Cut from team

High school Runner wrote:

What should I do if I was cut from the team? Will it affect my college applications? I am the only four year senior currently on the team. I skipped practice Friday in order to practice hills on my own. It is the first practice I skipped but my coach said I already have two strikes during summer conditioning for not showing up. Any suggestions?

Wrack your brains. Be honest. You're SURE that the reason you were cut was because you did hills on your own? There is no more backstory to this?

Everyone on letsrun likes to assume that all high school coaches are excellent coaches. My team NEVER ran over 30 miles a week in high school and people thought our coach was good. I dropped 2 minutes off my 5k pr in the first six months of being self coached. Very few of the high school coaches out there are great coaches.

I just cut my number one kid from a college team. He would cut practice to train on his own. His attitude was a cancer on the team. We only have the championship meets left. Our team score will suffer, but our culture will improve. He was always showed up at the last minute, never helping to load or unload the van. Once at meet goes off on his own until campsite is established. I sat him out and he improved until we got into the championship part. He stated "that without me you won't even finish in the top half of the conference and with me we should be in top three". He is correct. Everyone gets treated the same regardless of their ability.

High school Runner wrote:

What should I do if I was cut from the team? Will it affect my college applications?

So to be clear, you haven't been cut from the team as yet, correct? This discussion is hypothetical.

Will it affect college applications? Not necessarily. You can use the opportunity to get involved in other extracurricular activities, which could show admissions what a well-rounded chap you are. Might work to your advantage.

Bad at running wrote:

Everyone on letsrun likes to assume that all high school coaches are excellent coaches. My team NEVER ran over 30 miles a week in high school and people thought our coach was good. I dropped 2 minutes off my 5k pr in the first six months of being self coached. Very few of the high school coaches out there are great coaches.

That's not the issue here at all. No matter how awful a coach is if you're part of a team you need to do what the team does. If you want to try and improve by doing some running outside of team practice times that's fine but you still need to respect team procedures and your coach, no matter awful or wonderful.

So you cut your best runner because he wouldn't help you build your "camp site" at meets? Wow, good work, I'm sure you'll continue to move up through the coaching ranks with your "we're all equal" philosophy. Good luck with that. Fag.

Read the entire write up. He was not being a team player. Only in our sport do the runners feel they know more than the coach. Can you imagine what would happen if the quarterbacks and receivers skipped team practice to workout plays on their own

adsfasfasdf wrote:

She is probably right. Maybe you need to look at yourself in the mirror and consider your attitude. Change that before anything else.

+1

I actually had a terrible attitude in high school myself and was probably lucky to not get kicked off the team. Don't make the mistakes I did.

Bad at running wrote:

My team NEVER ran over 30 miles a week in high school and people thought our coach was good. I dropped 2 minutes off my 5k pr in the first six months of being self coached.

You ever think that your coach's conservative approach left you healthy and skilled enough to build your mileage further after high school?

Maybe your coach had your long-term success in mind.

High school Runner wrote:

What should I do if I was cut from the team? Will it affect my college applications? I am the only four year senior currently on the team. I skipped practice Friday in order to practice hills on my own. It is the first practice I skipped but my coach said I already have two strikes during summer conditioning for not showing up. Any suggestions?

I think we're getting off the main line of question here. If you really want to just know what to do after you get cut from the team, you shouldn't have included any backstory. I, nor anyone else here shouldn't be the ones to affirm whether you or the coach is in the right for what happened, nor should we care. If all you want to know is what you should do now, you need to ask yourself what you want. Is it best, training wise, for you to train on your own? Are you planning on running (competively) in college? If you had the chance, would you even want back on the team? And maybe if running in college isn't a priority or something you have planned, is there something better you can do with your time, academically or socially speaking, that could help with your acceptance into colleges?

Running 30 MPW freshman to senior year was not setting anyone up for long term success.

High school Runner wrote:And actually a lot of my team mates are supporting me and do not believe that I should be cut and do not believe I am a bad influence

Yes, you're a bad influence because you're undermining the coach. Whether the coach is correct isn't the point, they're in charge and you're not.

So you don't like the coach and you want to work out on your own; Go ahead, just understand you're not going to compete for your school. That's how it works. If that looks bad on your college applications so be it. You run XC to compete as part of a team, not to pad your resume.

Option one is you put down you competed for 3 years, and if they ask you say you didn't agree with the coaches methods and leave it to them to decide if you're a self-righteous prick or a conscientious objector.

Your other option is you go in hat in hand (without your folks) and plead your case to the coach. If you do that you're going to have to be willing to follow what your coach says to the letter for the rest of the season, or get their OK to do extra above and beyond team practice (not instead of it).

Take your pick, but if you think there's option 3 where the coach concedes you were right all along and puts you back on the team to continue what you're doing you're sorely mistaken.

Update: only like 5 varsity members left... Not planning on getting back on the team at all anymore, going to try to schedule an appointment with principal, coach and athletic director for what's best for the teams future

Unless this is more common than I think the college coach that cut his first runner is my coach. I am speaking for the other nine runners on the team. I was quite shocked when this happened. Let me add shocked and glad to see that he (coach) actually did what he has preached to the team for my three years- no one is better than the entire team. We actually have brainstormed on how we can make up for the athletic loss of this runner. Our motivation is to show that it did help the team. Don't worry about his future success he has been very successful in the past and with the support of his team that will continue.

Bad at running wrote:

Running 30 MPW freshman to senior year was not setting anyone up for long term success.

Being a good runner is more than your mileage. You can always add more mileage. You can't 'undo' injuries and bad habits built early.

High school Runner wrote:

going to try to schedule an appointment with principal, coach and athletic director for what's best for the teams future

Good luck, but I don't think that will happen. Admin is often too busy to deal with XC squabbling.

You'd be better off appealing to the team's parents.

Regardless, your actions will be seen as mutinous. Have the decency to save your temper tantrum until the season is over.

Contact a lawyer. Sue the coach, the principal, and the school board president.

Best post on this thread. Good luck in life kid, you are going to need it.

College Coach wrote:

I just cut my number one kid from a college team. He would cut practice to train on his own. His attitude was a cancer on the team. We only have the championship meets left. Our team score will suffer, but our culture will improve. He was always showed up at the last minute, never helping to load or unload the van. Once at meet goes off on his own until campsite is established. I sat him out and he improved until we got into the championship part. He stated "that without me you won't even finish in the top half of the conference and with me we should be in top three". He is correct. Everyone gets treated the same regardless of their ability.

Congrats coach! Wish more coaches in all sports would practice what they preach and follow this example.