minnesota, but more importantly, the kids gain a different level of confidence that influences their social and academic behavior.” The athletes in Track Minnesota Elite also learn to develop life skills, character and leadership. “We are trying to help kids and families to be great, not just survive. We teach them to leverage their talent to be a launching pad to college or into the fitness world or where ever their path might drive them,” said Anderson.
The AAU offers the system in which these young athletes can showcase their talent. They have the opportunity to not only compete against other athletes in their state, but also from around the country during the AAU Junior Olympic Games each summer. The athletes learn to “manage success, failure and stress,” said Anderson. “When our kids come back from [Junior Olympic Games] every year, they come back different. They come out of Minnesota and go against kids from Florida, California and Texas. When they come back, they are different because, AAU provides the platform to practice success and failure in one track meet in one season.”
With 22 national All-Americans and several gold medals each year, Anderson’s team can be considered as one of the best youth track programs in the country, but beyond coaching track, Anderson is focused on a family approach to health and wellness. With a recent federal grant, “we were able to add on a fitness, nutrition and wellness program which is evolved into one of the leading health and wellness, weight management program for obese and diabetic families,” said Anderson. He and his team of coaches were able to apply their expertise of in fitness and getting kids fit around the track and expand on it to create a full scale wellness model. Obesity is a major concern to the younger generation, and Anderson strives to provide the opportunity for families lead a healthier lifestyle. “We will meet them where they are at, between the athletics, the health and wellness or the youth development because every kid is not a track athlete,” said Anderson. “This is where we provide the alternatives around leadership, life skills, offseason fitness training for kids that do other sports and then of course the track and field.”
What started as a small track program in 1999, Anderson’s Track Minnesota Elite has blossomed into a multifunctional program to encourage athletes of all ages and sports to seek the best life they can make for themselves. “It is what I have been put here to do,” commented Anderson. Twenty-years of devotion by Anderson, and he has definitely left his stamp on the world.
AAU’s inaugural Track and Field Day is June 1. Show your AAU pride by posting a photo on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #AAUTrackDay. The AAU Junior Olympic Games for the 2019 season will take place in Greensboro, North Carolina from July 24 – August 3. For more information click here.
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