Bill Schmidt, Kari Ihalainen & Jeff Gorski

In certain circles, it's not too narcissistic to say that Chapel Hill is at the center of the civilized world.

There's no denying that the heart of college basketball excellence beats here. It's not a stretch to say that we're a hub of a southern literature, art and perhaps even jazz and blues music.

Lately, the research of UNC's Kevin Guskiewicz has changed the way the world -- and certainly the NFL -- looks at concussions and head trauma.

And then there's the javelin.

Javelin?

As it happens, the compass needle of the javelin world now may be pointing squarely on our community, thanks to the Kultan Keihas project. Begun this year thanks to a grant from the Chapel Hill-based National Scholastic Sports Federation, this program is seeking to groom elite young prospects for greatness on the Olympic and world championship stage.

In short, the initiative is seeking to shift he magnetic poles of the javelin world a little farther from Finland -- which has long dominated the sport -- and a little closer to home.

"There are no other programs like this," program director and longtime elite throwing coach Jeff Gorski said. "There's not a program like the Kultan Keihas project -- that's 'Golden Javelin' in Finnish -- where we're identifying talent and providing the right kind of training."

Six of the top returning boy and girl high school javelin throwers were invited to train in the program Oct. 20-23 and more training will be offered Dec. 27-30.

The program's goal is to identify emerging elite junior javelin talent and provide them with the best technical and training methods available, stated the clinic website ( nationalscholastic.org/javclinic/). Additionally, the clinic is open to any interested coaches and athletes, offering some opportunities for involvement with training sessions.

According to plans, the elite throwers will make a trip next summer to Finland, a country with a legacy for consistently producing the best throwers in the world.

Gorski was approached by the NSSF in July with the idea of hosting the elite camp.

"The NSSF said they were disappointed with the way the javelin throwers were looking in this country at the Olympic level," Gorski explained. "They were looking at Pan-Am (Games) Juniors and even they weren't doing all that much."

Gorski said he'd been running javelin clinics for Jim Spiers of the NSSF at the Adidas Invitational Track and Field Meet at N.C. State University during the past two decades.

"I had had some pretty good success training javelin throwers," he said. "Jim (Spiers) wanted someone to help select the athletes and coaches and to put this program together. It's all of the stuff I've been trying to do on my own for 20 years. So now someone shows up with a checkbook and says let's do this the right way? Hey, Christmas came early."

Gorski had both the industry clout and the connections to assemble a first-rate staff for the clinic, including 1972 Olympic javelin bronze medalist Bill Schmidt and 15-year Finnish National Javelin Coach Kari Ihalainen.

Gorski himself was the former USATF Javelin High Performance chair, a two-time TAC (now USATF) Finalist, a 1981 U.S. National Team member; and a three-time All-ACC performer at UNC in the 1970s.

Gorski first began coaching in 1992 when he was approached by UNC All-American Sean Murray and Lynda Lipson Blutreich.

Soon throwers from across the U.S. were soliciting his expertise as well. In 2000, Gorski started the American JavFest, bringing together greats from the past, present and future of US javelin throwing as well as top visiting athletes and coaches.

It also marked the start of the Klub Keihas Throwing Schools: a program of clinics and training camps across the U.S.

In 2003, Gorski build his local "Field of Dreams" training facilities, where he has hosted a training camp each summer since 2005.

Never before, however, has the opportunity existed -- either here or anywhere in the U.S. -- to work with the absolutely elite among young javelin throwers.

"The six kids we chose were all high school juniors or seniors and all among the top 10 kids nationally," said Gorski.

He admitted that it was a challenge to find young athletes ready to truly commit to javelin, especially in a country where nearly two-thirds of U.S. states have banned the event from high school track and field competition.

"There are only 17 states that have javelin as an official part of their high school program," he said, "but every state in the country has USATF throwers."

For those talented few willing to put in the effort, however, Gorski predicts longterm success.

"The goal is not to just give these kids a good year this year," he said. "It's to give them the correct training their counterparts in Finland are getting. When these kids are out of college, we don't want them just making it to Olympic Games; we want them in the Olympic finals and challenging for medals."

In addition to the six elites invited to Kultan Keihas, an additional 33 throwers and coaches attended, including two girls from North Carolina.

"We'll probably pick up a few more (in December) from word of mouth," said Gorski.

"If there are locals who are interested in learning more about the event, or if they want to simply come and see literally some of the best American high school javelin throwers, they'll get a real introduction to what the event is like: we can make stuff happen."

Down the line, Gorski said the possibilities are endless for his training facility.

"The plan is for this to be an annual event," he said, "but we have plans for fundraising, because we'd like it to be the top five guys and girls or the top eight....

"Years down the road, maybe javelin will start to get a little attention because these kids are good."

Perhaps then, as more and more talent is drawn magnetically to Chapel Hill, maybe more youth athletes' compasses ultimately will steer them to the Olympic podium.

source: chapelhillnews.com

You can see more photos at Klub Keihas' Facebook page