Friend of mine kicked off D1 track team for leaving meet early with parents

Sorry, not enough info. There may be team/ath. dept./university policies involved; there may be specifics about that particular meet; there may be liability questions.

Answering yes or no, as an outsider, would be inappropriate.

At most universities you have to sign a waiver and if she is under 18 her parents have to sign it as well. If she didn't do that it could open up the coaches to some issues if something were to happen to her when she left.

it's completely dependent on department policies and the coaches own hierarchy.

At the school I attended if you had a legitimate reason for leaving early it had to be cleared with the head coach, they could find out at the meet and make the call there but it had to go through them first. It's simply an exposure issue, if every assistant could say yes/no the head has no idea who's there or not there.

Sounds more like a shitty high school team, not d1.

Westside wrote:

At most universities you have to sign a waiver and if she is under 18 her parents have to sign it as well. If she didn't do that it could open up the coaches to some issues if something were to happen to her when she left.

She's 19, and her older sister ran there as well so the coach and family are already familiar with each other. Also, it just so happened to be a meet where she already had all of her finals completed and would be an hour away from home rather than 2 hours, making it easier on her parents to take her home and save an hour's worth of gas in the process.

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. She got what she deserved.

Pure overreaction and sounds like the head coach is a power trip too.

Sounds like the coach still thinks that this a HS team. If this was a chronic problem, then maybe it was deserved, if it was a one-time thing then a warning should have sufficed. If anything the Assistant should have been reprimanded instead for overstepping their authority and for not making it clear to the athlete that they had to clear it through the head first.

Yes, over-reaction.

D of D wrote:

Pure overreaction and sounds like the head coach is a power trip too.

I would drop out of the track team immediately, and transfer to a different school or run open events.

J.R. wrote:

D of D wrote:

Pure overreaction and sounds like the head coach is a power trip too.

I would drop out of the track team immediately, and transfer to a different school or run open events.

Just like that huh? Screw that maybe this school is the best fit academically or financially. Just transfer or quit all together. Nice.

Report the facts to the school's compliance office, write a statement to be included in the coach's personal file (i.e., contact the human resources department), then write a letter to the president of the university. The problem is inside the coaching staff, and probably not the first time. J.R.--go back and read the post. The girl was told she was off the team. Her only options are to transfer or run as an unattached athlete at whatever meets she is able--probably very few. Another ego maniac, out-of-control coach. Shades of UT.

He said OR just quit the track team and run open events, obviously staying at the school.

Quitting the team was not an option. She had already been kicked off the team by the coach and told to turn in her stuff. So the options are transfer or run unattached.

Reading comprehension much wrote:

He said OR just quit the track team and run open events, obviously staying at the school.

Yea no shit sherlock, as you can see I wrote "or quit altogether"

Is this a team policy?

Telling an assistant your plans, and getting permission are different things.

There are teams where this is commonplace and teams where this is strictly forbidden. Either way is fine as long as there is protocol. The only girl in her even doesn't mean she's any good, or brings any value. Especially if she is a pain in the neck to be around. The coach is responsible for her from the time she leaves campus until her return to campus, did she decide not to fill out a waiver? Was the assistant coach not the right person to talk to? Did the assistant tell her to talk to someone else? Lot of D1 schools have "assistants" with absolutely no authority, and it's usually known by the team. Did she just tell the person that she knew would give her the answer she wanted. My 4 yr old tries that crap with her grandparents all the time.

I'm sorry, but how old are "college" athletes? 12? I don't understand US athletics politics, but it sounds like the coach needs to grow up a bit and realise that the athletes aren't children.

This sounds like back when I'd have to get permission to arrive late to something at school.

Mamma mia! What a ridiculous situation. Even if the poor girl hadn't told anyone she was leaving early with her parents, a chat and a warning would suffice.

Since she seemingly spoke to an assistant and left safely with her parents, not causing any trouble whatsoever, the head coach's decision to throw her out is insane.

There's absolutely no reason to mess up this girls future and possibly dent her aspirations

and self confidence over such a non event situation.

Time to retire the stuck up head coach, what a tit.

live by the sword, die by the sword