So after starting a middle XC program at a fairly well to do private school that was very successful (the girls that are now in HS will win state if the HS coach doesn't screw it up) I've moved to a rural, low income public school.
Here's a little background: The boys and girls are segregated, so I'm just coaching the boys. I'm not sure how old the program is but there's no real history. Last year only 6 boys ran (in a school of close to 900 middle schoolers). They've never won a county championship for boys in track or XC. The girls have done well in track, but the XC coach uses XC as conditioning for track and there's no focus on actually running 2 miles fast.
I've got close to 30 boys out for the team which is a victory. The problem is that A) I don't have very good options for places to run. We can use the baseball field (though the football team uses it too) and other than that we've got about a quarter mile of road on campus plus a field that's maybe as big as a football field.
I'd like some input on workouts to do that aren't monotonous. I'd also like some input on how to motivate/teach these kids the basics. Previously I had a small team that I built into a large team over a couple of years. Now I have 30 kids and only 1 has ever run XC and he did so under the previous coach that didn't know what he was doing.
There are some woods around campus, but I'd have to cut a trail. I'd like to make a trail but have zero idea how to go about that.