Roy Griak Talks to Mary Hanson

Mary Hanson, who was married to Ron Daws, periodically has guests associated with running or track and field on her long-running cable TV program The Mary Hanson Show. Last month, she interviewed former University of Minnesota head track and XC coach Roy Griak. The interview was aired first on the Mary Hanson show and has been repeated several times. It is scheduled to air again as part of the Minnesota Leaders with Mary Hanson programs on TPT and possibly show up on that segment of Hanson's website HERE.

In the interview Griak talks about his start as a coach in Duluth, his path to the University of Minnesota, and some of the athletes he coached along the way. He gives his views on coaching, the importance of sports to schools and the community, and the need to recover what made sports programs great and helped develop not only good athletes, but good people. Griak, who is still actively engaged in the Gopher sports program, says he relishes the contact with today's athletes as they help "keep him young."

He notes that one of the most important things for coaches is to connect with and care for their athletes. They each need individual attention, and that both the athletes and coaches benefit from the interaction.