Oh, one more.
Had a parent upset his kid wasn't named a captain. A few weeks later, when one of the captains wasn't at practice, the parent of the non-captain e-mailed me about how uncaptainly it was for that kid to miss practice, and how HIS son would NEVER miss practice and would have been a much better captain.
The captain wasn't at practice because his older brother committed suicide, and he was at the funeral.
Kid on HS xc team screamed at someone using the F word in front of 4 women in their 70's. I walked over to the HS coach, asked him what he planned to do about it. He shrugged his shoulders. Nothing was said or done I'm told. Turns out the kid is the coach's nephew.
Write a letter with a formal request asking them to itemize the costs. If they do not respond, send the letter to the school board. Explain that you want to find a solution and that what you are offering does enrich the educational experience for the kids at the school.
Also, send an email with full contents and reference to the letter.
John Clendon wrote:
Bro - Mama wrote:I coached in Southern California for a number of years.
I f you can't practice when it is 100 outside, you will lose about 1/3 of your workouts.
I never had a single runner have a problem with heat issues. That is what water is for.
Southern CA 100F is different from East coast 100F. Dew points.
I didn't coach the team, but in college, a freshman runner's father would attend practices 2-3 times a week. The father lived 6hrs away from the college campus.
Not true. A myth. I've lived in both regions. Check the stats. Don't propagate misinformation.
Ninedees wrote:
Craziest parent I remember from my HS days was a father of a teammate who would come to most meets and actually cheer equally for us as he would for his own son. He even knew our names and encouraged us to run faster or that if we were going fast, that we were doing great.
Oh wait, that would be crazy in TODAY'S world. Twenty years ago this was considered normal.
Hey, that sounds like my dad!
A number of other moms and dads from our team as well, actually.
Do people really not do that anymore?
MYTHOLOGICAL FALLACIES wrote:
[quote]John Clendon wrote:
Not true. A myth. I've lived in both regions. Check the stats. Don't propagate misinformation.
If you are in Santa Monica then I agree with you.
You get around Apple Valley, that's a different story. There are many climates in there.
I've largely been blessed and don't have a lot of parent stories. I have a parent meeting before each season which I think does a lot to stave off issues.
This happens commonly -- it is coming onto championship season and I have to decide who our top 7 will be. Usually, this has a way of working itself out and it is obvious who will be running, but every once in awhile #7 and #8 are really close.
One year, this happened and one of the kids was a freshman and one was a senior. They were really close to each other all year long, and I was leaning towards having the senior run because it was his last chance, and the freshman would have other chances down the line. But, they were really close and it wasn't an easy decision..
So, in our last meet before the championships, I decided to have them decide it on the course ... whoever beat who would be our #7.
The senior beat the freshman, and so I chose him. The problem? Our #9 guy beat them both in the race, and his mom was pissed that he didn't get chosen. This kid hadn't been within 30 seconds of the other two all year, so I refused to put him on the championship team.
cuschh wrote:
Thought that was ice skating and the "fat guy" only got fat in prison after getting caught. They sorta made a movie about that.
No mention of dem shoelaces tho.
Tonya harding and Nancy Kerrigan in cross-country deja vu? Did the kid howl:"why me?"
two parents engage in a conversation with a 9th grader (#1 seed at sectional) in the restroom and attempted to convince her that she had already qualified and that she should not run too fast because she may risk injury.
It did rain a bit about two hours before the start of the meet so the track was a little wet but there were no puddles.
andicamp wrote:
Ninedees wrote:Craziest parent I remember from my HS days was a father of a teammate who would come to most meets and actually cheer equally for us as he would for his own son. He even knew our names and encouraged us to run faster or that if we were going fast, that we were doing great.
Oh wait, that would be crazy in TODAY'S world. Twenty years ago this was considered normal.
Hey, that sounds like my dad!
A number of other moms and dads from our team as well, actually.
Do people really not do that anymore?
My mom does, and some other team moms do, just depends on if they know you. I have the parent of one of my rivals cheer for me. Which is cool. But usually no, its "My kid! My kid!"
restroom break wrote:
two parents engage in a conversation with a 9th grader (#1 seed at sectional) in the restroom and attempted to convince her that she had already qualified and that she should not run too fast because she may risk injury.
It did rain a bit about two hours before the start of the meet so the track was a little wet but there were no puddles.
Best one yet
This just happened in early September. Middle School XC - Had a parent offer us their swimming pool on a super hot day. We let the kids know the night before that we would be running 1.5 miles to the pool - swimming in running gear and then running back to school. We get everyone there safe and there is one little really tiny 7th grade boy just sitting at the edge of the pool looking sadder than sad. I asked him why he wasn't swimming? He said his mom told him he could not swim because his younger sister did not get to swim that day so he shouldn't. Several of us coaches were dumbfounded until one coach says "We can throw him in." The kids eyes got big as could be and he had his shoes and socks off in a heart beat. I walked over and pushed him in. Was really a great moment for everyone involved. Very surprised I did not get a call from mom. Kid said he got in a little trouble and had to do extra chores but it was worth it.
