Just dismissed an athlete for back-sassing, get call from parent, situation explodes.

This is not about a power trip. This is part of the education process. Kids make mistakes, and mistakes are easy to forgive, even if consequences have to follow. But if you pour your drink and smear your food on the track and tell your coach to F off, that's no mistake, nor is it a "crime of passion" like yelling a single profanity when angry. It is a direct insult to the team, the coach, and even the facility. In the real world (which we teachers and coaches are preparing kids for), you get fired for that. Obvious consequence.

Pretty clear what's going on here. Kid's dad has been pressuring him to be an athlete, but the kid doesn't have it in him. Decides to do what it takes to get the coach to kick him off the team. This way he gets out of doing what he doesn't want to do and can blame the coach.

End of the day, the coach did the right thing. Hopefully the Dad doesn't beat the kid too bad and the kid commits to doing something he likes.

you've already failed by failing to control your athlete and letting it get to the point of dismissing him from the team.

Xc and Tf are individual sports with prima donnas who expects props when nearly everyone in the stadium is laughing at a loser who never won a major like Prefontaine never did.

jjjjjjj wrote:

you've already failed by failing to control your athlete and letting it get to the point of dismissing him from the team.

B.S., you kick the kid off to control your team, bottom line. The coach did the right thing.

Sometimes it is the only option. You have to consider what is right for the team and not for certain individuals on it. Now the rest of them can move forward and have a very clear idea of what their coach expects of them.

Good job coach. Keep your head up. We all go through this. Unfortunately, it's all part of being a coach.

Just remember that when you meet with the parents / AD / whovever else to be professional, state the facts and do not get in the ring with the parents when they start slinging personal attacks at you. You did the right thing. Don't back down, be firm, and explain the team rules and how they were violated and how each member of the team knows the consequences for breaking the rules.

Like I said stay cool. The more they attack you the worse

they look in front of your superiors. I've gone into those meetings hoping they would sling mud at me.

Good luck.

parents suck....if i had ever gotten kicked off an school athletic team my parents would always have assumed I was in the wrong, because in all likelihood I would have been in the wrong.

this meeting should even be occurring.

like the others have said, just lay out your reasoning and evidence in the nicest way possible. be overly gracious. and, in the end, you will be convinced to take the kid back.

But Pre certainly was the ultimate prima donna. He was probably not even a very good role model in that respect.

Who knows the whole story here, but it immediately stands out to me that the coach uses simply the act of "back-talking" or "back-sassing" (really?) as a negative. If a kid's not making a reasonable argument and persists in doing so, then yeah, that's a disruption. But if it's just the fact that he dare talk back, then that's an old "grown-up" issue that is just plain old and tired.

I've never learned a damned thing except how to be more stubborn from those authority figures throughout my life who employed the "because I said so" defense. The ones who broke me down and kicked my butt with reason? They've had a huge impact. Know why? They let me know my voice, however stupid it may have been (or continues to be) at times, was just as relevant as theirs. If you're a coach or a teacher, you should know more about the subject at hand than your pupils and in most cases you probably do. But don't disregard the possibility that you may encounter someone who either knows better or sees things differently.

Alright, that should do it. Let those with military backgrounds or from "the old school" commence with the flogging.

Joeink,

Read the follow up post from the OP on p.2. It provides more details on what the student did to violate the rules.

Christ on a pogo stick. I stand so corrected it's silly. Yeesh. I have to admit I skimmed. That kid's just a Douchey McDoucherton. That's it for me nor reading everything. I think I got burnt out reading the entire "I'm freaking out because my teenage daughter's having sex" thread. Never again shall I give the previous info a half-hearted once-over. Jesus, that kid sounds like a cross between Cheetah the chimp and Lindsay Lohan.

From what i gather here this conversation is that coaches talk a lot of bull and make up lies to back themselves because in truth they just dont like the athlete that much whether its down to attitude or not. everyone has their attitude. I'm pointing out a few college coaches here that are only in this for their own reputation. First of all bribes good runners and when they step foot on campus their whole contract has just changed... Ridiculous...

