Options after getting kicked off Umass team

George Hirsch wrote:

.And as for informing someone they are booted by e-mail? That is an a-hole move.

Rumor has it this is what Jim Stintzi did about 7 years ago to a group of girls and it caused a horrible backlash among future Madison-area recruits. He was eventually fired maybe not because of this but it probably made its way back to BA.

False analogy. You didn't even mention what you're comparing to in the workplace, but something generally comparable would be Bosses teaching and giving orders that are usually requests if not education. Whereas D1 coaches give regimens with long term consequences. Athletes come in with some knowledge and performance, contingent upon growth, is more of a gamble than in the workplace. Furthermore, there are instances of bad bosses in the working world who actually give bad directions and orders that impede the role of employees and hurt the company. Yes people have a right to leave said boss and company and they do. So southernfriedrealist you are an idiot. I'm guessing you are not voting for trump like the fake southerner you are, because you like living the bosses' dream and like getting screwed in the middle class.

Essentially you ended any chance of ever running for a another college or university. Your immaturity and ego running amok has nuked your running career. Once you disclosed your name and your coach's name you became radioactive to every program and coach. More than a headache, a coach will see you as a potential cancer. In a sport that has been ravaged by Title IX, your 9:09 has zero chance of being worth the risk of being given even a roster spot, let alone a single dollar in athletic aid. You ran slow, got called out by your coach, acted like a spoiled child, and when you grow up you wlll have the rest of your life to understand that your demise was your own doing.

Why the heck would you transfer? You don't have a future in running. It sucks you can't do it but your future is wrapping up your studies and getting a job.

And you learned a very important lesson. Mouthing off to authority is a lousy strategy.

Omg so spineless and pathetic. You can take your obedience to the bank. But your savings might evaporate some day in the next market crash. #suckergame how do people like you have no cognitive dissonance, running distance but leading a sycophant life, in institutional hand holding?

Look, you made your bed. There's nothing wrong with what you said, but there's always consequences for expressing yourself in an uninhibited fashion. I think you could appeal to the AD because the coach solicited your opinion then didn't like what he heard, but do you really want to do that?

Indy Man wrote:

Essentially you ended any chance of ever running for a another college or university. Your immaturity and ego running amok has nuked your running career. Once you disclosed your name and your coach's name you became radioactive to every program and coach. More than a headache, a coach will see you as a potential cancer. In a sport that has been ravaged by Title IX, your 9:09 has zero chance of being worth the risk of being given even a roster spot, let alone a single dollar in athletic aid. You ran slow, got called out by your coach, acted like a spoiled child, and when you grow up you wlll have the rest of your life to understand that your demise was your own doing.

Ok brave anonymous man. Doling out your tough love advice without any context to validate it whatsoever. Ironically it makes YOU seem like an impatient and immature ego. But there's so little context to your absurd anger that I can't give an explanation for it.

Dude honestly I got kicked off my team during my junior year for something similar (even though that's not what my coach said it was for).

In reality, there's so much more out there in the world than running competitively. If you really want to stick with the whole emaciating yourself and running 80mpw gig, then go for the running club and run fast. Otherwise, I'd just chill, lift some weights, kill it in school, and get out and pound some vag.

After college go out and make something of yourself and don't waste your time obsessing over running 20 seconds faster or whatever.

It takes courage to reveal yourself like this. I respect that. A prior poster brought up 'senility,' which seems quite possible based on your description.

Perhaps you could discuss the coach's decision to kick you off, along with the team's waning performance, with an athletic director?

It must be tough to wake up every day knowing you're a weenie

I would be very careful using the label senility or some other cognitive impairment. Additionally labeling age is also slippery slope. Unless their is known diagnosis or eventually a proven diagnosis that concludes such condition existed at the time of the public labeling, one can expose themselves to punitive and legal consequences if their is no such ailment. Also claiming someone is not good at their job because of age is dangerous. Age is a protected class under the law and one can not be discriminated against in an employment situation because of age.

All of what you write might be factual, but be aware of your potential exposures especially after naming yourself.

D1 walk on wrote:

How about you go into his office with your tail between your legs and apologize? Maybe that'll bring things back to normal.

You should go apologize. Burned bridges never work. That said, don't go back to the team if he accepts and offers you a spot. Ten years out from college, this won't matter and you won't be a running pro. Get your degree on the cheap because of your scholarship and continue to train for yourself. Compete locally if you want but you don't need this coach to make you a better runner since he clearly made the team worse this year. Again, ten years from now this won't matter. What will matter is your degree, how you use it, and how much you spent to get it. College is an education. Athletics is second to that.

I transferred between D1 schools after my third semester. You definitely need a release form from your compliance office before you can start talking to other schools (regardless of athletic scholarship). At this point, the transfer application window for the spring semester is closing for most schools, so you will probably need to wait until the fall semester if you decide to go that route. If you love running and being on a team, then I highly suggest going for it. If running on a college team is something you can part with, then it makes sense to stay for monetary reasons. If you decide to transfer, I would recommend attending school in your home state (MA I'm assuming), and also OUT of your conference, so you don't have to sit out 1-2 years and can compete right away.

