Yes, not cool and a CHSAA violation.
I'm completely agree, justacoach, that this is really sticky and we've entered a majorly gray area. My point was that what I've heard from some parents is this isn't just casual conversation making, that these approaches feel (to those parents) pretty systematic. The Niwot parents aren't asking parents of back-end of JV runners where their kid's going to school and telling them they should really go to Niwot for the great running experience, they beeline for the gifted runners.
This is going to be an unpopular position, but I think they should do away with school choice. I know, I know, it flies in the face of our on-demand, I can have anything I want all the time culture, but as a teacher and coach I feel confident that it creates inequity. It exacerbates the good schools/bad schools problem by everyone running away to schools with good academics and good athletics, and leaves behind kids that don't care or can't get to those schools, thus making the poorer schools even lower in all areas, which then pushes the teachers to want to leave and go to the "good" schools. Getting rid of open enrollment and making it about community schools gets rid of this feedback loop, would greatly reduce recruiting, and would provide some parity athletically and academically, then schools could stop competing with each other for the best kids and just focus on making their programs as good as they can rather than touting numbers like AP enrollment and graduation rates (not unimportant, but gets rid of the motivation to inflate them, which is absolutely happening).
I don't know for sure about the first question, but I'd hazard a guess: Niwot parents and Longmont parents are a different demographic. Niwot parents are wealthier and more likely to have a stay-at-home parent that has more flexibility in their schedule, which I absolutely don't hold against them, and Longmont parents are less likely to have those two features. Just talking purely about statistics here, not judging anyone.
Second question: Longmont runners did go run with the middle schoolers. I just can't see any clear reason why Niwot runners would offer to run with a middle school that is literally on the opposite end of town from their school (two feeders away) other than to do some de facto recruiting. Pretty smart actually, and a little dirty.
No, I'm just pointing out the conflict of interest apparent when REAL Training runs a meet that Niwot High School hosts. It's a pretty thin veil of deniability.
Your first comment here seems to miss the point of what I'm saying. I think it's unethical what REAL Training/Niwot does, so if I create my own middle school program I'm sacrificing my ethics and saying, "Welp, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." The process matters more than the results sometimes, and the message to middle schoolers is, "If you can game the system to get an unfair advantage, do it. Winning matters most." I think that's the wrong message.
Now, I will say, I or others could choose to start a club and run it the ethical way. That's a legitimate option.
It seems that there may be no need to illegally recruit because everyone knows Niwot is a powerhouse now, but the problem is they continue to. I question the assertion that they're doing a better job than anyone else at offering that experience because there are plenty of successful programs/coaches that offer a good experience, but it seems their programs are being eroded by what Niwot is doing. Niwot, by having recruited for awhile now and continuing to do so, are becoming a bit like a college program in that they can offer notoriety and the good possibility to run for a State-winning, nationally ranked program, and they're feeding into an unhealthy cultural shift that says results are most important over the process. I think they're hurting the sport, in the long run.
I am mad that they're recruiting and mad that they're syphoning talent from other programs around them, thus hurting competitive parity. Did you know that of the 7 girls they just ran and dominated with at State on Saturday, only 2 came from their feeder? If I remember correctly (I looked it all up on MileSplit), 4 came from Boulder schools. And on the boys side, at least a few would have gone to other high schools with strong programs and good coaches, so it's not just about a better experience. It's becoming a little like big market and small market teams in professional sports and it shouldn't be, because this isn't professional sports. We're trying to teach them values and ethics and how to be decent human beings, not win at all costs.
I hope people don't hear that I'm saying Kelly and his crew are evil masterminds. They seem to be "nice" guys. What I am saying is that they've sacrificed ethics for results and it's hurting cross country.