As the coach of a small experiential school, we were trying to be "open minded" and "inclusive." What this translated to the parents sadly was "zero athletic ability required" I had this one kid who the first day ran backward around the track. I worked pretty hard with him, the poor little (and he was so short and tiny compared to the rest of the team which we all know could be a good thing for middle distance?) guy made some progress, he actually made it around the track in the right direction and for multiple laps before walking. (we had a few other walkers).
As the meets approached, he got fixated on the hurdles and while he had absolutely no shot of clearing one; especially given that jumping was off the table, staying in the lane was pretty difficult and the enormous amount of self doubt he possessed and most dauntingly his mother's attitude would certainly hold him back, but heck where there is a will...
Mom stood on the sidelines complaining. Every one was against her son, there were kids plotting against him at school, the other coaches of other sports had something or other in for him, no one gave him a chance. The administration of the school was trying to make him feel stupid and lied about his test scores. I even got to hear about her own problems too, from birth to I'd guess 45 her life was a series of disappointments and regrets...even to the point when I took the whole team out for Five Guys burgers she accused me of sabotaging her diet (no other parents were there, and no I didn't force feed her the 1000 fries she fisted smothered in ketchup). ...
Fast forward to the meet that yes after some hard work, begging and relentless emails from mom, I said he could sign up for the 100 hurdles. She was there as he lined up telling him she hoped he didn't come in last, that she worried some kid might trip him and the final blow came when she screamed at him that she thought some kids were teasing him from the stands.
This poor fella didn't stand a chance - fell about 4 times, scraped up barely crossed the finish in about 40 seconds.
Well mom blamed me of course for stacking the deck against her kid. It wasn't long before she pulled him out of school entirely and filed a lawsuit.
*the lawsuit had nothing about me, but about a bully. This "bully" was probably the nicest and best athlete at the school.
If its TUEs it must be Belgium wrote:
Ran HS track in NYC 55+ years ago. Rarely, close to never, did any parents attend our meets.
Different times and places.
Same here. Ran track in Boston area 50 years ago, only "fans" were people who wandered over by mistake from adjoining ballfield.
Nobody's parents complained because nobody cared.
My nephew is a H.S. teacher and says he gets emails all the time from parents complaining about the grades he gives to their kids on individual tests, even multiple choice ones, as well as final grades.
So some of this I'll put on social media.
Coach Rx wrote:
The senior beat the freshman, and so I chose him. The problem? Our #9 guy beat them both in the race, and his mom was pissed that he didn't get chosen. This kid hadn't been within 30 seconds of the other two all year, so I refused to put him on the championship team.
So you left the best option home because he didn't run fast in meets that shouldn't matter? Sounds like your 9th man was peeking at just the right time and far more likely to outperform either of your choices.
asdfasdfa wrote:
Coach Rx wrote:The senior beat the freshman, and so I chose him. The problem? Our #9 guy beat them both in the race, and his mom was pissed that he didn't get chosen. This kid hadn't been within 30 seconds of the other two all year, so I refused to put him on the championship team.
So you left the best option home because he didn't run fast in meets that shouldn't matter? Sounds like your 9th man was peeking at just the right time and far more likely to outperform either of your choices.
Yea. You should have said top 7 guys make the team and announce it to the whole team. You want someone who can perform when the stakes are high.
Expert Keybord Coach wrote:
asdfasdfa wrote:So you left the best option home because he didn't run fast in meets that shouldn't matter? Sounds like your 9th man was peeking at just the right time and far more likely to outperform either of your choices.
Yea. You should have said top 7 guys make the team and announce it to the whole team. You want someone who can perform when the stakes are high.
absolutely not. You want consistency, not someone who's on or off all the time.
andicamp wrote:
Ninedees wrote:Craziest parent I remember from my HS days was a father of a teammate who would come to most meets and actually cheer equally for us as he would for his own son. He even knew our names and encouraged us to run faster or that if we were going fast, that we were doing great.
Oh wait, that would be crazy in TODAY'S world. Twenty years ago this was considered normal.
Hey, that sounds like my dad!
A number of other moms and dads from our team as well, actually.
Do people really not do that anymore?
My daughter relayed a complaint that a girl in their 'pack' of five complained to her because I cheered for (knew the names) all the other girls but her. Needless to say, I learned the name of the fifth girl. I think it was a good-natured complaint.
I am a crazy CC parent that runs around the course from end-to-end.
Eh, I disagree. You want 5 consistent guys and then two more guys who have the ability to make an impact. Of course, in this particular situation, who knows which ones that would be. I'd be inclined to trust the coach who was actually there all season.
A girl 3200 meter runner was on the team and favorite to win the state qualifier meet. She had no kick so our strategy was to go out hard (5:15) and see who would go with her (her PR was 10:42). We worked on it all year and were ready for it heading into the race.
Right before she heads out to warm up a parent says, "whatever you do don't lead, remember what happened your freshman year."
(She led the whole race and was out kicked to finish 4th). I gave a dirty look and reinforced our strategy.
So what did she do? Go out slow the first mile (5:40) and had the whole pack in tow. I'm telling her to go and she finally does and gets a good sized lead going into the last lap but it wasn't enough. They mowed her down that last lap finishing 4th.
After the parent blamed me for her not having a better kick.