2022 College Track & Field Open Coaching Positions Discussion

Cwackle wrote:

it is time wrote:

Coaches that think they can't benefit from going to convention are the types of coaches I hope to avoid hiring. Angry at the world, think they know everything already, project their insecurities about not being a part of the cool kids club. Guys this can be a positive experience for everyone. The only knock is that it's expensive.

When it comes down to it those negative people will leave the profession or find themselves stuck somewhere they're miserable and the rest of us will go about our business, never having the opportunity to meet them and grow.

How about Sean Carlson at his symposium tonight? That was a solid stand up routine disguised as an informative training chat.🤣

The main importance of the convention is voting. Beyond that it is a pretty big waste of time. (Even that is probably a waste of time. It's rare for anything to be decided by just a few votes). The first few years for a young coach can be helpful. After that, the symposiums are not helpful. Even the most interesting sounding symposiums are usually pretty big disappointments once you are a knowledgeable coach. Few if any of the top coaches present, and when they do they aren't sharing their "secrets". So you aren't getting much, and are certainly not getting anything you can't get from spending a bit of time in a book or doing your own research. Thinking you are getting much if anything from the symposiums is at best lazy.

As for the social and employment aspects, if you are hiring someone because you met them at the Convention, and you think your interactions with them at the Convention are enough to feel they are hirable, that's pretty messed up. Unless you are a head coach that wants suck-ups and fakes, and there are plenty of those. It's a really weird environment with awkward and fake interactions. Not where and how I want to find my coaching staff.

Beyond that, as someone else said, the convention is a "vacation" paid for by the athletic department. The days are open, the afternoons are symposiums that most don't go to, so the afternoons are open, and the evenings are events, or open. It's a silly number of days given what is accomplished. I guess that is great if you don't have a family or don't care about your family. For many, after a long season of working, recruiting, travel, gone most weekends, etc. the priority is to spend time with family and recharge before jumping right back into it (only worse) for a long track & field season.

I also agree that there is an illogical level of arrogance with xc and track coaches. I guess if you can feel like a king in your little pond, then have at it. But the reality is that our sport is an afterthought. It may be important to us, but outside of those convention walls, pretty much nobody cares. You can think you are big crap, but its a fantasy. 99.99% of the American population doesn't know and doesn't care.

saucypoppy wrote:

Cwackle wrote:

The main importance of the convention is voting. Beyond that it is a pretty big waste of time. (Even that is probably a waste of time. It's rare for anything to be decided by just a few votes). The first few years for a young coach can be helpful. After that, the symposiums are not helpful. Even the most interesting sounding symposiums are usually pretty big disappointments once you are a knowledgeable coach. Few if any of the top coaches present, and when they do they aren't sharing their "secrets". So you aren't getting much, and are certainly not getting anything you can't get from spending a bit of time in a book or doing your own research. Thinking you are getting much if anything from the symposiums is at best lazy.

As for the social and employment aspects, if you are hiring someone because you met them at the Convention, and you think your interactions with them at the Convention are enough to feel they are hirable, that's pretty messed up. Unless you are a head coach that wants suck-ups and fakes, and there are plenty of those. It's a really weird environment with awkward and fake interactions. Not where and how I want to find my coaching staff.

Beyond that, as someone else said, the convention is a "vacation" paid for by the athletic department. The days are open, the afternoons are symposiums that most don't go to, so the afternoons are open, and the evenings are events, or open. It's a silly number of days given what is accomplished. I guess that is great if you don't have a family or don't care about your family. For many, after a long season of working, recruiting, travel, gone most weekends, etc. the priority is to spend time with family and recharge before jumping right back into it (only worse) for a long track & field season.

I also agree that there is an illogical level of arrogance with xc and track coaches. I guess if you can feel like a king in your little pond, then have at it. But the reality is that our sport is an afterthought. It may be important to us, but outside of those convention walls, pretty much nobody cares. You can think you are big crap, but its a fantasy. 99.99% of the American population doesn't know and doesn't care.

Wow, man thank you for writing this up! THIS is exactly the convention and the sport in a nutshell you hit the nail on the head brother!