San Jose State Radio, TV and Film junior Jaylen Williams is currently working on a documentary titled “Adversity” about the SJSU 2021-2022 track and field team and the program’s historic legacy. The production team includes SJSU students, alumni and other volunteers.
Williams, “Adversity” director and producer, said he had the idea of making a documentary about the track and field team since he first enrolled at SJSU in 2019. He said he initially came to the university to become a track athlete, but chose to be fully involved in filmmaking.
“I want to show that [the track and field] program is still going and is still trying to be as great as it used to be,” Williams said in an in-person interview.
The SJSU track program was called “Speed City” from 1956-1979, according to the Online Archives of California. Speed City was coached by Lloyd “Bud” Winter and the team acquired 43 world records and 49 American records, including SJSU track and field alumni Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ respective 1968 Mexico city Olympic gold and bronze medals.
“They were the biggest track and field team in the nation,” Williams said.
In 2019, SJSU remodeled South Campus, which is about a mile from the university and replaced the historic Bud Winter track field, where all the Speed City athletes used to train, by a four-level parking garage, according to past Spartan Daily reporting.
Selina Du, Radio, TV and Film freshman and “Adversity” production manager, said in a phone call that the track and field program is underfunded and the team still doesn’t have its own SJSU track.
“The team has to go to a bunch of different colleges and high schools to use their tracks,” Du said.
Williams said he presented his project to the SJSU athletic department in January. The department gave its approval and support but did not provide any financial sponsorship.
The production team gathered fundings through personal donations and raised $2,112 via an IndieGoGo page, he said.
The production team is using its own camera equipment and checks out audio equipment from the SJSU film department.
Williams said the SJSU director of track and field and cross country, Charles Ryan, provided him with a list of athletes to highlight in the documentary.
“There's a couple athletes that I focus on but coach Charles is the main subject because he allows me to kind of see through everyone,” Williams said. “He's connected to the entire team as the head coach, so he's basically the main character in a way.”
Ryan was named SJSU director of track and field and cross country after 14 years of NCAA coaching experience, according to the athletic department website.
Williams said that the SJSU track and field team is very diverse and he didn’t anticipate hearing stories about the challenges international students experience.
“There's just spontaneous things that happen and I just can't account for everything so much,” Williams said. “I'm watching stories being created.”
He said he’s witnessing athletes' personalities and skills develop through the lens of his camera.
Greta Fraraccio and Emilia Sjostrand are both track and field freshman and international students from Italy and Sweden, respectively.
Fraraccio said she’s glad “Adversity” is showing the Spartan track team’s hard work.
“It's really nice that they can show how much we work and what is track and field,” Fraraccio said. “Track and field is a really hard sport where a lot of people don't know the effort and don't know this sport.”
Sjostrand said she’s grateful that the documentary is capturing her first semester at SJSU and the evolution of the track team as they grow as athletes.
“I just think it's so awesome that they capture the whole team and every aspect of it when it's good and when it's bad,” Sjostrand said. “[It shows] how much work we put in and the results.”
Sjostrand and Fraraccio both said it was challenging to be followed by a camera at the start of the documentary’s production but they got used to it and said they believe the final product will be worth it.
“When you're in competitions and you have cameras, you need to stay in your zone to focus on what you're supposed to do and not focus on how you look for the camera or where the camera is,” Sjostrand said. “But it's very fun and I think that the end product will be very worth it in the end.”
Selina Du said she was not familiar with SJSU track and field history and the “Speed City” legacy before talking to Williams about the documentary.
“[Williams] was telling me everything and [it] made me want to work on it because I felt that it was important to learn about it, for myself and for other people,” Du said.
She said Williams was a good leader because he motivated the entire production team and was dedicated to his work.
“I think the biggest challenge is trying to balance school,” Williams said. “I have an internship at the same time, so I'm balancing school, this internship and the documentary.”
Williams said it was also challenging finding enough funds to travel and follow the Spartan track team’s competitions.
“I'm really pursuing this with the mindset and the professionalism of the director who wants to go into a film festival,” Williams. “That's the goal for it, to not just be on HBO or Amazon or YouTube.”
He added that he hopes “Adversity” will help his production team build a future in the film industry.
The official production will stop on June 7 and Williams estimates post-production and editing will be done before September.
“I feel like I've gotten support from everyone,” Williams said. “I'm blessed to even be able to do any of this.”
