Son's Coach is not good

It has been awhile since we have had a disappointed, I-can-do-a-better-job-coaching TROLL thread. They were all the rage last year on Letsrun. TY for bringing back this genre. I always enjoy the HS coaches coming on to bash the arrogant/idiotic parent.peace

In my OP, I was simply asking how to approach the coach to offer help. I am more than qualfied.

In terms of the current coaches, neither one was at the conference cross country championship meet. The coaches never even time any of their workout. It does not appear that either has ever even run a race before, there is zero advice about pacing or anything else ever offered.

I was lucky, I had great coaching and ran 15:11 for 5K in HS, 14:25 for 5K in college and I have coached since college.

And for those saying how about if people come to my office and tell me how to do my job, they do a lot, I am a Doctor and this thing called the internet makes everyone an expert on all their injuries.

Volunteer as an assistant. All coaches, and nearly every coach that doesn't know what they are doing would appreciate and assistant that had better ideas.

Discuss pay first then move onto your coaching ideas. Don't sell yourself short!

I can empathize. My son's track coach was almost this bad.

I didn't interfere. Luckily my son took matters into his own hands, running after practice and adding a long run on the weekends to supplement his lack of training. He's running for a D1 power 5 conf team now. His 5K PR is below yours :)

So, my suggestion would be to ask your son to keep a log, then supplement his training as necessary. He stays on the team. You don't confront the coach. Everyone's happy.

The key issue, of course, is what does your son think about this? If he's running 20:XX+ for a 5K maybe it's a bridge too far to coach him up to something respectable.

But, if he has your genetic talent, he'd probably respond quickly.

parent wrote:

In my OP, I was simply asking how to approach the coach to offer help. I am more than qualfied.

In terms of the current coaches, neither one was at the conference cross country championship meet. The coaches never even time any of their workout. It does not appear that either has ever even run a race before, there is zero advice about pacing or anything else ever offered.

I was lucky, I had great coaching and ran 15:11 for 5K in HS, 14:25 for 5K in college and I have coached since college.

And for those saying how about if people come to my office and tell me how to do my job, they do a lot, I am a Doctor and this thing called the internet makes everyone an expert on all their injuries.

This pushed it over the edge from a mediocre troll to bad. You didn't tihnk to tell your kid to run over the summer to prep for freshman year? Anyone who ran 4-5 days a week in the summer would break 20 min for 5k.

I can't see why the coach wouldn't welcome your insightful suggestions.

nonsense. 15-20 is where you might start with a novice, not mid season mileage in xc season.

So... wrote:

There's a reason that we have schools that have 10 kids under 16...

I was an assistant on one of the best teams in the country and we had 4 guys under 16. Do you really think there is a team that has 10 kids under 16? Seriously?

jimmy bobby wrote:

I can empathize. My son's track coach was almost this bad.

I didn't interfere. Luckily my son took matters into his own hands, running after practice and adding a long run on the weekends to supplement his lack of training. He's running for a D1 power 5 conf team now. His 5K PR is below yours :)

So, my suggestion would be to ask your son to keep a log, then supplement his training as necessary. He stays on the team. You don't confront the coach. Everyone's happy.

The key issue, of course, is what does your son think about this? If he's running 20:XX+ for a 5K maybe it's a bridge too far to coach him up to something respectable.

But, if he has your genetic talent, he'd probably respond quickly.

This is exactly what I'd do as well.

you know this actually doesn't look so bad in terms of training. There's a tempo run and some shorter easier intervals to work on leg turnover. Hard to criticize this snapshot of training for the week before a Conference meet.

Honestly, high school kids don't need the perfect training plan to race well. Pure talent and competitive desire combined with mediocre training can get plenty of kids into the 17-18min range if not faster. Not to be harsh, but nothing about your post makes me think the coach is screwing up with these "talented" kids. 15 kids on the team is tiny, and if the fastest guy is running 20 flat even as a Freshman that doesn't indicate any kind of consequential talent. I think you're fooling yourself if you think you can get them running several minutes faster than they are right now.

If you were just looking for advice on how to approach the coach why did you post the workouts?

You claim to be a reasonably educated person who has had some running experience/success so that is a major plus in your credibility with the coach. How are you not able to just talk to the coach? Start a small conversation and progress to training philosophy, training plan, etc. Casually mention a coaching clinic that you were thinking of attending and see if he/she would like to go with you.

