Actually SCOTUS has held that children do not have the same rights as adults and kids in school do not have some rights that adults have.
Actually SCOTUS has held that children do not have the same rights as adults and kids in school do not have some rights that adults have.
Participation in extracurriculars is not a "right". Schools and high school associations set standards such as GPA for participation.
If the kid had unexcused absences then I will side with the coach and school. If he was really harassed then that is another story, but not being allowed to run is not harassment.
Also, even if his times were better than some other kids, unless we want to empower parents to choose positions and playing time in football and basketball, the coach needs to be allowed discretion to pick his lineup. There are all sorts of reasons why a good coach might run a veteran over a freshman, not all of which even imply misbehavior on the kid's part.
I do hope there is a countersuit that puts this idiot in hock for the rest of his life.
I just got word of this thread. You all don't understand. My son deserves to run and can beat these team mates. The coach is out of control and that is why I had to sue. It is discrimination against my son for being fast. If you disagree with this you are discriminating against him and I will sue you too
Father M wrote:
I just got word of this thread. You all don't understand. My son deserves to run and can beat these team mates. The coach is out of control and that is why I had to sue. It is discrimination against my son for being fast. If you disagree with this you are discriminating against him and I will sue you too
Absolutely right. An 18:30 5k time at age 16 is incredibly fast, indicative of a D1 full ride scholarship and most likely a pro career.
hubertius wrote:
worst poster wrote:Its mute at this point
This is why letsrun is so great.
Ha. That is funny. "moot". I'd blame auto correct, but I'd be lying.
18:30 is blazing fast. wrote:
Father M wrote:I just got word of this thread. You all don't understand. My son deserves to run and can beat these team mates. The coach is out of control and that is why I had to sue. It is discrimination against my son for being fast. If you disagree with this you are discriminating against him and I will sue you too
Absolutely right. An 18:30 5k time at age 16 is incredibly fast, indicative of a D1 full ride scholarship and most likely a pro career.
Man, he should do a Cain and skip college. Get that kid to Europe...now...what are you waiting for?
gamecock wrote:
Also, even if his times were better than some other kids, unless we want to empower parents to choose positions and playing time in football and basketball, the coach needs to be allowed discretion to pick his lineup. There are all sorts of reasons why a good coach might run a veteran over a freshman, not all of which even imply misbehavior on the kid's part.
I do hope there is a countersuit that puts this idiot in hock for the rest of his life.
Football and basketball? Football, basketball, baseball, golf, etc, should just be deprived of all government funding. Then get rid of teams for XC and track all together, all runners from a school have a chance to represent the school in intramural competition, coaches would merely supervise the purely voluntary practice sessions.
That is my favorite comment on this thread, I almost spat out my oatmeal onto my monitor! But for real, this is ludicrous, what a freaking crybaby!
My Story: I thought I was good at soccer, the coach booted me from the team when I was a sophomore for being late to school, I thought the whole time I should have been playing Midfield for the Varsity team, but instead I got stuck playing JV back-up goal keeper, and again thrown off the team for tardiness to school. Facing reality(knowing the athletic director, nor anyone else was going to do much about it), I went to the XC coach and asked him i I could join the team, he said wait until next season starts, it would be unfair to the Sr's if you bumped them out of a spot for the championship races. I respected that, trained a fair bit through indoor/outdoor and the summer, and had a nice couple of yrs running XC, made varsity through hard work(#6 man), and became a Captain as a Sr(and #2 man) and still compete post-collegiately. Getting tossed from that soccer team was a good thing.
Moral of story: Sometimes things just aren't going to be the way you planned or the way you want them to be, so suck it up, be a man, and try something else! and don't sue people for absurd sums of money you don't deserve!
Joe Newton has dropped plenty of "talented" kids. Rule #1: simply follow team rules.
It's hard to figure out exactly what is going on from the article.
It the kid has been blowing off practice he should be off the team. It's difficult to win track meets with one kid. As a coach I understand how one kid not coming to practice can throw the team off.
It's especially troubling when a freshman comes in demanding respect and blowing off practices no matter what their talent level is.
On the other hand the father said it was a funeral and an injury that kept him away from practice. If this is true then I would have to side with the family even though I think the huge lawsuit was an extreme reaction.
Only 40 million?
If the kid is injured, then he can hold the clipboard at practice or help the school trainer. This was what I had to do in school to receive credit for an extracurricular like track.
In any case, the father is delusional. It's obvious that he liked seeing his kid winning in middle school, and expected this to translate into automatic success in high school. When that didn't happen, he began to blame the coach and throw his money around.
I was faster than some of the senior guys as a freshman at my high school, but was very happy to place highly in freshman meets during most of XC, then run varsity at district and earn a letter jacket. I never missed a practice, and was willing to trust my coach. My parents didn't whine me onto the varsity roster or barter for certain race entries, I had to earn it.
This is just another case of an adolescent sense of entitlement....and yes, I am talking about the dad.
Well technically, yes but my sense is that he'll settle for $20 million.
elmore345 wrote:
Only 40 million?
This sense of entitlement of the generation is out of control. The control is no longer with the coaches. It is with the athletes and their ignorant parents. If a coach even attempts to discipline their athlete, there is now a fear of retribution. A coach kicks off their athlete and the next thing you see are lawsuits and media frenzy crucifying the coach for doing their job.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iObtPBh3NXsworst poster wrote:
hubertius wrote:This is why letsrun is so great.
Ha. That is funny. "moot". I'd blame auto correct, but I'd be lying.
college iz fun wrote:
This sense of entitlement of the generation is out of control. The control is no longer with the coaches.
You are clueless.
lesbihonest wrote:
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.
True, there are some high school coaches who aren't very good and some terrible ones as well, but I disagree with your statement that most "most high school coaches are terrible".
college iz fun wrote:
This sense of entitlement of the generation is out of control. The control is no longer with the coaches. It is with the athletes and their ignorant parents. If a coach even attempts to discipline their athlete, there is now a fear of retribution. A coach kicks off their athlete and the next thing you see are lawsuits and media frenzy crucifying the coach for doing their job.
Who are you (and a few other posters) refering to when you state: sense of entitlement generation, the father or the son? The kid may feel he deserves something, but most kids from whatever generation probably feel that way, that's adolesence. The dad is the entitled one in this whole screenplay, if he just sets the kid straight and not go off his rocker and sue, then this mess goes away. But apparently that's his MO, at least the article made it sound that way.
So if he wins the lawsuit, how will the school be able to fund the track program?