I do the most administrative work. Our head coach oversees everything though so I know he puts up with his fair share of nonsense...whether that's from the administration, meet directors, compliance,etc. there is never enough time or money.
I do the most administrative work. Our head coach oversees everything though so I know he puts up with his fair share of nonsense...whether that's from the administration, meet directors, compliance,etc. there is never enough time or money.
After reading this thread, I have to wonder about Broken Dad who continues to harp on how the college coaches are failing without once responding to other posters/coaches telling him he needs to back off and let his daughter take a more active role.
Yes some coaches should be more professional, but it also sounds like broken Dad is harming his daughters future and a huge red flag.
The only thing that hasn't been adequately explained is the one school demanding a walk on time that would place the freshman 3rd on the team.
not only that wrote:
The only thing that hasn't been adequately explained is the one school demanding a walk on time that would place the freshman 3rd on the team.
I touched on this already.
There are a few possibilities:
1 - the coach could just be lying or incompetent
2 - there is little to no money available
3 - there are better recruits receiving offers first
4 - there is little to no space available
5 - all of the above to varying degrees
Imagine there are 12 girls on the team, with 4 scholarships, and a max limit of 16 athletes with one scholarship freeing up this year. This coach must find the best athletes they can for space AND money. Maybe they have 2 18:30 girls, who would compete to be THE best girl on the team, who have inquired similarly about the program. To this coach, without knowing financial aid situations, this means he needs to have competitive offers available to the best athletes interested. Right now, he's out of money 'on the course' so to say. Until this 19:xx girl moves up / the better girls fall out she just isn't in the money.
Maybe if the coach has 12 girls with a max limit of 20 athletes or no max limit, he would offer her something small, and try to fill in their depth and only recruit one stud. Using the rest for a group of back-end varsity potentials.
Maybe if the coach has 6 scholarships for XC and two are free this year, coach would similarly offer something if she's still within the range high enough to fill limited space.
Or maybe the coach has more space AND more money (doubtful) and could offer something because they can fill their roster with growth potential AND still have money for the best recruits on the board.
Lots of options.
Walk-on in XC/track doesn't always mean non-factor. It's just a reality when roster space and funds don't match interest.
My advice: walk on where you WANT to compete and earn your money before taking money for money's sake somewhere else. In my time coaching in the NCAA I've seen just as many walk-ons earn a scholarship and contribute in the front of teams' packs as I have scholarship athletes flake out because they hate the coach/program/school or just don't love running enough to make it. Not saying those are the only options, certainly many scholarship athletes are winning NCAAs, and so on and so forth...
But I personally turned down money as a HSer to go to my first choice school, walked-on and 4 years of improvement and small scholarship gains later had a full ride, more than I would have gotten at the school who offered me money and certainly got faster (I'm assuming) too.
Hope that helps.
JK