For the past nine years, Christopher Bailey has been the head coach for the boys and girls cross country teams at Antioch Community High School. He knows the sport well and has incorporated his experience into his coaching style. Cross country was not the sport Bailey began with—as most would assume—but he soon realized the sport was made for him.

“I played football and quickly realized they were not in need of an 80 pound linebacker, so my dad encouraged me to go out for cross country,” Bailey said. “I did it as an eighth grader and enjoyed it ever since.”

Bailey began his career at West Mont High School, where he was successful in the sport. He was a two-time state champion in 1993 and 1994, and his senior year his team placed 4th in the state. He also won state in the 3,200 meters and took second in the 1,600 meters his senior year. After graduating, Bailey went on to attend Illinois State University where his success continued. He won ten individual conference championships and was an All-American in 1999 in the 10,000 meters. He was named the Illinois State University Athlete of the Year in 1998 and 1999, and he was inducted in the school’s Hall of Fame in 2012.

Like all coaches, Bailey is always looking for a way where he can help and push his athletes toward success. His accomplishments in the sport help him know what it takes for an athlete to succeed at a high level. He also uses his experience to motivate his athletes and keep their confidence high, so they don’t get down on themselves when hard work doesn’t always result in success.

“I think I understand the mental toughness to the sport,” Bailey said. I’ve been there, and it’s just trying to encourage them to get through it. It’s easy when it gets tough to say you want to quit or stop running, so I think that since I have been in that situation and I’m able to pull more out of the kids and keep them going.”

Sharing his love for the sport is a reason Bailey came to the decision to coach cross country at Antioch. Being a teacher at the school, he enjoys being around teenagers and likes the environment they create for him as a coach.

“I love being around teenage guys and girls; the interaction I have with them is a lot of fun,” Bailey said. “It’s fun watching high schoolers set goals and achieve them and I enjoy coaching, watching sports and being around kids who enjoy it as much as I do.”

Bailey has impressions on his athletes, making them believe that anything can be accomplished as long as you set your mind to it and attack the goal. Junior Natalie Hill and senior Kaitlyn Castillo share Bailey’s willingness to help his athletes first hand.

“Coach Bailey is great,” Hill said. “You can tell he really cares about all of the kids on the team, and he shows it through all the little things he does for us. He’s always flexible and listens to what kids need to keep getting better.”

He also helps his athletes when they are overcoming an injury by helping them make the small steps needed to get back in the groove of running long distances.

“He has inspired me in small ways, but to me they make a difference,” Castillo said. “Since I’m a manager now, I work out more of when I want to with the team rather than a necessity because I am injured. He has inspired me to be okay with taking small steps to build up to things like completing a full work out for the first time in over a year. He still talks to me as if I had never stopped being one of his athletes and [pushes] me to do better than I thought I could do after being out for so long.”

The sport of cross country and the opportunities Bailey has been able to have as a coach have impacted his life more than ever. Like a lot of coaches, his life revolves around the sport he is so involved with. He enjoys being able to impact a child’s life through coaching because sometimes the relationship between a coach and their athlete will trump a relationship with family and friends.

“If I have a cross country runner that plays basketball, I love going to watch them play in the winter,” Bailey said. “Even though I’m not coaching them I still like to be involved in their lives outside of school and outside of the sport that we are involved with together.”

A beneficial coach is one that never gives up on their athletes and is willing to help them through any situation whether it be in the sport or not. Bailey is a coach that feeds off of seeing his athletes succeed and that is what keeps him enjoying the sport he came to love so long ago.