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| Need Advice |
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I came into cross country as a freshman and after our first time trial, I was the fastest on the team. Do not think I am bragging because this is a Division III college with a pretty sucky team. My coach immediately had high expectations for me that season, expecting a trip to nationals. As the season progressed, I was experiencing more pressure from my coach to do more repeats or more miles or to run faster. Of course, this lead to some pain in my leg because of the rapid increase in intensity and volume. I ran with it as much as I could but eventually I had to confront my coach about it. I told him that I thought I should go see the trainers and he responded by saying “if you go see the trainers then I will kick you off the team”. This is essentially a threat but I had to oblige because I did not want to be kicked off the team. Being a freshman I did not know what power my coach had, so this put me in a difficult position. I kept running on the injury and it got worse and worse. Finally, once it got bad enough I went to the trainers who took me out for the season. I ended up getting diagnosed with compartment syndrome by a doctor and had to have surgery to release all four compartments in my leg. Since this time I have not been able to run competitively because of the reoccurring injuries caused by the surgery. Should my coach be fired for this behavior? Or should it require more than one incident like this? |
| phamphee |
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At some point it has to be your responsibility to look out for your own safety. You are not a kid anymore, 18 is old enough to know when you are hurting yourself. Your coach was probably wrong, but this would have never happened if you had maintained a slightly better perspective on what was going on. Don't try to blame your coach for that. |
| Need Advice |
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Thanks phamphee. I try to grapple with this very reasoning as well but a coach should never be able to exercise his power over an athlete like that. It is pretty much blackmail, just like threatening someone to do something at work or they get fired. |
| 4:08 Guy |
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Why would any coach threaten to kick you off the team for going to see the trainer? |
| STOP BITCHING |
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Sounds like a personal problem....Back in my day we ran with both legs broken, so when we raced normally, it felt easy! |
| voiceofreason |
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If you brought it up to the AD it would turn into a he said he said situation. It probably wouldn't affect your coach at all. If it makes you feel better though talk to the coach so he doesn't do it to anyone else. |
| Coaches News Network |
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You should fire yourself for not going to the trainer when it got bad. Firing the coach won't grow you a spine. |
| CGBatch |
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More importantly why would you want to continue to run for a coach who threatened to kick you off the team for wanting to take care of yourself |
| termination effect |
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Your injury, albeit a setback in your career, is a bain in the careers of numerous healthcare professionals now assisting you in your recovery. I commend your coach for stimultaing the economy. |
| ue6u |
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I'd bet you meant "boon" there. "Bane" (note spelling) doesn't carry the meaning you seemed to be looking for. |
| runn |
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They could/should use this as a reason to get rid of him. He's not a good coach, he doesn't care about his runners. My daughter had a similar experience at a low level DI school- I won't say who because when I did once someone told me I shouldn't be-little the coach. Honestly, only the coach would say that. But, she was a freshman, #1 on the team after the first race- a scrimmage against a couple other schools. She got a virus and the coach belittled her in front of the team for getting sick. Another was injured and the coach said "I can't believe you did that to me." (what?!) Tired legs? She didn't care- 8 miles at 8:00 per mile were the recovery days, every day. Normally, that wasn't a problem for my daughter but she was a freshman, who was sick and simply wasn't allowed to recover. To her credit, she waited out the season, quit, gave up a scholarship and told the coach why. She was followed by EVERY girl on the team, including a senior who ran for 2 years under a previous coach, 1 year with this one, then quit her senior year. The coach is still there and the team sucks. |
| J.R. |
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This doesn't make sense. "Eventually" you "had to" "confront" your coach about it? How about just telling him right away. How about realizing right away you were hurt and to not keep doing something that would keep making it worse. If you were hitting your thumb with a hammer, would you keep doing it regardless that it was hurting your thumb?
You told him. He didn't agree. At that point it's up to you to do what is best for you, regardless of anyone else. Not everyone in the world is going to agree with you (some people even don't agree with me at times). It's up to you to decide what is best for you and your life.
Right, but lesson learned. All the power for your life is with you, not anyone else.
Your fault. Not anyone else's.