I was a grad transfer, so the rules are somewhat different but a few of the previous posters make good points:

- Get a release from your department

- Figure out what programs interest with you and talk to the coaches. Someone will have interest in a 9:09 guy.

- Be ready for half of the coaches not to call/email back or give you the time of day. Out of HS you get recruited, with transfers, its more like you applying for jobs.

- Transfer out of conference, its just easier and less awkward, for both rules and personal reasons.

- There are definitely other schools out there that would likely be cheap for you, assuming your grades have been fairly good since you've been at UMass. Some bigger state schools with good programs already have cheap tuition to start with, so if they knock off 50% or whatever with aid, you're spending less than 10k per year, which is affordable even with a crappy job after college.

If you choose the staying at UMass and running club route:

- Get a team/coach. I thought it would be the greatest thing on earth to just write my own training plan and run with whoever I could find in a week once I was out of eligibility/school. Some people can stick to it and improve that way, most cannot. If that club meets a few times a week, make it a priority to get there and run with them, even if they're relatively slow. Just make those the easy days.

- Be aware that clubs are not a very equal substitute for a college team. People have jobs, generally binge drink less, don't have a concept of track etiquette, have strange/misguided ideas about training, don't spend 30 hours a week together, etc. They can be close knit, but it will not be a 1-1 substitution.

- Be ok with having a different set of routines and goals. Not having a training room with an ice bath, a weight room, or whatever other amenities you're used to means that you'll either have to be ok going without, or understand you're going to have to raise the bar for how you treat your body while at home. It will also mean you're going to be very hard pressed to find any team races you'll care about. Sure there's a little club XC here and there and a road relay once in a blue moon, but you're likely going to have to find a set of races that are competitive and really make you happy and excited, because constantly chasing times gets old quick when there's no more regional/national standards to hit or descending order lists to climb.

Good luck with your next steps.

so i'll offer a different solution. move on. really. i don't mean to another program though. move on with your life.

your a senior at UMASS with academic aid. finish your program. focus on classes. get a good job. find a chic.

western mass distance is a solid program that you can still run with. enjoy the team aspect. compete at local races. etc.

your clearly not going to become a professional runner and as a senior, your basically done so bag it.

many posters here are focusing on how your are toxic to any other coach, burned your bridge, etc. no one will care about this once your out of school. its all nonsense. take the quenton cassidy approach. do your own thing....

Run club and finish your studies at UMA and learn from these lessons.

I see two lessons here (ignoring the fact that you posted names on LRC):

1. Even though you are essentially an indentured servant to an incompetent coach, you should NOT mouth of to the coach publicly. Talk to him in person. And be diplomatic when you do. Learn how to work with less competent people. There are a LOT out there.

2. Take responsibility for your results. Even if the coach is incompetent, by Junior year, you should know enough to supplement your training if your training is indeed insufficient to meet your goals.

Really learning these lessons will help you immensely in the real world.

Looking back at A10 XC results Umass finished:

2016 #9

2015 #2

2014 #7

2013 #4

2012 #9

2011 #5

I haven't paid any attention to Umass running since the early 90s but back then it seemed every other year, they did well. During the off years, the stars for the previous season seemed to disappear. It never occurred to me that he might be cycling the workouts but given how little $ Umass has for running it makes sense that he would want to concentrate the best athletes from many years into a few good teams rather than finish 6th every year.

Not that this has anything to do with the OP...

The coach / athlete relationship does not always work out. Sorry to hear it was not a great season this year.

It's true that New England has a great tradition, there are a lot of races you can run. The question is, what kind of training situation can you find, and what do you want? It's time to review your goals and motivation.

Having run at UMass some time back, I'll just say it was a honor to work with Ken O'Brien.

I ran XC workouts under OB's eye (I was a mid-D guy, not on the XC team, but did run XC fall workouts). They were tough in September, brutal in October, and put me in the best shape of my life. I appreciated that, and the opportunity to run at UMass.

Best wishes to you with your running.

Look, OP, you are getting torn apart here, but there are some bright points.

First, I would look into the training group or running club like you mentioned. However, first, you may just want to make nice with the coach. Like you, he may have reacted emotionally or made you a scapegoat for the team's problems.

Second, I would take the criticism from this board with a grain of salt. There NEEDS to be accountability for authority figures - blind obedience and rule-following is the perhaps the greatest hindrance to becoming a successful person. What you did wrong here is call him out in front of the team. Criticism of authority is not the issue - its the time and place. The old adage "praise in public, scold in private" holds true in all contexts.

So for those of you who have an issue with bosses, the lesson is to reasonably communicate your concerns privately to the boss. If he or she will not listen or reacts negatively to criticism, then it may be appropriate to go over their head.