Your OP seemed a bit like you wanted to shame the coach and call him/her out for not being good enough. Just talk to the coach and offer to help out with next season.

jimmy bobby wrote:

I didn't interfere. Luckily my son took matters into his own hands,

.

The right answer.

If the kid is unhappy with the workouts and says as much, then the reply is, "Do you want to do something about it?" Give the kid some tools and let them work it out. They have to find their own passion for the sport. Maybe they won't. Maybe they'll find something else. The key is the kid is looking around, trying stuff, and thinking about what engages them.

OP can't walk into a situation as a volunteer with the intention of "fixing it." Nobody that matters wins.

Observe what you think he is missing then complement !

Limit time wasting within the HS team structure.

Get your own kid to be good, first.

Create demand, then supply your services if you are invited to do so.

As it stands, it is only your opinion that you are qualified. Approaching the coach now will cause him to think you are pushy rather than genuine in your desire to help. So, help the coach see your value by showing what you can do with your kid. As some have mentioned, running is a year-round endeavor. You have plenty of time to demonstrate your aptitude.

Time is on your side. Done right, your boy has a chance to run under 16 as a Jr/Sr if his heart is in it and he stays healthy.

I think that signing on as an assistant coach would not be the way to go. You have strong opinions about the training (most of which are probably more relevant than the current coach's), so you would probably be undermining the current coach constantly. This would probably lead to both of you getting frustrated with each other and you being asked to resign.

I would have to agree with the people who suggested developing a relationship with the coach, maybe introducing him/her to some literature after a while. This could improve things. Or, convince the coach to quit. Or, convince the AD to fire the coach.

Bottom line is you probably aren't willing to take over the reigns of the program or be an underling to the current coach. Either stay out of it and encourage your son to train on his own, or facilitate a change of coaching via less involved avenues.

It is possible this guy does not come back to coach, he and his wife just had a baby. His not coming to the conference championships tells me that he does not value the team as a high priority.

I would love for the kids to understand that cross country season starts in June, not once school starts and offer to meet the team 3-4 times a week and develop a weekly long run on the weekends. Not trying to undermine the current coach and helping the kids are what I would like to accomplish, if they are not mutually exclusive then it might not be possible.

It just does not make any sense for me to do nothing but if it creates a bad situation then I would prefer to not do anything other than help my son get better.

No. You should not meet the team 3-4 times a week. YOUR SON should meet HIS TEAM 3-4 times a week and go on a long run on the weekends. Give advice and support to your son, and then let him do his job.

Hi Parent,

I agree, there were a couple of major mistakes within that week in particular the activities they were not used to doing. There is no logical explanation for picking up a new weight lifting program the week of a championship meet. Good grief!!!

That's a really tough conversation to have with a coach. It depends on how passionate the coach is about what they are doing? I know you are saying they are clueless which appears to be true but do they also believe in what they are doing?

Something you can hopefully do without confrontation. Ask them if they plan on having practice over the summer. If not, then let them know of your intentions for starting a youth running club. You can target the kids on the team but leave it open for other kids in the area. Have practice 5-6 days per week over the summer in different locations. Let them know that it starts in late June. Start a buzz with the kids about it and have fun activities involving the other parents tied into it like cook outs, ice cream day, breakfast in the park, etc. Keep the summer fun and they will come, bring friends, and the team will grow. Take pictures and post them on a blog (something that you can disable on-line comments on).

If they are not running enough during the early season maybe with the coach's blessing have the kids run long over the weekends.

If you can become involved without stepping on toes then hopefully you can get things going. In the meantime between now and then get your coaching certificate in your state, take an on-line class, and/or get your US Track and Field Level 1 coaching certificate at a local site listed on the coaching education section of the US Track & Field website.

Good luck!!

Assuming you are qualified to offer advice, just approach the coach in casual conversation. Talk about your running days, how much you enjoyed he, ask about his. Maybe ask about the workouts they do, but don't tell him how bad they are.

Just try to keep the conversation going. Even if it takes weeks, or months. Get to the point where he likes you and trusts you as an expert. If it's really lost he might ask your advice. Then you have him.

It's very important that he decides to ask you. Not that you offer.