Father sues for 40 million after son is dropped from track team

"Mawusimensah Mears, a sophomore at.."

theres a name Ive never heard.

Here's the key line: "But things started to sour in his son's freshman year, Mears said, when he and his son's track coach disagreed over which races his son should run." A sense of entitlement at work.

The audacity...c'mon. 40mil???

Come on man wrote:

It's unfair, Mears said, that his son wasn't allowed to compete, even though he may have been faster than some seniors who raced. "If he doesn't qualify, then the clock will say he's not fast enough," .

Bravo. Coaches should just offer specific workouts as suggestions, be there for advice but nothing more. Let the kids run, how they want to run, when they want to run. And if the guy who never trains with the team is still the fastest, then he should be allowed to compete.

uisdhoijdjkfkjl wrote:

Bravo. Coaches should just offer specific workouts as suggestions, be there for advice but nothing more. Let the kids run, how they want to run, when they want to run. And if the guy who never trains with the team is still the fastest, then he should be allowed to compete.

To be fair, most high school coaches are terrible and, unfortunately, you don't really get the same chance to choose them like you may get in college. Most high school coaches are plenty happy to run kids into the ground or simply don't know any better or how to properly train someone.

It'd be nice if everyone was Mary Cain and able to fly and compete in any meet they wanted to and just forget about running for the high school team, but most people aren't able to do that.

I tried to look for some times, and have found a 2:12 indoor 800m from this season. Also times between 17:30-18:30 for XC.

Come on man wrote:

I tried to look for some times, and have found a 2:12 indoor 800m from this season. Also times between 17:30-18:30 for XC.

If a 2:12 and 17:30-18:30 guy is beating the best guys on the team...that's one sucky HS team. :(

HS track is more than squeezing out every tenth of a second. It's about teaching responsibility, inspiring youth to be more than they ever dreamed, and how to to fight through the tough times. It's about leadership, sportsmanship, mentoring younger runners. It's about learning how to lose and winning gracefully. It's about being a part of a team, learning conflict resolution, how to work together as a group and following instructions. It's about the amazing moment when your goal is accomplished and you celebrate the thrills with those you have worked so hard with.

I could go on but you get my point. You can't do that when you're not there. You don't show up to practice you don't play. That's been a rule since t-ball. You earn the right to be on a team, you are not entitled. This is all very sad.

yeah his college scholarship is probably worth 40mill.

My goodness there are so many people out there who need

a reality check. Hope he loses the case.

too fast wrote:

If a 2:12 and 17:30-18:30 guy is beating the best guys on the team...that's one sucky HS team. :(

He's not. His times beat the crappy seniors, maybe, but they have guys that run the low 2's, etc. He's not even worth the trouble his dad is giving the school. There will be no scholarship money for a mediocre kid who runs 2:12 in his second year. Best case scenario he gets to low 2's, but not even sub. This would be a tad different if a low 1:5x runner or something was being deprived of the chance to compete, but this is just a slowpoke. What a pathetic joke.

Only in Merica.

He's actually run about 2:06 according to the one set of stats for him. All the pictures show him hurdling but I've only seen 2 results for those, 11.3 over the 60H indoors and a 66 for the 400H. Nothing he's run is blowing the doors off his teammates, and the race he was suppose to run this past weekend he never did. This is a joke.

Probably a case where an idiot coach, a bratty kid and an obnoxious parent all combine for a whacky story.

The 68 year old dad seems a little too old to have a high school sophomore son.

Crotchety old man.

Montesquieu wrote:

Here's the key line: "But things started to sour in his son's freshman year, Mears said, when he and his son's track coach disagreed over which races his son should run." A sense of entitlement at work.

That and the real key line:

"I felt in a way, disrespected," Mawusimensah, 16, said Friday. "At practice, I work hard and I try to be the best athlete I can be, but at meet time, I didn't get the respect that I thought I deserved."

A 16-year old says he feels disrespected and didn't get what he thought he deserved. Dad sues for $40 million. Way to teach valuable life lessons there, pops.

That's it. I'm going to sue myself for not making the Olympics.

Wow, this is such the wrong thing on so many levels. That the kid was an "undefeated champion" in the 8th grade means absolutely nothing.

Even if the kid has run a 2:06 800, so what? There are freshman boys who run faster than that every year. I don't see a special athlete here.

Bad father.

Come on man

Dirtiest name ever?^

'when he and his son's track coach disagreed over which races his son should run.'

Does his father tell the other teachers when the exams need to be set

ukathleticscoach wrote:

'when he and his son's track coach disagreed over which races his son should run.'

Does his father tell the other teachers when the exams need to be set

Apples and Oranges ring any bells with you?