Another bizarre case of a coach over punishing a high school student for having an off day.
Tldr: she's a 53 second 400m runner, ran the 4x4 at a meet as her third race of the day, splits 1:11 for an overall time of like 4:43. They got last, and even if she equaled her PB they'd have been 11th (lol). They then suspended her for lack of effort.
Not gonna get too political here but Georgia has a certain reputation.
I'm omitting a lot of bad behavior by the coaches just bc it's not super relevant
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Funny this article pops up now. The times she ran at the east coast invite last saturday were registered under a school in California for some reason. Was trying to figure out what on earth was going on, and how some girl randomly ran a 2 second state lead.
Whew. So many things here. That 4x4 leg was way off, even for being exhausted. But she was going to run 3 events regardless, she had the stamina to be close. I disregard the placing because I feel that's irrelevant here. But let's flip sides. How does the coach say "I don't know who she is" when she's the center of this? How in the world is that possible? While I get that sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the better of the team, #2 in the state is not to be ignored, especially when trying to prop up a weaker 4x4 team. Relay points are nice, but you have to be in the running to make that switchover. Likely this is not a big deal at all had the coach talked it over before the change. Why is it so hard to present the situation and get input from the kid vs just making the call without input? The value of having that buy in from the athlete is critical. They may not understand, may not have confidence, etc. That's where real coaching takes place. Sounds like this coach is just a poor roster manager instead. And did the kid protest in her leg? I think so. But I feel there was no discussion with her about it prior to punishment. Maybe discuss just doing two events since three seems to be too much. Given her opportunities elsewhere, I'd skip on the Sr year.
I would call their reputation these days "growing pains". Georgia has gotten exponentially faster in the sprint events over the past few years. If you look at national top 10 lists, Georgia sits next to CA, TX, and FL, formerly the big 3 of United States HS sprinting. They had a team run 40.06 last year. There will probably be a GA team that breaks 40 this weekend.
As a whole though, they are still better than CA when it comes to rules. But, thats not a very high standard - CA has some of the most obscure and archaic rules in the US.
Never mind, I didn't realize this was quoting another post.
By the way, the coach in the article is quite honestly awful. Obviously there is something else going on - you can tell from what is being stated and what is being omitted in the article that there were a few other facts that aren't really being discussed, but this coach is still pretty bad.
Whew. So many things here. That 4x4 leg was way off, even for being exhausted. But she was going to run 3 events regardless, she had the stamina to be close. I disregard the placing because I feel that's irrelevant here. But let's flip sides. How does the coach say "I don't know who she is" when she's the center of this? How in the world is that possible? While I get that sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the better of the team, #2 in the state is not to be ignored, especially when trying to prop up a weaker 4x4 team. Relay points are nice, but you have to be in the running to make that switchover. Likely this is not a big deal at all had the coach talked it over before the change. Why is it so hard to present the situation and get input from the kid vs just making the call without input? The value of having that buy in from the athlete is critical. They may not understand, may not have confidence, etc. That's where real coaching takes place. Sounds like this coach is just a poor roster manager instead. And did the kid protest in her leg? I think so. But I feel there was no discussion with her about it prior to punishment. Maybe discuss just doing two events since three seems to be too much. Given her opportunities elsewhere, I'd skip on the Sr year.
95% of high school coaches are bad. That's never going to change. But you can't just disobey and/or not try in an event that they enter you. Basketball and football coaches, at the high school through PROFESSIONAL level) are always going to call bad plays, but the athletes have an obligation to run those plays anyway.
If the athlete decides their individual success is more important than their team success - that should be met with consequences 100% of the time. The best part of high school and college track is being part of a team.
Toxic. Disproportionately punitive. What's the deal coaches? Intimidation is the laziest form of coaching.
I understand holding kids out of meets for disciplinary reasons, as well as switching or holding out of events to help the team. That's normal coaching stuff. Athletes won't always be happy about it. But in this case, it sounds like she met the criteria the coach outlined - run all 3 events.
If you overextend athletes physically, you're rolling the dice as a coach. If you are pushing emotional buttons as a coaching tactic, you need to accept the possibility of emotional and inconsistent results. Sometimes is pays off and sometimes it doesn't.
