Meet Track Coach Carlberg

By David Tay

In the absence of former coach Jackie Green, the Wildcat track & field team was in need of a new instructor to fill her shoes. Enter: Mr. Sam Carlberg, a social studies student teacher here at Northview. As an assistant coach, Carlberg will be helping instruct this season’s long distance team, as well as the high and long jumpers. Although this may be his first time coaching track, Carlberg has had several years of experience coaching individuals through color guard. He is currently the assistant coach of Jenison High School’s color guard, a group who has a longstanding history of excellence.

Carlberg graduated from Northview High School in 2012. He ran track for three years as a mid-distance runner, stating that he “couldn’t stand running more than one lap.” He did, however, run cross country for all four years of high school, giving him the long distance experience needed to coach those events.

The new coach has lofty goals for this year’s team, saying, “My goal for this group is to push them to that conference championship.” Carlberg explained that achieving something as grand as the conference championship starts with the mindset.

“Whatever they tell themselves, they are right,” Carlberg said. Winning the conference might prove difficult over track & field powerhouses Forest Hills Northern and Lowell, but Carlberg believes that adopting the right mentality is all the team needs to get where they want to go.

Coach Carlberg’s philosophy to coaching is similar to his philosophy on education. He chose to reference the quote, “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.” Carlberg said that he will work to inspire and motivate his athletes, but in the end, they need to meet him halfway. He wants the runners to realize that a lack of motivation won’t only hurt them, but the rest of the team.

Carlberg says that track is interesting because it’s a very individually based sport but is also very team oriented. He also mentioned that gaining the right balance between team and individual can be a difficult task, but having a team can be helpful in terms of finding motivation for the individuals.

When asked about his future plans, Carlberg said that he believes a coach is most effective when they are in the building during the day, both for recruiting and training purposes. Carlberg said he would love to be hired at Northview but ultimately, he plans to seek employment both as a teacher and a coach at whatever school he is hired into.

Photos courtesy of Tom Reynolds

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