Our teams are growing beyond the capacity of our coaching staff. Meaning we have one full time coach and a part time assistant which works out to a ratio of 50 to 1. Prompted by numbers, Running Times, continued growth and no possibility of adding a coach, we have started to discuss setting a time you must run to qualify to be a part of the team. Has anyone had experience with this?
waterrunner33 wrote:
Our teams are growing beyond the capacity of our coaching staff. Meaning we have one full time coach and a part time assistant which works out to a ratio of 50 to 1. Prompted by numbers, Running Times, continued growth and no possibility of adding a coach, we have started to discuss setting a time you must run to qualify to be a part of the team. Has anyone had experience with this?
That is a potentially slippery slope. If it were me, I'd just suck it up and deal with more runners. you might have to organize yourself differently, have very clear training groups and move people to different training groups depending on how they perform in meets.
Cross country gets a lot of kids coming out because it is typically a 'no cut' sport, and since SOME of them have never run before, you once in a while get a kid who ends up being great with some training under him. There's a kid like that on my daughter's HS team (the boys team though) -- he started out running 24 minutes for 5k as a freshman, and now as a junior he got into the mid 16s.
Not a fan of cuts. Maybe you can get a volunteer assistant coach (many would do that in hopes of moving up to paid some day), but really, I say you could handle 300 runners even if you had to.
Why does your coaching staff have a capacity? Just tell the runners what their workout is and then let them run. You don't need to talk to each of them everyday. Designate pace groups and group captains for that.
1: Captains have more responsibility. Kids listen to kids more anyway. Have weekly meetings with the captains to discuss responsibilities. You will be surprised how serious they take it! They will be your eyes and ears. Other kids will recognize this and the culture of safety and seriousness will ensue.
2: At your end of the year evaluation, write these words at the top of the page "ATTENTION: SAFETY ISSUE" and explain your 50:1 ratio and how it's horrible for legal accountability by the school/district. It worked for me and I got another paid assistant. In our lawsuit happy world, I am sure the school would rather give a few thousand dollars to an assistant then spend tens of thousands in court if something happens to a kid.
3: I have cuts based on your improvement. We have a time trial at the beginning of the year. If you are slower than last years TT, you are cut! A kid is a waste of everyone's time if they are not training and going backwards. This also sets up a culture of hard work, improvement and accountability to your teammates.
Good luck!
The program in which I am involved is similar in growth. I do not cut for many reasons. One is a kid that I coached who was last on the team as a freshman was state runner-up in XC & track (3200) as a senior. The other is the theory that "slow runners may have fast friends" which has proven very true for us.
We group by dedication. We have those that are there to see how good (fast) they can become, down to those who are there to put something on their college resume. They all learn that they must meet minimum standards of attendance, doing what is asked, being supportive and good teammates, etc. However, weightroom, weekend runs, etc. fall just on those who have bought in. We do not expect the same things from each group and each group does not expect the same level of attention from the coaching staff. This seems to be working although there periodic frustrations with numbers like you are experiencing.
We are looking at all possibilities. This has been a growth trend over the last 5 years. Meaning well over 100 runners. Suggested organizational pieces are have been in place for 3 years.
Reason for Cut times -
1. Safety -
2. Issues with runners not feeling connected, which then brings a negative attitude.
3. Whimsical runners feeling a sense of entitlement.
Cut times would be very attainable.
9th graders - No cut time
10th grade - Boys 16:00 for two miles, Girls 18 minutes
etc.....
None of us are excited about the possibility of "cutting". In fact I would say we hate the idea so are curious about what people who have done this have experienced.
I would consider having an early season very demanding conditioning regimen that might weed some out. This program would consist of a lot of responsiblity that would demonstrate attributes wanted for all team members, not necessarily speed/time. Then base the cuts on attitude during that trying time, not times. Present a rubric or guide of what it will take to "make the team" prior to the conditioning period. At the start of each season I pull kids aside and have a "this is not for you" talk explaing how they are not contributing or gaining in any way, "not good for us, not good for you." They typically quit and leave on good terms.
None of your three reasons for cutting mentioned "too slow" so why use time? Use what you want to eliminate as the criteria and devise a system to show it as clearly as you can to avoid challenges.
I agree. Your problem isn't that kids are too slow. It is that you think you have too many kids. You clearly only want kids that care. Just group the kids by pace roughly and send them in packs on 20 on runs... that's pretty safe as long as you have decent upperclassmen "leaders"Lastly just make sure everyone knows they won't be racing many, or even most meets.
just the facts wrote:
I would consider having an early season very demanding conditioning regimen that might weed some out. This program would consist of a lot of responsiblity that would demonstrate attributes wanted for all team members, not necessarily speed/time. Then base the cuts on attitude during that trying time, not times. Present a rubric or guide of what it will take to "make the team" prior to the conditioning period. At the start of each season I pull kids aside and have a "this is not for you" talk explaing how they are not contributing or gaining in any way, "not good for us, not good for you." They typically quit and leave on good terms.
None of your three reasons for cutting mentioned "too slow" so why use time? Use what you want to eliminate as the criteria and devise a system to show it as clearly as you can to avoid challenges.
HS rules would require this weeding out period during the first week or two of the season. Thoughts on that?
waterrunner33 wrote:
HS rules would require this weeding out period during the first week or two of the season. Thoughts on that?
That's what I assumed so make that the "conditioning try-out" period. Make it challenging enough in regard to responsibilities to identify attitudes of who is willing and unwilling to do as asked and in the best interests of team. In my state, XC officially starts August 1st with the first meet 3-4 weeks later.
east coster wrote:
"3: I have cuts based on your improvement. We have a time trial at the beginning of the year. If you are slower than last years TT, you are cut! A kid is a waste of everyone's time if they are not training and going backwards. This also sets up a culture of hard work, improvement and accountability to your teammates. "
While this is a good idea for the boys team, you would have to make sure they don't have a good reason (injury return and sudden illness for example).
As for the girls team, this is an extremely slippery slope and in turn brings out a freshman to senior ratio of 10:1.
Thank you for your response. We are not getting another coach, so they are looking at ways to make sure all is safe.
Making cuts on improvements seems really hard,just based on all of the variables that are involved with that.
Do you offer a few different opportunities to show improvement or is it one and done?