Mistreated wrote:

From what i gather here this conversation is that coaches talk a lot of bull and make up lies to back themselves because in truth they just dont like the athlete that much whether its down to attitude or not. everyone has their attitude. I'm pointing out a few college coaches here that are only in this for their own reputation. First of all bribes good runners and when they step foot on campus their whole contract has just changed... Ridiculous...

Sure, that's what's going on here?

Coach: Stand your ground! Discipline, respect, fairness, etc are amongst the things that we are supposed to be teaching through athletics. Swearing on a Bible/flag is a wonderful idea. I sincerely hope that your AD supports you. Mine did in a very similar situation.

I absolutely cannot IMAGINE dumping a soda and sub on the track, looking my COACH in the eyes, SMEARING IT WITH MY FOOT, and telling him to go f--k himself. Wow. Honestly, think about doing that for a minute.

Thats like straight out of one of those movies about the substitute teacher (Steven Segal I believe) who knows karate and goes to teach in the hood.

Any coaches out there had something like this actually happen? I'm not so sure I even believe it.

I really hope this is the true version of the story. If it is, then your reaction is understandable but it also seems pretty out there so a kid to rub a sandwich into a track? I had a coach in HS that just didn't like me. I was the #2 runner on the team and he didn't like I asked, "why?". I wanted to understand why we were doing certain work outs to help us all understand the purpose of our training and to believe in our training. He didn't like that, so he treated me terrible. The other kids on the team listened to me really well and wanted my direction (I was a captain) and he didn't like that either. So, I hope you are not just singling him out because you don't like him. If it's truly a behavior issue then okay.

I did have another coach that hated it but kept some of those kids around to try and turn them around, because you never know what they are really going through at home.. maybe it's yoru chance to help him out? He is a kid...he is there for a reason. It's he is too much for you to tolerate then I understand but sometimes kids need time.. need to know you believe in them. If he feels like you are always mad at him because he has been late then he already feels defeated. Again, if everything you have said is accurate then I understand your reasoning.. but I wonder what his side is to the story?

[quote]Mistreated wrote:

From what i gather here this conversation is that coaches talk a lot of bull and make up lies to back themselves because in truth they just dont like the athlete that much whether its down to attitude or not.

[quote]

I heard this kind of crap in high school a lot. "The teacher gave me a bad grade because they don't like me!" It's all self-centered bullshit. When you're young and the world revolves around you, you think everything is personal and not a reflection of your own work because you can do no wrong. (Yes, there are some teachers/coaches who suck at their job but that doesn't make it malicious) Teachers/Coaches don't go out there looking for kids to fail. It reflects badly on them if they do. They want you to succeed, so stop being a dick and put in the work.

Thoughts:

1. Coach showed amazing restraint in not kicking the kid's butt.

2. Maybe the kid's actions were a compliment, as in, "this indoor track is so awesome and clean, I can eat off it," and then before he can demonstrate he's told to leave the building.

3. What southern high school has an indoor track? Or did coach's "southernisms" originate elsewhere and he took them north?

4. Every time I think I've been through some crap as a coach, somebody tops me. Thanks letsrun!

poiu wrote:

I absolutely cannot IMAGINE dumping a soda and sub on the track, looking my COACH in the eyes, SMEARING IT WITH MY FOOT, and telling him to go f--k himself. Wow. Honestly, think about doing that for a minute.

That's not what happened. I was there.

The coach was pissed because the kid brought food to the practice. The coach yelled at him to get the food out of there, but the kid just kept eating and ignoring him, so the coach walked up and knocked the food out of his hands, and it went all over the track. The kid was trying to pick up the food, so the coach stepped in it and smeared it all over the track. The coach said, "now go pick it up!" The kid told the coach to "go f--k yourself" and stormed off. The rest is history.

PREma donna wrote:

But Pre certainly was the ultimate prima donna. He was probably not even a very good role model.

Are kidding?? He drove his car into a rock to show how tough he was. You don't get much tougher than that. A good role modle for all to live the tough lifestyle.