Flagpole wrote:
3) One of the problems with not being loyal to a coach is that ultimately he might not be loyal to you. Not necessarily in a vindictive way, but there are HS coaches who can help you with being recruited, especially when a coach calls and asks about things like coach-ability, what kind of program he followed in the summer, etc. A talk with an enthusiastic coach is very different from one who just gives basic answers. I know a kid who will be running at a decent D1 school in the fall, and his coach definitely helped him get signed when for some weird reason, this kid (decent times) wasn't getting any interest.
That isn't a lack of loyalty, that is telling the truth. If I were a college coach, I would want to know if an athlete I'm looking at will do my workouts or go to an outside coach. If they're not going to buy into and stick with my program exclusively, I wouldn't want them. College coach's jobs are on the line.
As a high school coach, I don't have this problem. I am free to think about what is best for each athlete and the other athletes on my team, not just in terms of their running, but the other values I expect them to learn from their time on my team.
If they work in the off season with a coach that seems positive, I don't mind much. If they work with somebody I have issues with (for example in my area some kids from other schools work with Remi Korchemny), I will talk to them and explain that I can't tell them what they do outside of my practices, but that working with a coach with a lifetime ban seems inappropriate in my opinion. If they continue to work with him, I would remove the athlete from my team. If the school wanted to fire me for that, such is life, but I wouldn't feel right letting that person stay on the team, since that would suggest to the other kids on the team that working with a convicted criminal with a lifetime ban in our sport is acceptable. I feel these lessons will carry with them into their non-athletic lives.
If you don't want to provide off season training to your athletes, accept that some or many will enlist outside training. If you do want to provide off season training, I think it is important to look at what motivates some kids (and their parents) to pay an outside coach.These motivations are:
1) Availability during the off season: If you only are available 3 days a week, they will find somebody to help them those other days. If you are trying to run an off season program while only meeting with them a few days a week, at least give them specific workouts to do on the other days and be clear on why any weekly or every other week days off are important in your training.
2) Flashing marketing: Many of these coaches have websites extolling their virtues as coaches and with examples of the fastest athletes they have or are currently coaching. You can always explain at your parent meeting and to the athletes that these outside coaches are only giving their "best" examples. They are only giving the example of kids with the most talent, and only those they didn't injure or burn out. Also, many of those kids are not-coincidentally on the best high school teams in the area, the outside coach might have not helped that kid at all. Many times they are also advertising a success story of a kid they only worked with on a very limited basis and then take credit for their success.
3) Flashy exercises and workouts: It seems silly to integrate BOSU balls or rope ladders into your cross country training, but understand that some of the kids and their parents, lacking knowledge of our sport and training, are impressed by these activities. Don't be adverse to trying out some of these techniques as a supplement to your training, even if it is just to keep your athletes enjoying practice, since they get to do something "fun" once a week or every other week. There might not be shortcuts that make up for simple hard work, but keep in mind that a lot of running does get monotonous for the average 16 year old.
4) They charge, and you don't: I know it sounds silly that parents would seek out somebody who charges over somebody who doesn't, but the reality is that in today's world filled with 2 income households with parents who work (on average, statistically) more hours than in previous decades, you will have parents whose main contribution to raising their children is unfortunately money. Sometimes these parents take the attitude that "you get what you pay for." In their minds, a coach who charges money must be better than one who doesn't. If you are inclined and have the time, you can organize a "summer" camp for a week or two that you charge for in the middle of summer, or take them to "cross country camp" for 4 days. Combine forces with other high school coaches for events like this to make them more fun and exciting for the kids. It will keep the parents/athletes more engaged as well as providing lessons on sportsmanship, etc as they make friends with some of the competition.
These are just some of my thoughts and ideas.