P.S. Standard disclaimer of maybe there is more to the story, etc.
Never mind, I didn't realize this was quoting another post.
By the way, the coach in the article is quite honestly awful. Obviously there is something else going on - you can tell from what is being stated and what is being omitted in the article that there were a few other facts that aren't really being discussed, but this coach is still pretty bad.
Coach sounds terrible. Does he not realize this athlete with her elite times in Georgia could score more points for the team by just letting her run the 3 individual events rather than putting her on a very average relay team? This is just basic math. He took her out of her best event where she was ranked 2nd in the state and still improving based on the more recent performance in Maryland.
It sounds like a classic school team vs club team conflict and with the parents being very knowledgeable about track the coach was on a power trip for control.
The teammates sound like a piece of work too. Probably jealousy since they are no where near her level. Hopefully this young lady finds a better team to run for, maybe move out of state and run for one of those teams like IMG or Monteverde. Or just go the club route for her senior year.
As a coach myself Im going to give an alternative point of view. Having faced this problem myself I can say that managing an elite level athlete comes with its own set of complications. As I read this article I wondered how much the parents were involved in this process. Several times I have witnessed parents who are only interested in their sons or daughters performance and not interested at all in the team..They start to micro manage the process and start to dictate which events/ and even meets and even training that their son and or daughter will run in. In my case the AD of our school typically will back down and allow the parents and the athlete to rule the day..select their events, meets and even utilize their own professional coaches.. but in this case the AD and the Administration stood firm behind their coach ( I applaud them ) Track and Field is still a team sport and having one athlete place their value over the result of the team and/or team mates is a problem I have run into myself. Its unfortunate it has come to this result but I feel Coaches and High Schools need to make a stand against athletes and their parents who feel that since their athlete is a elite performer now they have the leverage to dictate to the coaches/school what their son and/or daughter will do on the team. My answer to all of this is if you feel you want to run what you want to run then run independent..
As a coach myself Im going to give an alternative point of view. Having faced this problem myself I can say that managing an elite level athlete comes with its own set of complications. As I read this article I wondered how much the parents were involved in this process. Several times I have witnessed parents who are only interested in their sons or daughters performance and not interested at all in the team..They start to micro manage the process and start to dictate which events/ and even meets and even training that their son and or daughter will run in. In my case the AD of our school typically will back down and allow the parents and the athlete to rule the day..select their events, meets and even utilize their own professional coaches.. but in this case the AD and the Administration stood firm behind their coach ( I applaud them ) Track and Field is still a team sport and having one athlete place their value over the result of the team and/or team mates is a problem I have run into myself. Its unfortunate it has come to this result but I feel Coaches and High Schools need to make a stand against athletes and their parents who feel that since their athlete is a elite performer now they have the leverage to dictate to the coaches/school what their son and/or daughter will do on the team. My answer to all of this is if you feel you want to run what you want to run then run independent..
Of course it sounds good and reasonable when you present it as such, but MOST of the time track / XC coaches don't know anything and are actually the coach of another sport. As such, they tend to take the laziest approach possible. Instead of working with a talented athlete and the parents, they are just "my way or the highway", and they are overly punitive. Finally, many (if not most) talented athletes would LOVE to go independent and get better coaching, but the schools have made it very difficult to get in any meets and the students are completely shut out of district, regional, and state meets. I suspect you know this which shows how disingenuous your position is. How about working with the athletes and parents and working towards making the meets more inclusive?
Get her out of that school. The standout aspect was the caliber of thought and writing from the parents was exponentially higher than from the female coach. That variable is going to attach everywhere. It's like a Kentucky Derby family sharing a barn with plow horses.
That female coach appears to be a fat ass with a throwing background. She's not going to know the first thing about exhaustion after a series of races, that it adds a heck of a lot more than a few seconds to a relay split.
Somehow that relay lost nearly a minute from last year to this year. The track coaches were probably in denial of the degree of decline all season, and brilliantly expected their one remaining star leg to make up for the three tortoises.
