Should I hire a coach for my son? Input please

No, clearly he is running well at his school under the team's coach. He is 14. Doing something to separate him from the others on the team will only create resentment and division. Unless the whole team is using the private coaches workouts this is a big mistake. He will progress just fine from where he is as he grows and matures. Colleges don't want a maxed out kid that will not progress in their program. Unless he wants a private coach, don't make that decision for him. You might just be better off getting advice on workouts from an experienced coach and work with his team's coach to grow the program the team uses. Just my thoughts.

Holy cow, he's going to the Olympics.

No need for a private coach just yet. Have him increase his mileage a bit, say to 30-35mi for now. Better yet, point him towards a second sport soccer, basketball or swimming. Revisit this question in a couple of years.

Offer to become a volunteer assistant boy’s coach at the program then supplant the head coach.

Once the program is yours turn it into the next high school dynasty. You’ve already got a sub 10 2 miler, only 4 more to go. Now if your son is any good he should be sub 9 heading into junior year. That’s a solid team leader for a possible small school state title.

The top 3 most important things: RECRUIT, RECRUIT, RECRUIT!

The next 3: Mileage, Intervals, Strength Training.

Make sure you wear a M.A.G.A. cap to practice so they know who’s in charge. High School boys will naturally gravitate toward a strong male role model.

Also have a clip board, whistle, stop watch, cargo shorts, aviator sunglasses, and a LRC Your Move shirt.

Could you put an email down and I’ll reach out?

He has no desire for outside coaching nor do I. Thanks for the input. Makes sense to me.

ABSOLUTELY hire a private coach for him.

It's amazing his female coach had the wisdom to be open to it, and even nudge you in that direction.

90% of the posters here telling you NOT to hire a private coach are feminist Marxists who want you to leave your son's fate to the no doubt "brilliant" and "strong and independent" female coach.

Get your kid a private coach, even try the fellow poster Sage Canaday, or his hot girlfriend Sandy. Same coaching company, VO2 Productions.

Your son is clearly talented, but he's still young. Some people who get D1 scholarships run slower times in middle school. And some run faster. It's hard to tell at this age/experience. He could end up with a sub 4:10 mile PR. Or he could top out in the 4:30 range.

I think there's a lot more information needed to decide whether to hire a private coach. You don't need the world's best coach to train him. He's doing very little training currently so likely any increase in volume or intensity at this point will provide gains. But he does need someone to help. That could be his high school coach, a parent, a private coach, or even himself. So either you or him want to take some time to educate yourself (this is what I would do) or you rely on the school coach or private coach.

I wouldn't try to do a school team and a private coach concurrently. Does you school have an offseason program? Or do they just train in season? If no off season program then that is the time to rely on outside support (either yourself or the private coach). Leave the in season stuff to the school coach unless things break down.

I coach a group of middle distance kids between 14-17. They all do pretty much the same training and will do till post puberty when we can start individualising their work

The best kid is 1:57 / 3:55/ 8:36 (3000).

Let hi have fun with his team. Most private coaches will coach him as a small adult rather than let him develop in his own time. Also let him have fun.

Consider the Magic JS ? Coached an age 16 guy to become pro runner. You find him here

www.coachjs.se

Could you please post pics of his coach?

Baxter B wrote:

Consider the Magic JS ? Coached an age 16 guy to become pro runner. You find him here

www.coachjs.se

OP, this is Jan Stensson, aka JS, posting under an anonymous handle.

He is a scammer. That site is full of lies.

Iron Bars wrote:

No need for a private coach just yet. Have him increase his mileage a bit, say to 30-35mi for now. Better yet, point him towards a second sport soccer, basketball or swimming. Revisit this question in a couple of years.

No he doesnt need to increase mileage at that age when he is still developing . Let him play other sports

You can get him into a USATF or AAU summer track club but do your research on them because some have very knowledgeable coaches that usually Level 1 certified by USATF. The really good clubs have many coaches that are Level 2 certified. Summer track was instrumental in getting my kids D1 scholarships in track & field. The first link below will locate competitive clubs in your area and the next two links are describing the difference b/w level 1 and level 2 certification.

Good luck,

https://usatf.sport80.com/public/widget/2

https://www.usatf.org/programs/coaches/level-1-and-recertification-information

https://www.usatf.org/programs/coaches/level-2-information

As others are saying--let him train with his HS team. If the objective is a DI college experience, that will not be dependent on the level of coaching he gets in 9th grade. Distance running is not tennis. College coaches will be evaluating him for potential, and will "price in" the level of training he is currently doing. If he's talented enough to be a legit DI runner, he will be talented enough to run well in HS off of limited training. Lots of us did.

If you do decide to hire an outside coach, be aware that a lot of private coaches who work with high school kids are BS-artists. Inflate kids' (and parents') heads with unrealistic dreams to keep the fees coming in.

Also, too soon to know how good he is.

private coaching is your only hope for your son to someday snag a coveted 12% tuition scholarship to university of [your state here]. coach JS is definitely the best option. he's got enthusiasm.

No need for a private coach yet… His biggest need is just to run more. The first thing a private coach would likely recommend is to increase his mileage. Get his mileage up to 40 per week (gradually). Don’t waste your money or give yours is the sense that he’s something special. Let him progress normally…

Thanks for all the great advice. I think I'll definitely have him stick with the high school coach for now and see how it goes. For all I know he may have enough of it after this year and decide to focus purely on his rock climbing and leave running behind.

Iron Bars wrote:

No need for a private coach just yet. Have him increase his mileage a bit, say to 30-35mi for now. Better yet, point him towards a second sport soccer, basketball or swimming. Revisit this question in a couple of years.

NO DO NOT DO THAT