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

Why would she leave with her parents? She's in college right? On a team right?

And what D1 meets are going on right now? This is made up right?

2 sides to every story and we have heard just 1.

what is school policy?

what is team policy?

But on another point, why are kids leaving a meet before it is over with other team members were still competing? Can a starting pitcher leave with his parents after leaving the game in the 5th inning? I mean, his work was done right? It would never even be thought of......but in our sport, kids/parents think they can come and go as they please.

Like the HS families that schedule vacations during track season. They would NEVER do it during football season or basketball season, but for track it is OK.

lease wrote:

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.

I was gonna make another comment, but repeating this should suffice. We need to have more info.

My middle school coach and high school coach had the same rule. Surprised a university has it. Oh well, maybe its UNCW and won't matter as track is almost over anyhow.

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.

.............................. wrote:.....but in our sport, kids/parents think they can come and go as they please.

and coaches.

I've been at a lot of meets when the triple jump or pole vault is still going on but most of the teams have left. I've even seen the teams who have a competitor leave after arranging a ride for the guy who's still competing.

Track is different. Teams will often have a couple buses and some athletes will arrive after others have already started and leave before everyone is done.

Not saying it's good, but it's not just kids and their parents who are responsible.

.............................. wrote:

But on another point, why are kids leaving a meet before it is over with other team members were still competing?

Because meets last 8 hours, with 10 minutes between the 18th and 19th heat of the 200, or whatever??

If I were a coach I would find it frustrating (since I am responsible for getting people get back home) if people were just leaving with parents without telling me. He/She was probably running around trying to find the girl so they could leave only to be told after the fact that she had left with her parents.

perhaps you haven't noticed... wrote:

.............................. wrote:

But on another point, why are kids leaving a meet before it is over with other team members were still competing?

Because meets last 8 hours, with 10 minutes between the 18th and 19th heat of the 200, or whatever??

Exactly. Good teams understand individual performance is what is best for the team. We never left the hotel for a meet more than 2 hours before our event, and we sure as hell didn't sit around for 8 hours. To those on the outside, this coach isn't the norm. Most good teams don't treat athletes like children.

This is absolutely an INSANE decision. Track meets left forever. I think fewer of my teammates in college stuck around at the meet the whole time than left, even if it was just to wander around campus until their event. Plenty of people drove to the meet and then took people back to campus with them after the distance and middle distance events were all done. If I was forced to stick around 8 or 9 hours for every track meet, I'd have transfered to a school that was xc only and run road races in the spring instead. Well maybe not, but I sure would have thought about it. I remember doubling a few times where the 10,000 was the first event and the 5000 was the 2nd to last. That sucked.

Did she forget her passport? That may have caused the problems that led to her being kicked off the team. Never underestimate the power and importance of the passport.

Update: the coach said he was going to call her and talk to her and her parents about it two days ago. She has tried to call him 4 times, and apparently, according to an assistant coach (same one she told that she was leaving) that he's on vacation for a week. Unbelievable. This guy needs to be fired. What coach vacations in the middle of the season?

rules are for a reason,

and wait until a kid tells an assistant they are leaving with their parents only to leave with the boyfriend, then get in an accident and have the parents sue the school.

there are rules for a reason.

the team bus takes you from the hotel to the meet. once you are done competing, sitting around isn't going to effect your performance. so what it the rush in leaving? if the coach wants you to go back early, they will have a bus or van do so. the horror in having to watch the throwers throw, or the jumpers jump, or a 4x4.......

if the bus got you there 2 hours before your event, you warmed up and raced then cooled down....that is what 3 hours? how long is the football team at the stadium? how long is the baseball team at the field? how long is the volleyball team at the court? even the kids WHO DON'T PLAY.

you are on a team and at a university, there are team and university rules for a reason.

nick83 wrote:

What coach vacations in the middle of the season?

I know some schools that are D-I do not let their athletes play and maybe practice during exam period and then the students go home for winter break. This would be the perfect time for the coach to go on his vacation in that situation.

Not saying other things were right but the vacation I don't see as a bad thing

OR wrote:

rules are for a reason...

how long is the football team at the stadium? how long is the baseball team at the field? how long is the volleyball team at the court? even the kids WHO DON'T PLAY.

you are on a team and at a university, there are team and university rules for a reason.

OK, I just made a rule that you never post again. There is a reason for this. Just because you are young and selfish and do not yet see that I am all knowing and have your best interests in mind does NOT give you the right FLAUNT the RULES.

Also, you might stop to think that all of your examples are head count sports in which every athlete receives a full ride, in striking contrast to most track athletes. Two way street, Bwana.

From what I've noticed coaches tend to do things like this when they want to get rid of a nonproductive athlete or a troublemaker and now your friend has given him the reason that he needs to take action.

She might be the only one doing that event but if she's not scoring she's not helping.

We are most likely not hearing the whole story here, but it's still pretty low class of a coach to kick an athlete off the team for leaving with her parents. It's a liability thing that my college team had to deal with, but straight up booting an athlete for this is absurd.

Talk to the assistant coaches that told her she could leave early. This situation is more their fault than it is the athletes. They have a responsibility to explain the situation to the head coach and take the blame for this communication breakdown.

Then again, if the head coach is this much of a jerk, she should probably just quit the team or transfer away.

What school is it?

So we can bash it on the internet.

So walk ons and d3 kids have different rules because they are on smaller scholarships?