Is XC too nice for its own good?

Cross Country is cheap. Uniforms food after away meets

In my part of the country the AD doesn’t care a thing about it, doesn’t pay attention to it and doesn’t pay a coach hardly anything to coach it.

There is no pressure to win from either the local media or the community because there aren’t enough fans to produce the pressure on either the team, coaches or media.

The teams are more like a school club.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Many high school cross country programs are just allowed to exist.

Robert E . Lee wrote:

Cross Country is cheap. Uniforms food after away meets

In my part of the country the AD doesn’t care a thing about it, doesn’t pay attention to it and doesn’t pay a coach hardly anything to coach it.

There is no pressure to win from either the local media or the community because there aren’t enough fans to produce the pressure on either the team, coaches or media.

The teams are more like a school club.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Many high school cross country programs are just allowed to exist.

Not really different from the 30 bench warmers on the football team that never play a down.

I cannot imagine making decisions in my life based on "local media".

Look, nobody cares about band or orchestra except the parents. Nobody watches the chior except for parents. Nobody cares about any of the other activities that kids do. That's not why you do things in life.

People like to watch football games. Nothing wrong with that.

"The teams are more like a school club.

Out of sight, out of mind."

At my HS, that described wrestling, golf, tennis, soccer and just about all of the girls' sports. Because it wasn't played at night, even the baseball games were watched by only a few dozen people.

Why do so many of you single out our sport for abuse?

SDSU Aztec wrote:

"The teams are more like a school club.

Out of sight, out of mind."

At my HS, that described wrestling, golf, tennis, soccer and just about all of the girls' sports. Because it wasn't played at night, even the baseball games were watched by only a few dozen people.

Why do so many of you single out our sport for abuse?

100%

Nobody shows up for or cares about any sport outside of football or basketball or maybe baseball. Nothing wrong with that. People got stuff to do. Sports are about participation, not spectating. XC is not unique.

If there is room on the team let them stay. The emphasis should be less on competition & more on fitness and learning the basics at the younger ages. Too many talented runners I knew quit before college ended because by that time they were sick of the pressure from too young an age. There are lots of late bloomers. Plus it is still early in the year. Many of the walkers will improve a lot by the end of the season. Let them have fun.

I totally disagree with you.

Cutting kids and telling them to train on their own isn't going to work for most kids.

They need to train with a group and get better. Especially in middle school.

These kids you cut won't come back out.

I didn't run track until 11th grade. I trained on my own first to get good enough to compete.

I was surprised at the number kids on the team that weren't fast. I would have started earlier if I knew that.

I was a walk on in college and could easily have been cut. But I was allowed to stick around and eventually earned a track scholarship.

My daughter was cut from her track team in 10th grade.

She's a senior now but that was it for her. No track.

Let them all try.

The "naturals" and "gifteds" are always easy to spot. But I have seen a good number of gangly, uncoordinated, lazy, and even some chunky middle school kids become very good runners that finished top 15 at state, one kid won a state track title his senior year, and quite a few went on to run collegiately. If you coach kids positively and get them focused on self improvement, some can rise to unexpected heights. Consistent aerobic development pays off as everyone will respond to training if enough of it is done. Some will get really good. All will be healthier people with good life habits if they stick with it.

Since we are discussing middle school and age group kids, don't ever forget the power of puberty. It cuts both ways. I've seen chubby boys get lean and strong once the change took place. I've seen top age group "can't miss" girls gain curves and never better the times that they ran at AAU and USATF meets when they were 11-12 years old. I seen kids of both genders endure years of midpack finishes suddenly become local high school stars. I have also sadly witnessed both boys and girls with talent drop out of the sport once they discovered dating, parties, and social media.

To the OP's original point, XC is not too nice. It should be accommodating and open. The death of our sport will be when we start treating it like club soccer or AAU basketball and start kicking kids out because they don't show pro potential at age 8. Unlike other team sports, a late bloomer still has a shot if they do the work. I didn't start running until I was 17 but, after a single season of high school cross country and one of track, I walked on at a lower level D1 school and earned a scholarship my sophomore year. Spent a few years after college racing roads with free gear provided by footwear sponsors, comped entries, and picked up a bit of cash here and there. Based on my consistent last place finishes at every elementary school field day 100 yard dash and my junior high gym class mile times (never broke 8:00), I clearly was not possessed of great natural talent. It was mileage and consistency just like Lydiard taught over six decades ago.

Totally agree on the puberty thing. I've seen a bunch of girls kill it in middle schooled, and then never get better in HS as they physically develop naturally into their bodies. They get the weight and the curves, but they don't get the added testosterone and strength that a boy get as he adds weight. I'm stating the obvious here. I think everyone knows this.

My son is an a XC program that coaches elementary school through middle aged kids.

When they're supposed to be jogging laps around the course, I noticed quite a number of middle school aged kids walking, sometimes in groups. Obviously these are the same kids who will be walking at meets.

I don't have a strong opinion about this one way or the other. Maybe these kids started out physically inactive and even slow jogging is tough for them, or maybe their parents made them join them team and they don't really want to be running.

I guess it's fine to permit this through middle school. Once high school comes around, these kids will know whether they are cut out for real running or not.