My son who is an 8th grader just joined XC this summer and loves it. He's no were near the front of the pack (more like towards the back or last few runners) and he's just fine with that. Over the past few months he's been improving his time and really has fallen in love with running.
I would love to hear anyone's opinion on this incident that took place today at his XC meet. Maybe this is common and an ok thing as I am not that versed in the rules of XC.
As my son was neck and neck with a team mate of his and was about 80 yards from the finish in which there was a curve. My son being on the inside of the turn begins to kick it into a full sprint and his teammate (who is a bit taller an bigger than him) extends his arms and blocks him from passing moving his arms up and down all the way to the finish. Almost like a small child pretending to be an airplane. When my son attempted to pass he would move his arms whatever way he was coming at so he could not make a move. Now keep in mind these two are some of the last runners finishing up and on the same team. (I know, I know I keep hammering that home)
I was a bit baffled??? Is this a part of the XC? #1- Do runners do this to gain an advantage? #2- Is this against any sort of rules #3- Maybe just bad sportsmanship? #4- Is this kid just as big of a jerk as I think he is?
Yes, this is really mother bear venting on a message board but I am a bit curious and yeah, I have my claws out.
Middle School XC Etiquette
Report Thread
-
-
Tell your son to run faster so he won’t have to deal with this. It’s really that simple.
-
-1/10
-
That is not allowed. I would wait to see if he does it again before doing anything. If it happens again, then you should bring it to the attention of the coach. The boy may not even realize it is wrong.
-
To answer your questions: No, Yes, Yes, Yes.
High schools follow National Federation of High School athletic associations (I don't know if there's anything separate for middle school other than USATF junior competition rules). Basically, you can't interfere with another runner when passing them. The coach should know what these are and share these with the team at the beginning of the season and when something like this comes up. -
Thank you for an actual answer. This kid has been mentioned several times for doing things that are "questionable" in practice and screwing off at meets so I'm pretty sure he knows what he's doing.
An actual answer...... wrote:
That is not allowed. I would wait to see if he does it again before doing anything. If it happens again, then you should bring it to the attention of the coach. The boy may not even realize it is wrong. -
You've failed as a parent. Your son should've proceeded to beat the snot out of the offender before either of them crossed the finish line. The fact that he didn't means he's a wuss who couldn't stand up for himself, much less others.
Don't beat yourself up over this, however. You can still nip this problem in the bud by enrolling him in weekly boxing lessons. He should be well prepared for any similar encounters in the future. Good luck! -
Thank you so much!
Carl Spackler wrote:
To answer your questions: No, Yes, Yes, Yes.
High schools follow National Federation of High School athletic associations (I don't know if there's anything separate for middle school other than USATF junior competition rules). Basically, you can't interfere with another runner when passing them. The coach should know what these are and share these with the team at the beginning of the season and when something like this comes up. -
Thank you kind Sir or Madame!
I love you. Have a wonderful weekend too.
Name wrote:
You've failed as a parent. Your son should've proceeded to beat the snot out of the offender before either of them crossed the finish line. The fact that he didn't means he's a wuss who couldn't stand up for himself, much less others.
Don't beat yourself up over this, however. You can still nip this problem in the bud by enrolling him in weekly boxing lessons. He should be well prepared for any similar encounters in the future. Good luck! -
Thank you. Excellent advice.
UsedIT wrote:
Tell your son to run faster so he won’t have to deal with this. It’s really that simple. -
Name wrote:
You can still nip this problem in the bud by enrolling him in weekly boxing lessons. !
This isnt the 70s. Everybody knows the boy should be learning karate. -
Yes! Karate. I'm on it!
Hong Kong Phooey..... wrote:
Name wrote:
You can still nip this problem in the bud by enrolling him in weekly boxing lessons. !
This isnt the 70s. Everybody knows the boy should be learning karate. -
You know it's Quality when the new poster takes the trolls in stride
-
Harambe wrote:
You know it's Quality when the new poster takes the trolls in stride
Agreed. I'm weirdly surprised ;)
Good composure, MN XC Mom! -
Harambe wrote:
You know it's Quality when the new poster takes the trolls in stride
It's obvious this mom thinks she's one of the cool moms. Even worse, a helicopter mom. Probably one of those embarrassing screamers at the meets too. -
You're talking about an 8th grade race. Grow up and be an adult.
-
i really like middle school runners. very inspiring.
-
I coach middle schoolers. If this was my team, I would have pulled the offending athlete aside and had a strong talk with him about character and sportsmanship. Only THEN would I explain the rules and tell the athlete that he/she was disqualified.
Don't make it all about "the rules" - because MS kids likely don't know (or shouldn't be expected to know) all the National Federation Rules. I'm not saying don't FOLLOW the rules (in fact, I'm a stickler for them).... I'm saying it's not really about the rules here, is it.
What it SHOULD be all about is sportsmanship and character. If kids learn that lessons early, they are far less likely to have that issue again - regardless of the sport or circumstance.
Just my two cents. Your kid's coach needs to emphasize right and wrong more than finish times and rules. -
My kids do not do this but i would be pissed if this happened.
-
The other kid was a jerk. Have your son work on drawing contact and then spiking the kid right on the Achilles (or just stepping if not wearing spikes). The other kid won't initiate contact next time.
