AD told me I couldnt take select few to a top tier meet

coach1738 wrote:

We had a free bus driver bc he is another coach, and was going to take the 100 dollar entry fee out of my own budget, so no concerns there.

Him and the superintendent deemed it to not be fair, and were afraid of parent backlash throughout the community, and they didn't want to have to deal with phone calls. To which I said( in a very mild manner), "so are you going to get parent phone calls when certain kids advance to the regional and state meet, and others don't?" To which the AD replied back, I don't like your tone.

I haven're read the whole thread so maybe someone's already said this, but maybe you could get the parents of the kids who would have gone to call the AD and complain that their kids were done out of a chance to be in a competition where they could have done some really good performances (would have been good selling points for colleges, etc.) because you weren't allowed to take them.

Take the slow kids along...they can cheer from the stands.

1. I wouldn't work for someone who threatened me like that

2. I would tell them that we are not able to compete at Regions or State if those are the rules since not everyone would be able to run there either.

Have the varsity kids write a letter to the AD. By restraining them from elite competition, the AD is preventing their success for no good reason. I've never heard of this in any other school, just plain stupidity

Wow. All I can say is I love the HS I coach at.

I know, Tracy can by kinda hard to get along with sometimes. Keep fighting the good fight coach!

coach1738 wrote:

Thoughts?

Tried to take 12 kids to a "varsity" only meet, so they could get exposed to some regional/state competition, but he shut it down because he was afraid of phone calls from the parents, and the backlash because we were "picking and choosing" certain kids.

Anyone ran into this? Should I be upset?

Surely a troll. This is how *every* HS I've ever heard of works. Top few athletes go to big invitationals, lesser runners go to dual/tri etc. Either your AD is brain-dead or this is a troll.

I guess the latter.

That would not make me happy. It is what it is right now. One thing I would do next year is I would set the expectations at the parent/coach meeting before the season. We may have these varsity only meets. The qualifications to run in them will be....... we would use run provisional state qualifying times, or whatever you want. but set the expectations ahead so everyone knows. IF you are doing some varsity only races, i would do some jv only races too

Inane gibber jabber wrote:

Surely a troll. This is how *every* HS I've ever heard of works. Top few athletes go to big invitationals, lesser runners go to dual/tri etc. Either your AD is brain-dead or this is a troll.

I guess the latter.

Unfortunately a lot of high schools look at it this way. They think its unfair that a couple of kids get to go race competition they are capable of running against because the slower kids wouldn't get to go too. They are willing to sacrifice the experience and opportunities of the more gifted runners in order to make sure no ones feelings get hurt. But i feel like running is a fairly easy sport to explain to kids and their parents why they didn't go to a meet, or make the varsity team, etc:

Parent: "How come my kid isn't going to this meet, huh?!"

Coach: "Did your kid run faster than the kids i'm bringing to race?"

Parent: "No"

Coach: "Then that's why he's not coming"

Obvious troll. No AD would say this. There are cuts in every other sport

Welcome to America in 2016...were the kids are right, the teachers are wrong, and the parents are their kids' defense attorneys.[/quote]

Ding ding ding ding!!!!

Someone hit the nail on the head!!!

Not a troll. Our school doesn't really have budget restrictions. Our AD believes that every deserves a chance to run, so ALL we run are tri/quad meets until our conference meet (which we only get 2 per event in anyways). So I don't understand his logic.

In our last two meets our relays have won by 3 seconds (4x1 and 4x2), so trying to get some better competition is just what I was looking for, but apparently not allowed to get because he doesn't want parents harassing him. Also remember, he went and asked the superintendent about it, so that still seems a little odd to me.

Tru3th wrote:

[quote]

Parent: "How come my kid isn't going to this meet, huh?!"

Coach: "Did your kid run faster than the kids i'm bringing to race?"

Parent: "No"

Coach: "Then that's why he's not coming"

This is EXACTLY what I told my AD I would say, and he replied back with "well then the parents would say, 'you should focusing on my kid getting better, and not picking certain athletes to compete.'"

coach1738 -

AD is your boss

Principal is AD's boss

Superintendent is Principal's boss

All the parents are the Superintendent's boss

If the fear is that there will be backlash from the parents then it doesn't matter how illogical the position is, it is the position that you should follow!

Your AD has been pretty clear on His position and I would apologize for your tone (unless you really want to die on your sword).

THEN I would plant a seed in the minds of your top parents about the opportunities their kids would have with the exposure at this select meet.

If you can then create the backlash from the OTHER direction, you will have effectively won.

Don't do that this season though, unless your AD is a moron, you will get made and lose you job.

I've heard of it but thankfully have never come across it. We take all of our kids to our area meets (large urban district, anywhere from 6-9 teams at a meet), but only our top kids to the invites. The last invite of the season is so close to our League Championship that we typically mix it up, kids who are on the cusp of doing something nice who may need an extra competition, kids who really were dedicated, and a few of our top kids who we are sharpening.

This year we are doing something different for one relay meet. The meet is large enough that we can bring most of the team and spread things around. This one relay meet has enough top, middle, and mediocre teams that even with some of our back of the pack kids running they won't finish dead last and be embarrassed.

The invitationals here are super competitive and taking a girl running 6:25 in the 1600 or a guy running 59 in the quarter isn't going to do them any good. I can't imagine showing up at some invites with those kids because I believe it would do more harm than good. Good luck.

Frightening AD and even more frightening parents. http://bit.ly/1RU2Nqj

coach1738 wrote:

This is EXACTLY what I told my AD I would say, and he replied back with "well then the parents would say, 'you should focusing on my kid getting better, and not picking certain athletes to compete.'"

Yeh that's rough. When I've had this problem with parents, I explain to them that distance running is all a matter of time, both the time you run and the time it takes to become that good. I tell them that their kid has potential but that it simply takes time to develop as a runner. I explain to them how distance training works and that there is no short cut to building great distance runners. You must put in the miles during the off season for a strong base, and to pay attention to your diet, and make sure you are getting appropriate sleep. Often times their kids are not doing this and i explain that the kids who would go to the meet have do all of these things year after year and are now at the point were they can race with the best runners in the state. If you give it time and your child is willing to put in the work and effort, they can get to the same point too.

I'd say that this is a pretty clear message that you should find another job. You will never be able to build a quality program in this environment anyway.

This happens.

It's happened to me coaching track, and my wife coaching swimming.

The administrators run scared of the parents.

I call it the 'soccerization of America' where the goal scored was nobodies fault and the kids all get trophies.

My district was like this, and there were others around us doing the same.

We both got out (my wife was the winningest girls swim coach in the state) it's not worth it anymore.