It was entirely your doing, your decision to go to doctors and have the surgery on your leg, which IMO was stupid. Having the surgery had absolutely NOTHING to do with your coach. The coach didn't tell you to go to any doctors and didn't tell you to have surgery. YOU decided that. It was and is YOUR responsibility. |
| Opposite of J.R. |
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J.R. you probably gave the worst advice and I disagree with just about everything you said. I do not have the time to write a book like you did, but just read the OP's post again and look at how silly your advice was. The OP did nothing wrong except try to be respectful of an authority figure and showed that he wanted to be part of the team. I am sorry he ended up havings uch a horrible coach and as a result ended up with a serious injury that required surgery. Who knows what would have happened if the coach had just a small level of maturity. How do guys like this get jobs and actually keep them? |
| J.R. |
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The coach had nothing to do with the OP getting surgery. That was entirely the decision of the OP. Also you're relying 100% on the OP's version of the story which, as I pointed out, doesn't make any sense. In any case, everything the OP has done has been 100% the choice of the OP, not the coach. The OP has free will, and the coach did not force the OP to do anything. Geesh look at what doctors do to people, invasive and destructive. I bet you don't say anything about that. |
| melbs |
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J.R.'s assumption is that _all_ the power to direct your life lies with _you_ personally. This seems slightly overstated to me because although we have a measure of (free) will with which to respond to any given situation, the conditions of that response are not within the individual's control - i.e. he/she is _constrained_ by a number of biological and cultural forces (these same forces also _enable_ a person's will and action potential, but certainly not in an equal and infinite manner!). Also, because there is always a context to our action, it will always be subject to interpretation and manipulation by others. The individual is not absolute and all powerful... unless her name is Shalane Flanagan. She has the eye/I of the tiger. |
| d2xccoach |
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This is not a fire-able offense. As described, it may not be good coaching, but it's not grounds for dismissal. To the OP, why did you ask your coach about going to see the trainer? If you have "pain in my leg" just go see the trainer-or does your school require all referrals to the trainer be through a coach? You speculate the pain was due to an increase in intensity and volume, but how do you really know it wasn't a structural issue or something else unrelated to the training you had been doing? |
| runn |
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Not a fire-able offense, in the "legal" sense- like maybe if he wasn't showing up to work, but coaches get fired for being "bad" coaches. If what the OP said was true then the guy is not a good coach and could be fired. Maybe the OP is full of crap, we really don't know. My daughter was a good enough HS runner to get recruited by a few colleges, she chose the wrong one. I'm a HS coach, I have successful runners, two have gone on to pro careers after college. I thought the training my daughter "suffered" through in college was bad. The coach did not listen to the athletes, it was her program or nothing. Are you tired? too bad, sick? too bad, injured? you suck. That's not good coaching. If the college cared, they'd fire her. |
| Conundrum |
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Your coach should be reported because he behavior was not only unethical but dangerous to others. However, is this the whole story? Are you leaving parts out? Did anyone else hear this threat? What's the coach's side of the story. If its just the way you said it, report him, but he will lie and deny it and I'm guessing you have no proof. |
| doperdan |
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Well there's a valuable piece of college learning. Clearly you are not running for a while. Maybe when you come back you'll decide to run unattached. But lets be straight here. Its D 3, its not worth crippling yourself for - which is by definition any injury that does not return to normal. They tend to revisit you later in life. I doubt track is going to figure in your long term future - unless you are going to work at a shoe store. I'd get whatever treatment you can from the trainers. That's what they do. They have the equipment, and your injury was related to their program. You have that even if you don't 'race' / run for a while. After you come back, if you want to race, hopefully your balls will have dropped and you will have a better idea of preparing yourself and not let yourself be run into the dr's office. If all fails, show some character and tell the coach to fck off. You are only at school for 4 years. Running and racing is fun. If its no fun there, don't run. |
| Shoebacca |
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I'm shocked by the amount of people pinning this on the student. The student showed respect for authority and followed the chain of command. If this is what happens when an athlete allows your coach full control, then that doesn't speak well of the coach's competency. You're one student, though, and can't expect much resolution from the school. You got the raw end of the deal, but now you can decide to listen to your body more and to that coach less. It's worse that this happened at a D3 school, where the student-athlete balance and overall health is a bigger concern. Tell your coach how you feel or else don't run for the team. Years from now you'll never regret speaking your mind if you think it was the right thing to do. But you will regret letting others tell you what to do with your life. |
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