HS Coaches: What is your team alcohol policy?

HS kids are under 21. They can't drink.

That is stupid. These people are adults. Treat them like it. I'm tired of us always referring to college age people as "kids". They are not kids, they are young adults and if you treat people like adults they will (surprisingly) often behave as such.

My college coach's rule was that it's fine to drink and go to frat parties because it is "part of the college experience". However you if you ever EVER let it affect your ability to show up to practice, expect to suffer the consequences. That could mean a lot of things, could be some form of punishment, could be as drastic as a scholarship reduction if you were habitual.

I'd really try to discourage too much partying during the season, and just ask them to do everything possible to save it for the off season.

God, I didnt even realize you said HS..

So much for reading comprehension for me...

HS kids can't drink. It's illegal, if you address it at all I would stick to the standard line that it's illegal, you can get into a lot of trouble and that you in no way condone it.

Signing a pledge is still idiotic.

Since high school kids are all under 21 and at least 75% of them are under 18 there should be no reason to have a talk about alcohol.

Alan

GottaSayIt wrote:

That is stupid. These people are adults. Treat them like it. I'm tired of us always referring to college age people as "kids". They are not kids, they are young adults and if you treat people like adults they will (surprisingly) often behave as such.

My college coach's rule was that it's fine to drink and go to frat parties because it is "part of the college experience". However you if you ever EVER let it affect your ability to show up to practice, expect to suffer the consequences. That could mean a lot of things, could be some form of punishment, could be as drastic as a scholarship reduction if you were habitual.

I'd really try to discourage too much partying during the season, and just ask them to do everything possible to save it for the off season.

I believe he is addressing high school coaches, as evidenced by the thread title, HS Coaches: What is your team alcohol policy? So probably not all that stupid.

I'm ready to quit your team after reading your post.

Who cares what they do when they aren't at practice/school/meets???????

You aren't their parent, it's not your problem. Stop trying to control every aspect of their lives.

I am a coach at a high school in Louisiana. If I tried to have that policy we simply wouldn't have anyone running. It is what it is. Kids here drink and they drink quite a bit. I just tell that when they do go out drinking they need to get up early the next day and go for a light jog or bike ride to get it out of their system, and those miles cannot count towards their weekly mileage. Kids will be kids and they will do what they want. You can't police them. I feel this is just best way to handle the situation.

If you hand out a waiver I guarantee you your kids will just think you are a dork of a coach and lose respect for you.

chill ??????

So what do you do about the kid who shows up to Saturday morning practice/meet still drunk? Her parents think she just isn't a morning person.

So play this out.. kid X says kid Y was drinking Sat night. You confront kid Y or kick them off the team, now Y's parents are questioning your reasoning. It just seems like you're going down a rabbit hole that I would try to avoid.

Give a generic general address to the team about how much trouble they can get into, how they will let the team down by not being there for the state meet, blah blah blah..

I'd avoid railing against the "demon alcohol" and just stick to how they can hurt the team by getting into trouble with the school and the law.

In Massachusetts, there is a State policy.

http://www.miaa.net/gen/miaa_generated_bin/documents/basic_module/MIAAHandbook1113.pdf

I'm very surprised you have flexibility in this. Our Baseball coach had to field a team of Freshmen and Sophomores in the playoffs last year when all upperclassmen were caught at a party.

"From the earliest fall practice date, to the conclusion of the academic year or final athletic event (whichever is latest), a student shall not, regardless of the quantity, use, consume, possess, buy/sell, or give away any beverage containing alcohol; any tobacco product; marijuana; steroids; or any controlled substance. This policy includes products such as “NA or near beer”. It is not a violation for a student to be in possession of a legally defined drug specifically prescribed for the student’s own use by his/her doctor. "

Minimum PENALTIES: (also see Rule 32.8 – Ineligible Students)

First violation: When the Principal confirms, following an opportunity for the

student to be heard, that a violation occurred, the student shall lose eligibility for the next consecutive interscholastic contests (regular season and tournament) totaling 25% of all interscholastic contests in that sport. No exception is permitted for a student who becomes a participant in a treatment program. It is recommended that the student be allowed to remain at practice for the purpose of rehabilitation. During the suspension the disqualified student may not be in uniform and his/her attendance at the competition site is determined by the high school principal. All decimal part of an event will be truncated i.e. All fractional part of an event will be dropped when calculating the 25% of the season.

Second and subsequent violations: When the Principal confirms, following an opportunity for the student to be heard, that a violation occurred, the student shall lose eligibility for the next consecutive interscholastic contests (regular season and tournament) totaling 60% of all interscholastic contests in that sport. All decimal part of an event will be truncated i.e. All fractional part of an event will be dropped when calculating the 60% of the season. If after the second or subsequent violations the student of his/her own volition becomes a participant in an approved chemical dependency program or treatment program, the student may be certified for reinstatement in MIAA activities after a minimum of 40% of events provided the student was fully engaged in the program throughout that penalty period. The high school principal in collaboration with a Chemical Dependency Program or Treatment Program must certify that student is attending or issue a certificate of completion. If student does not complete program, penalty reverts back to 60% of the season. All decimal part of an event will be truncated i.e. All fractional part of an event will be dropped when calculating the 40% of the season.

