Is it the norm at most D1 schools for the coach to mostly ignore walk ons?

How do D1 scholarship runners treat walk ons? Do the scholarship guys treat the walk ons like teammates pursuing the same goals, or are they elitist dbags?

EveryStepOfTheWay wrote:

However, I recall the following was told to me prior to joining the team out of high school: "You have to beat our top recruit in practice by a considerable margin for us to feel confident in you."

Cut to two years later...I was literally on his heels or even side by side with him in track workouts. Can you take a wild guess on who they would have run and who would be running unattached?

It's unfair. But it's their rules.

Sounds like they didn't select you to run because you COULD NOT FOLLOW DIRECTIONS! You just say they said you have to BEAT the top recruit by a considerable margin...then you complain about not being selected because you DID NOT beat them at all? You must have taken you're deductive reasoning class the first year when you were focused on running and not class?

Back to the actual topic, this is true for my school. In fact my coach treats most injured people this way unless you have really proved yourself on the collegiate level.

what kind of a coach is robert gary of ohio state? Im very curious.

I also wonder wrote:

How do D1 scholarship runners treat walk ons? Do the scholarship guys treat the walk ons like teammates pursuing the same goals, or are they elitist dbags?

In my experience, $ was never discussed and when it was, it was actually the guys receiving $ who were on the receiving end of the criticism when things didn't go well. If you were getting $, you had better perform or else. As a walk-on, there was zero pressure to perform and any race you ran well was considered a gift to the team. I actually loved not being on scholarship, but I also was fortunate enough to have really supportive parents so I didn't have to work throughout college and run track simultaneously.

I thought people who went to college they were adults. What is a parent still doing hovering around? Sorry I really dislike helicopter parents. It is one thing to encourage your offspring but to still fight their battles for them at such an advanced age is pathetic. A walk on is just that; a walk-on. Walk-ons do not have the same status as scholarship athletes and in most instances for good reason. However in your defense I believe that if a coach agrees to have someone on a team then they should treat them with respect and dignity at ALL times---once they feel like they do not want them around they should let them know and ask them to leave the team. If you walked onto the team you can just as easily walk off so use your prerogative and dont ever expect any special treatment. And to answer the question: YES it is the norm. Walk-ons do not really count (when it comes to track and field)to a coach or a track team unless maybe they can score a point or two at conference. In my experience many of them spent a large part of their time in the training room nursing injuries (their bodies' way of telling them that they had not business attempting to keep up with true athletes).If someone wants to feel loved and needed they should join a recreational running club and quit trying to be somehting they are not. In sum a person should only be allowed to walk on the for one year--if they score no points at conference or show no promise at all they should join a rec club.

csmith wrote:

... In sum a person should only be allowed to walk on the for one year--if they score no points at conference or show no promise at all they should join a rec club.

What happens if the runner does score a few points at conf or "show promise" by the end of the one permitted walk on year in your scenario? What does csmith suggest then? Would the school be required to give you a scholarship under your plan or would the runner just no longer be called a walk on?

I was a walk-on for a D1 school and one time during the first week of practice Freshman year I told my coach that my birthday was tomorrow and that I'd always wanted a pony growing up. When I got to practice the next day the whole team sang me happy birthday with the coach leading them. But there was no pony.

I quit on the spot and joined the glee club. Just goes to show you you can never trust a Norwegian with a limp.

don't run here wrote:

That's like not starting Antonie Holmes in the super bowl.

Who the **** is Antonie Holmes? Google redirects to one 'Antoine Holmes' who barely has any stats in preseason games.

I also wonder wrote:

How do D1 scholarship runners treat walk ons? Do the scholarship guys treat the walk ons like teammates pursuing the same goals, or are they elitist dbags?

I was a walk on for a small D1 program and now help coach at a larger one. In my experience if you come to practice every day and work hard without complaining then you will earn the respect of your teammates.