I thought I recognized Chattahoochee High School from a recent visit to Georgia. Sure enough, that's in Alpharetta, where I stayed for a few nights while attending Canes/Georgia Tech football last November. That area is upscale white and Asian, with significantly fewer blacks than Georgia or Atlanta area as a whole. Consequently I wasn't surprised when I saw this summary on Niche. It is the root of Tyler's problem:
"Chattahoochee is a safe and supportive environment for most students. In a wealthy and conservative area, the school benefits from plenty of funding but students of color experience microaggressions regularly from white peers."
As a coach myself Im going to give an alternative point of view. Having faced this problem myself I can say that managing an elite level athlete comes with its own set of complications. As I read this article I wondered how much the parents were involved in this process. Several times I have witnessed parents who are only interested in their sons or daughters performance and not interested at all in the team..They start to micro manage the process and start to dictate which events/ and even meets and even training that their son and or daughter will run in. In my case the AD of our school typically will back down and allow the parents and the athlete to rule the day..select their events, meets and even utilize their own professional coaches.. but in this case the AD and the Administration stood firm behind their coach ( I applaud them ) Track and Field is still a team sport and having one athlete place their value over the result of the team and/or team mates is a problem I have run into myself. Its unfortunate it has come to this result but I feel Coaches and High Schools need to make a stand against athletes and their parents who feel that since their athlete is a elite performer now they have the leverage to dictate to the coaches/school what their son and/or daughter will do on the team. My answer to all of this is if you feel you want to run what you want to run then run independent..
There is a coaching shortage crisis for many reasons, but this is one of them and it's only going to get worse. Well said!
Of course it sounds good and reasonable when you present it as such, but MOST of the time track / XC coaches don't know anything and are actually the coach of another sport. As such, they tend to take the laziest approach possible. Instead of working with a talented athlete and the parents, they are just "my way or the highway", and they are overly punitive. Finally, many (if not most) talented athletes would LOVE to go independent and get better coaching, but the schools have made it very difficult to get in any meets and the students are completely shut out of district, regional, and state meets. I suspect you know this which shows how disingenuous your position is. How about working with the athletes and parents and working towards making the meets more inclusive?
Oh but what about the parents that are my way or the highway? I've had parents tell me "why do you even bother about the rest of the loser kids and just worry about my son and this kid or that kid? These are your kids going to state." All I wanted the athlete to do was practical stuff like come to practice on time so I can leave by 6:30pm and not allowing him to violate the district mandated...all athletes must ride the bus to and from events if provided (I'm not commenting anymore on that topic as it is for liability issues and once again...that's a district policy. Not mine). So parents and talented athletes just as often...and if not more are the "my way or the highway' challenge. You are correct coaches know less and less in many programs, because the good ones are quitting for obvious reasons. Attitudes and abusive treatment towards teachers and coaches has become accepted by society with school admins seemingly going along with it. Our district just put out a list of coaching positions for next year and every year this list gets longer and longer.
Get her out of that school. The standout aspect was the caliber of thought and writing from the parents was exponentially higher than from the female coach. That variable is going to attach everywhere. It's like a Kentucky Derby family sharing a barn with plow horses.
That female coach appears to be a fat ass with a throwing background. She's not going to know the first thing about exhaustion after a series of races, that it adds a heck of a lot more than a few seconds to a relay split.
Somehow that relay lost nearly a minute from last year to this year. The track coaches were probably in denial of the degree of decline all season, and brilliantly expected their one remaining star leg to make up for the three tortoises.
I thought I recognized Chattahoochee High School from a recent visit to Georgia. Sure enough, that's in Alpharetta, where I stayed for a few nights while attending Canes/Georgia Tech football last November. That area is upscale white and Asian, with significantly fewer blacks than Georgia or Atlanta area as a whole. Consequently I wasn't surprised when I saw this summary on Niche. It is the root of Tyler's problem:
"Chattahoochee is a safe and supportive environment for most students. In a wealthy and conservative area, the school benefits from plenty of funding but students of color experience microaggressions regularly from white peers."
Yeah, from time to time, there are as$hole parents and/or kids, and that completely sucks when that happens. Also, there are sometimes when everyone involved contributes significantly to the problem. But, in my experience (many years and I also know a lot of coaches), the ratio in situations like this one are ~20% dick-ish parents vs ~80% dick-ish coaches.
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