I need to ask real quick if this is proper coaching on most Cross Country teams.
So my former coach left two years ago leaving it to these two ladies. One being an assistant coach and personal trainer for the team and the other is the assistant coach who is also the sprinter coach for track.
So last year was very shaky because our coaches began to just focus on the Varsity athletes only. I was number 1 JV at the time and was on my way to making a spot on Varsity. Once we finished our League meets I was ranked 7 on the team, beating number 6 on the Varsity team; however, my coaches decided to only bring only 6 to CIF and bring the #6 kid with them. So my season ended there. I don't know if this is normal practice, but our previous coaches would give Varsity letters to both 4 year seniors and promising JV for next year. This year they didn't. They only gave all the main plaque awards to Varsity only and even left a girl, who was a 4 year senior, without a Varsity letter.
This year is different. Now that they have high expectations on us cause of our team last year, they continuously compare us to them. When we don't perform well, they yell at us to go faster in workouts or fix our form, but they never coach us on how to fix it. I feel like it's had a impact on my mentality too. I constantly have higher expectations for myself, and this year I'm not making them. I went from #5 Varsity to #6 to #7, with a chance of getting kicked off. Today the sprinter/ assistant coach commented that I shouldn't have ran Varsity today if I can't even keep up with them anymore. To top it off, she yelled at one of our JV girls who left crying.
Is this proper coaching? They constantly focus on the fastest runners and forget the rest. They constantly compare us to others, and yell at us when we don't. Should I just give up on my chances to earn back my spot as the #5 runner? Should I also give up my chances on running in college if I can't make the cut?