A Lifetime Of Track And Youth Achievements
Apr 15, 2017Posted by james
Anyone from the New York City area who ran track in high school during the 1960s through the early 1980s will remember the old armory facility in northern Manhattan. It was located in a rough neighborhood that continued to decline along with the building. Before the armory closed during 1984, as runners and others continued to compete, the building also was used for housing homeless men.
During 1993, with the interior of the armory unusable, Dr. Norbert Sander, a runner, took over the building from the city. Through his non-profit Armory Foundation, he developed a modern sports mecca that now draws about 150,000 athletes a year. The participants include grade school runners to professionals. Most Section 1 high school winter track meets now are held at the armory. High school and collegiate championships also are held at the building, which also has hosted the Millrose Games.
Dr. Sander graduated from Fordham Prep during 1960. He ran on the school’s city champion cross-country team. He also went to Fordham University, where he was part of the relay team that broke the Penn Relays’ 4X100 relay record. A graduate of Albert Einstein School of Medicine, Dr. Sander was an internist with a specialty in sports medicine.
The work of Dr. Sander goes beyond the meets that continue to run within the old armory building. About a dozen years ago, he started Armory Prep, a youth education service that serves disadvantaged kids in the building’s Washington Heights neighborhood and elsewhere. About 150 children are in the program today and thousands have passed through it over the years. Almost 40 of the children have attended college.
Dr. Sander passed away last month. As the news spread, the tributes for his passion and accomplishments also ran through the world of track and field and all local youth athletics. One area coach and track official summed up Dr. Sander’s commitment to the sport and to youth – “No one could ever have dreamed what he did. What an influence. What a man.”
by james on Apr 15, 2017 |
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