Spring XC Practice

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Maddie L wrote:

I was curious if anyone has any insight on mandatory spring practices for NCAA cross country runners. I am a cross country only runner (no track) and my coach (who coaches both) was trying to inform myself and some other ladies that we were going to have a few weeks of mandatory xc practice this spring. I love running, but don't like being committed to practices year round. Do any other schools do this? We can't find a rule book that talks about it.

And, please don't call us lazy slackers. We know what we are, we are non-varsity DIII runners who love XC way more than track. We run all year, but like to have time to focus on school and other activities.

Everyone does this. College and high school are not the same. If you're thinking there is a rule about this there is. Coaches get two practice segments so they can have spring semester practice. I think its 144 practice days for the school year and they can split them into two segements. If you need examples from other sports... spring football practice is one. I bet your soccer team practices during the spring too.

There is nothing wrong with just running for fun but if you join a team you are supposed to be their to compete. That means training year round.

Is it you do not want to run or not be forced to train with the team? Part of the coaches job is to make you a better runner. I have heard so many times that coach X's runners never improve. Well to improve they must train. Meet with your coaches. Tell them how you feel and see just what is expected of you. They may only be trying to get you more involved in running and perhaps you will find a real joy in track. If the two of you are not on the same page, perhaps XC is not for you. I hope none of my high school or college coaches read this as they will pass away as I hated track and only ran it under protests.

my guess would be money. if you are D3 and therefore not on athletic scholarship, i would say they cant FORCE you. if you get money, however, i would say they own you year round.

duhh wrote:

my guess would be money. if you are D3 and therefore not on athletic scholarship, i would say they cant FORCE you. if you get money, however, i would say they own you year round.

You act like the only cost to have a runner on the team is a scholarship.

Every runner has a cost, for meet entries, shoes, uniforms, clothing, travel, hotel, etc.

If they don't take the sport seriously, then there is no reason to have the person on the team.

Training year-round is a requirement whether you're varsity or not. And if you're not varsity, you should be training to make the varsity.

duhh wrote:

my guess would be money. if you are D3 and therefore not on athletic scholarship, i would say they cant FORCE you. if you get money, however, i would say they own you year round.

^ worst advice ever. To think there should be no accountability for non-scholarship athletes is asinine. All team members have the same responsibility to train and compete. The faster ones just get bigger rewards (scholarship).

i agree with the last two posters, actually. personally, i walked on in college and eventually earned a scholarship. for me it didnt make a difference, the money. i just wanted to run faster and hopefully help the team win by scoring more points.

money or not if you dont want to be out there everyday, you shouldnt be. college is not like HS where there is a big stigma for quitting the team. i think people understand if you dont have the desire anymore. you should NOT, however, be faking it or going thru the motions, scholarship or not.