HS Coaches Rule- expelling an athlete

If the kid has a legit excuse then he shouldn't be punished. But if he has family matters or is visiting relatives and can't stay in town then he definitely shouldn't be kicked off the team, thats just stupid.

I think most miss the boat here.

If you create an environment of success, where kids want to work hard, then you don't have to worry about whether they show up for practice or not.

That's usually created not by setting up ridiculous 3 strike rules, but cultivating a culture where all the kids expect all the runners to be there.

It's similar to all those idiots who think that yelling and screaming negatively at kids during workouts motivates them to run faster. It doesn't. If you show the kids respect and that you care, they'll run harder for you.

Kids create the team atmosphere, you just nudge them in the right direction. If you come out with your 10 page manifesto full of team rules, no one will listen to it. If the varsity guys come together and decide they want to be good, the team will follow.

Just raced them the other day. Our top 14 beat every one of them. Show's ya how far it gets.

You think because you're a state champion that you're exempt from the rules?

If you truly cared about running, you would NOT deliver the excuse "after the fact," you'd be responsible enough as a young adult & care enough for the program & respect your coach enough to contact him/her BEFORE practice.

What type of statement is "High school students have other things to do in life sometimes." What a crock!?! And coaches don't? PAH-LEASE! You think your life is more important than the coach's or your teammates'? You are coming across as VERY self-centered.

What I keep coming back to is that it is a private high school. Public is still an option and track season is months away.

understandably wrote:

I think most miss the boat here.

If you create an environment of success, where kids want to work hard, then you don't have to worry about whether they show up for practice or not.

That's usually created not by setting up ridiculous 3 strike rules, but cultivating a culture where all the kids expect all the runners to be there.

It's similar to all those idiots who think that yelling and screaming negatively at kids during workouts motivates them to run faster. It doesn't. If you show the kids respect and that you care, they'll run harder for you.

Kids create the team atmosphere, you just nudge them in the right direction. If you come out with your 10 page manifesto full of team rules, no one will listen to it. If the varsity guys come together and decide they want to be good, the team will follow.

Yes, this. We had no formal policy and people sometimes missed practice. But we would still run or work out on our own, because we really cared. If you need to make this kind of harsh policy, you're doing something wrong.

Coaches are stewards of the program. They are not the center of it, nor are they even inside of it.

I think we, as coaches, sometimes forget that we are completely expendable. Given the chance, someone else will gladly do what we do, and probably for less money.

To me, the distinction here rests on WHY kids were not at practice. Personally, it's hard to set up guidelines that are hard and fast, because you'll eventually be stuck between a rock and a hard place when something straddles the reasonable and unreasonable.

I don't think we know enough details about what led to this point. Maybe the team was so huge they had to start making hard decisions.

If the poster from page one is being truthful, and they ha 14 in front of their first runner, I'd say the plan is probably not producing the desired results.

I've never heard of the high school coaches we consider to be in the canon of great hs coaches to kick someone off for similar treasons. (but maybe I'm ill-informed)

Beautifully worded.

understandably wrote:

I think most miss the boat here.

If you create an environment of success, where kids want to work hard, then you don't have to worry about whether they show up for practice or not.

That's usually created not by setting up ridiculous 3 strike rules, but cultivating a culture where all the kids expect all the runners to be there.

It's similar to all those idiots who think that yelling and screaming negatively at kids during workouts motivates them to run faster. It doesn't. If you show the kids respect and that you care, they'll run harder for you.

Kids create the team atmosphere, you just nudge them in the right direction. If you come out with your 10 page manifesto full of team rules, no one will listen to it. If the varsity guys come together and decide they want to be good, the team will follow.

Mean Coach #217556 wrote:

I suspended my #4, #5, #6 from the DISTRICT meet for skipping practice. I would rather have a losing season than compromise the principles of my program. Those student-athletes will eventually be gone (because of graduation), but the program will still be here with its STANDARDS still in place.

A standard of being losers with a loser coach who uses "standards" as an excuse for losing, loser.