Penalties shall be cumulative each academic year, but serving the penalty could carry over for one year. Or, if the penalty period is not completed during the season of violation, the penalty shall carry over to the student’s next season of actual participation, which may affect the eligibility status of the student during the next academic year. (e.g. A student plays only football: he violates the rule in winter and/or the spring of same academic year: he would serve the penalty [ies] during the fall season of the next academic year) "

Deep South XC Coach wrote:

I am a coach at a high school in Louisiana. If I tried to have that policy we simply wouldn't have anyone running. It is what it is. Kids here drink and they drink quite a bit. I just tell that when they do go out drinking they need to get up early the next day and go for a light jog or bike ride to get it out of their system, and those miles cannot count towards their weekly mileage. Kids will be kids and they will do what they want. You can't police them. I feel this is just best way to handle the situation.

If you hand out a waiver I guarantee you your kids will just think you are a dork of a coach and lose respect for you.

This. When i was in high school we all drank, just not usually the night before a race. There really isn't anything you can do about it other than address it if it starts to become a problem.

balsam spruce wrote:

In the past I have given my team (varsity mainly) the basic talk at the beginning of the season about drinking--like it really doesn't mix with running and if you want to be serious about your sport you shouldn't drink. Elites don't drink, serious college runners don't etc, etc.

Actually a lot of elite and serious runners do drink, Rod Dixon, Henry Rono, Steve Ovett, Larry Greer, Nick Symmonds, Nick Rose, Adrian Royal, Steve Prefontaine, Alberto Salazar, Matt Centrowitz (at least the elder) Galen Rupp many more, probably over 90% of college runners.

But since they are high school, the law says they can't drink as they are not old enough, so just make it a team policy of no drinking or face a penalty of not running a meet up to being kicked off team.

This would be a good topic if you said, "College coaches." The drinking age being 21 and not 18 is absurd and the college administrators reaction to drinking (acting like it doesn't go on) is absurd.

But HS? Give me a break.

I think I'm going to start a thread for college coaches. Here it is:

I do disagree with the following:

"Elites don't drink, serious college runners don't etc, etc. "

People may not drink in season but the vast majority of runners drink. I always said the wildest party i ever attended was a post-NCAA indoor party in Arkansas. To have 100+ people who hadn't drank in months go nuts was out of control.

I remember being at the post-meet party for the pro indoor meet in Boston when I was coaching at Cornell. It was an open bar and Galen Rupp was in there having a beer. There was a college guy on my team who was in the college mile and saw it and turned to me and said, "Can I have one?"

In HS, I think things are clear but but in college it's a lot tougher. I think one of the problems is demonizing drinking. Drinking a beer isn't bad. "Drinking" as it's done in college - binge drinkings - is. Most college kids have trouble understanding the difference.

douglas burke wrote:

balsam spruce wrote:

In the past I have given my team (varsity mainly) the basic talk at the beginning of the season about drinking--like it really doesn't mix with running and if you want to be serious about your sport you shouldn't drink. Elites don't drink, serious college runners don't etc, etc.

Actually a lot of elite and serious runners do drink, Rod Dixon, Henry Rono, Steve Ovett, Larry Greer, Nick Symmonds, Nick Rose, Adrian Royle, Steve Prefontaine, Alberto Salazar, Matt Centrowitz (at least the elder) Galen Rupp many more, probably over 90% of college runners.

But since they are high school, the law says they can't drink as they are not old enough, so just make it a team policy of no drinking or face a penalty of not running a meet up to being kicked off team.

Our school has pretty much given up on Saturday organized practices but she was on varsity last year and seemed drunk/hungover at all the invitationals in September and early October. Her times from the meets during the week will keep her on varsity and she seemed to clean it up for the big meets at the end of the year but the other kids surely know. I'm all for kids being kids in HS rather than going wild in college but when she gets caught she might bring others on the team or the coach who "should have known" down with her.

Maybe Rojos best post ever.

I am surprised by the responses here, basically saying there should be no policy. I think in NY, as "well...." said for MA, there is policy laid out where punishment is a certain percentage of the games/meets for a first offense, second offense, etc. Waivers are all signed by the athletes and in some cases, the parents as well. This wasn't decided by the individual coaches, it was school based and in response to, or a requirement of, the state rules.

Of course, kids will drink and try to get around those rules, but there are consequences of getting caught. In HS, we all knew who the school narcs were and would try to not let them know when and where we were drinking.

I'm pretty convinced most of the posters here are high school / college kids and not actual coaches. At least, not coaches of good programs.

Rojo, thanks for the response but I'm not quite clear on why this becomes a more relevant topic--or "good" to use your word--when we are referring to college drinking. There are high schools in this country--solid running schools--with entrenched drinking cultures. High schoolers are minors. They are even worse at decision-making than college freshmen. They often have no earthly idea how much is too much. When it happens at a wealthy school like mine it's even worse, because the parents--many of whom are alcoholics themselves--just condone it.

The difference between the lack of a policy in Louisiana (which just seems medieval to me) and the state-wide policy in Massachusetts underscores how much disagreement there is on this topic and how much it needs t be talked about here.

I agree that pledges are silly. I'm sure they are violated left and right but it does make it clear where you as a coach (and a mentor, an authority figure, a role model, a public servant, a professional, and often a surrogate parent) stand on the issue.

I don't think this is trying to control every aspect of my team's lives either. This is trying to influence ONE aspect of their lives that has a direct connection to athletic performance. To me the risk is not showing up hungover to practice, it's the impact on your times.

If X 16-year-old drinks a 40 on Friday and runs on Sunday, does that mean he won't PR? Who knows? But why take the friggin risk?