Others have mentioned these limits will lead to a huge transfer culture. Kids will try to develop somewhere and transfer to D1 for their last year or two. Them and mid-20s Kenyans. Interesting to see how the “feeder” schools will handle this. Get your kids good at running but not too good. Forget team comraderie and development over time, it’s every athlete for themselves.
this is a nightmare for US running
the club team idea that everyone thinks will be big and/or better for xc is a non-starter from the beginning. Club programs generally are run with a decent degree of seperation fom the coaching staff of the school team. A lot of times they are coached by a GA or maybe a guy on the varsity team or some similar situation. The seperation from the school team will become huge with almost no way to bridge the gap. The roster limits are the new law and are not negotiable. Coaches will be in big trouble if they try to farm those kids by giving workouts on the side. I am thinking the roster limit infractions will be major infractions. The other problem is talent. Outside of pulling kids up due to injuries on the varsity there is no chance for those kids. with the transfer portal and the likely move towards developed internationals, the last 4-5 guys on any P4 xc program will likely be let go at the end of every year to get better recruits through the portal or overseas. Walk-ons will cease to exists. Club teams cannot have any affiliation with the athletic department and will have zero resources. I also think that D1 run meets will start to restrict who can compete unattached thus greatly limiting race opportunities. The club system is a pipe dream that will die on the vine. D2, D3, JUCO and NAIA will become feeder systems for D1 because of their access to budgets, facilities, coaching, and team environments. Clubs will trend towards hobby jogger central. There will be almost no upside for a coach to use a full scholarship roster spot on a long shot when he can get a kenyan or a D2 national champion.
clubmyth wrote:
the club team idea that everyone thinks will be big and/or better for xc is a non-starter from the beginning. Club programs generally are run with a decent degree of seperation fom the coaching staff of the school team. A lot of times they are coached by a GA or maybe a guy on the varsity team or some similar situation. The seperation from the school team will become huge with almost no way to bridge the gap. The roster limits are the new law and are not negotiable. Coaches will be in big trouble if they try to farm those kids by giving workouts on the side. I am thinking the roster limit infractions will be major infractions. The other problem is talent. Outside of pulling kids up due to injuries on the varsity there is no chance for those kids. with the transfer portal and the likely move towards developed internationals, the last 4-5 guys on any P4 xc program will likely be let go at the end of every year to get better recruits through the portal or overseas. Walk-ons will cease to exists. Club teams cannot have any affiliation with the athletic department and will have zero resources. I also think that D1 run meets will start to restrict who can compete unattached thus greatly limiting race opportunities. The club system is a pipe dream that will die on the vine. D2, D3, JUCO and NAIA will become feeder systems for D1 because of their access to budgets, facilities, coaching, and team environments. Clubs will trend towards hobby jogger central. There will be almost no upside for a coach to use a full scholarship roster spot on a long shot when he can get a kenyan or a D2 national champion.
The other reason coaches won’t give workouts or tips on the side to club teams is probably lack of insurance and liability. Stress fractures or eating disorder lawsuits need to be their own fault.
Apart from that though, club teams could develop and give a very positive socially supported training environment to sub elites who just want to train hard with some degree of support at the college they otherwise want to be at. Occasionally some will end up running times fast enough to get a roster spot somewhere and take it.
I agree that that has been true although not super common for a long time but going forward I seriously doubt that anyone fast enough to make the varsity will have even 1 club teammate that will be able to help them in training. Those kids are solo projects. I think your statement on liability and insurance will cripple club kids acces to good coaching. Unless they have a parent that coaches or a good high school coach then they will be a youtube watching runners world reading internet amateur self coached product. There is a reason that there are very few examples of good runners successfully coaching themselves. Most college runners know entire libraries less about training than they think they do. Most dont really start to understand it until they have been coaching for several years and even then the best coaches take years to get to the point that they can successfully train others.
The US college system is from the 1800s to teach teachers for K-12 elementary schools. It's outmoded and obsolete with online education, smart phones, etc.
high school xc coach wrote:
the rich will get richer. the poor will disappear
Why must the university system be the only place to pursue post high school track and field? How about university students go to college to get an education and participate in club running? Isnt that how it used to be?
Not convinced wrote:
I am still not convinced of this doomsday scenario. Most of D1 will opt out. Whole conference like the Patriot League, MAAC, etc will not be part of this model. Of course this is a non issue for D2 and D3. Track will be fine overall. Not the same but fine. But I am no heal digger. I can be convinced otherwise but so far it’s just been a bunch of fear mongering.
At least one school in the MAAC is opting in.