So for all you 'the rule is more important than the kid' coaches, you'd kick your Foot Locker national runner or NXN national runner off your team while he flys to Oregon or Stanford to interview? Or he's off the team if his Achilles is inflammed? You guys are nuts. My kid had a 'by the book' a-hole coach last year and learned nothing except the stupidity of adults who think rules are more important than humanity, compassion and common sense. Pathetic.

hs xc dad wrote:

So for all you 'the rule is more important than the kid' coaches, you'd kick your Foot Locker national runner or NXN national runner off your team while he flys to Oregon or Stanford to interview? Or he's off the team if his Achilles is inflammed? You guys are nuts. My kid had a 'by the book' a-hole coach last year and learned nothing except the stupidity of adults who think rules are more important than humanity, compassion and common sense. Pathetic.

haha thank you. To the guy who attacked me for mentioning the state champinship: I thought (and still think) that is relevant. The coach and other kids on the team did not mind because they knew I worked hard and tried to come to practice on most occasions.

You have to look at the WHY athletes missed practice. When people skip practice, we're talking about BLANTANT disregard for the rules & standards that everyone is held to.

Coinoperated "tried to come to practice on most occasions." WHAT!?!

I would love to tell my boss, "Hey, sorry I didn't come to work on Monday. But, I come to work on most occasions." Yeah, it doesn't work that way.

And, to think TALENT TRUMPS RULES is simply stupid!

Did you know that Mike Tyson's coach, Cus Dimatto (spelling?) disregarded his terrible behavior because of his talent?

Why did nothing happen to Latrell Spreewell (spelling?) after he CHOKED his coach? Oh, talent!

Why did nothing happen to Allen Iverson when he chose NOT to push him at practice? Oh, talent!

We need to stop creating athletes who get "perks" & "free passes" because of talent. There's a reason Reggie Bush is having his Heisman Trophy revoked.

If anything, lack of talent trumps rules. The thinner the team, the more lax you have to be even to field a team. The deeper the talent, the more strict you can afford to be and can teach personal responsibility.

The most basic lesson school teaches is showing up. You're not much of a representative to your school if you can't live up to the most basic responsibility. The only problem I would have with a super-strict coach is if the rules weren't explained until after the fact. If I'm on that team, I'm agreeing to abide by the rules, making the necessary sacrifices in the rest of my life to keep my spot.

No, you idiot. Those are great excuses. So's an interview at State Tech. The point is telling the coach beforehand. To your other point, any coach that forces an injured runner to RUN should get fired. But get them in a pool, or find some other form of exercise, or have them help time at practice. They're still part of the team.

My rule was, You miss a practice, you miss a meet. I would make exceptions for legit reasons, but I had to be notified BEFORE practice, any excuse delivered after the fact is no good. I never kicked kids off the team for skipping practice, but skip a few practices here and there, you quickly run out of meets to run in. Those kids quit rather then stay around

Well, coach, you seem to have some common sense.

How about this true case from last year's Mr. Rules coach. Mr. Coach decides the rule is that every kid on the team has to come to his morning practice every day over spring break. Mary, let's call her, has her grandma pass away over the weekend before break and she can't reach coach. She misses practice Monday morning because she's out of town at the funeral. She shows up Tues morning ready to run, with a note from her mom. Coach kicks her off the team. Permanently. For the rest of the season. Appeal is denied by coach and administration, because they had to stand up for 'the principle' and if exceptions are made for one, they'd have to be made for everyone. Mary was the best runner on the team. She never returned the next year, so I guess she learned her lesson. She's also pregnant now at age 17. True story - I was there. Crap like this happens. So don't BS me about coaches and their good rules and good excuses.

If she had a number to call where she could leave a message or could have at least called a captain, I wouldn't have much of a defense argument to save her.

BTW, if I needed to be with my family and mourn Grandma knowing I'd be off the team if I went, wouldn't hesitate in quitting the team.

Some of you coaches must be lucky to have an abundance of kids to run. I don't coach but at our school they are lucky to get enough kids to have competitive teams and those kids often miss practice for band, other sports camps,college testing, etc. If our coach kicked everybody off who missed a practice, he may not have any runners left.