Friday, May 14, 2010

Club sports add challenges to school athletics

Upsurge of private clubs for specific sports creates both opportunities and questions for high school sports teams

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are so many club athletes getting huge scholarships and not getting injured that they should be encouraged to participate in as many clubs as possible. The costs are acceptable for the amount of time they get with high quality coaches. They have a great opportunity to get money for college. Competing in other sports would only serve to confuse them and possibly make them a more well rounded athlete.

Anonymous said...

I like the way the CCS has ruled on this matter. Having a daughter who was introduced to the world of running this year her freshman year, and who has enjoyed some success this year, I have had to explain to her that the girls who she is being beaten by and seeing in the papers are club runners with years of experience. That being said she and I are not so impressed with their accomplishments, but those girl like her who are coming into high school athletics with with a raw talent. Nothing against those club athletes, but for the fairness of those who may not have the financial means or insight to get involved with clubs at a young age, Let their high schools be a place whereTHEY can shine.

Marty said...

One issue the article doesn't address (perhaps because its source is Palo Alto) is that, for some school districts, club sports may become a necessity for high school athletes if sports are cancelled due to budget cuts. How will that work for, say, runners who have no school team to run with, but still want to compete with other high schoolers locally and around the state?

Albert Caruana said...

"Competing in other sports would only serve to confuse them and possibly make them a more well rounded athlete. "

What?

Coach Small said...

This is an interesting topic and one to get quite a few heated answers.

In some sports like volleyball, tennis and soccer this has become the norm and college coaches do not even come to High School games. (Unless you are maybe Mitty Volleyball). Other sports like football, baseball and even track, high school is still the main form of competition.

In track you run your times or you don't. That said, many people seek outside help during the off season, sometimes during it. If you have a top hurdler or do the pole vault and no coach what are you supposed to do? My Senior year my high school did not hire a coach until April. I was lucky to find a coach who did not charge me a dime and has been one of the most influential coaches in my life.

In terms of track I think there are a number of quality high school coaches out there, as good or better in the "club system," who teach and coach for the love of it. And dang good at it too. I also think there are AD's who can't find a coach and are forced to hire babysitters who do not know a thing about the sport as well. I hope I'm the former.

In fact I am happy to say my athletes are not "club athletes," my most recent graduate got a "huge scholarship," is healthy and is doing quite well at the NCAA.

As for the multiple sports I think it is fine but by the time you are a Junior or Senior you better know what you want to do. Brett Gotcher (Aptos HS) played basketball through his Junior year. Our top miler plays football. My top girl two miler played basketball. But next year as Juniors they have to ask themselves how good do they want to be and where do they want to focus their energy?

Do you remember the interview with Dena? She played soccer and ran XC...at STANFORD! I don't think she was confused.

Anonymous said...

One of our local high schools recently hired a Basketball coach who had coached all but one member of the team in a club, yet if another club athlete had moved to a school where his club coach was, he would be ineligible. Does this make any sense? Also, you would be surprised how many of the elite high school Track & Field athletes are from clubs.

Anonymous said...

If you want to see the worst example of how public schools have failed to integrate their athletic programs with the reality of club sports, look no further than the debacle at Carlmont with the XC/Track team.....

Anonymous said...

Carlmont High School did not support the runners so the majority of the long distance kids quit the team to run club. It is sad that they could not represeent their school which is what they wanted but still it has all worked out. They have had fun, stayed with their running friends, travelled all over to unusual meets and trained hard(which is what they wanted) and have obtained some very good results-
Jessie Petersen 5000m-17:20.39
also won the U19 female section of the Bay to Breakers, 22nd female overall.
Chet Reyen 1500m -4:00.95
Tim Leyton 800m-21:05.18 (freshman)

Good luck to these kids that had to make a very hard choice. What a pity the school didn't take care of them.

Anonymous said...

correction to the last comment
Tim Layton 800m- 2:05.18 (freshman)

Anonymous said...

If you read the article on the DyeStateCal mainpage about Terry Kennedy the Long Beach Wilson coach getting fired maybe you can understand why some kids are forced into a different situation.
My son ran for Carlmont from 2004-2008 and luckily didn't have to make a decision on whether to run for his school. He was coached "old school", trained hard, and still had a good time.
Contrary to what it seems a lot of principals and school officials think, it was ok to work very hard. I never saw any of the Carlmont kids upset when they won CCS Championships in XC or Track.
You can't have a successful athletic program without hard work. If all the coaches that make kids work hard get fired because they may actually expect a kid to train (and because some parent didn't want their special little angel to be pushed too hard) why would they want to coach in High School? Why would the athlete want to stay somewhere where they won't let them train?

Sticky situation all around.

Anonymous said...

"Kerns said although he has received complaints, most of which were from students, and heard rumors about Kennedy berating the girls, nothing has been formalized in writing."

I want to be clear, this is NOT "old school." This is just plain unacceptable, especially for someone who coaches girls.

Running mileage, getting up when it is still cold and dark outside and putting in double days, working hard instead of sitting at home online or playing video games... that is "old school."

Berating 14-17 young girls is not.

Anonymous said...

It is not alright to berate boys or girls you are coaching.

"Kerns said although he has received complaints, most of which were from students, and heard rumors about Kennedy berating the girls, nothing has been formalized in writing."

The question is if nothing has been formalized in writing and Kerns has heard RUMORS how do we know what is true? What if he told an athlete that he/she wasn't working hard enough or even said something like the athlete is being lazy. Is this berating or the truth? How many of you know parents that call and complain for any little thing said to their kid? I once had a parent complain to my AD and VP because I told her daughter to jog on her 2 lap cool down instead of walk!?! Was that berating? The mother said I was picking on her daughter even though all 110 other kids were jogging the cool down. I feel very sorry for the youth if they can't take criticism, I hope Mommy and Daddy are there when they have a real job someday and the boss has something negative to say. Ask Lashinda Demus how Coach Kennedy was - I'll believe an Olympian and WC medalist over some JV Girls parent any day.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't Carlmont's old coach fired for lying and cheating? There's the other end of the spectrum. Parent's who will allow their students to train with a cheater. That's not "old school" that just bad judgement. Students who will run for such a person, and parents that allow them to, deserve each other. Our league does not need coaches like that to influence our children so negatively. Let's not forget how this whole mess began. Thank goodness for all the positive coaches out their who practice healthy honest competition and hard work. You don't have to be a "star" to learn great life lessons from these honorable men and women. Thank you to them.

PAL Parent said...

Is this a thread on club coaching vs. high school coaching or a thread about Carlmont AGAIN! We know the old Carlmont coach was fired for cheating and was allowed back and then let go again. You have gone over and over this. It is interesting that the poster is talking about the League not needing coaches like that instead of speaking about just Carlmont. My son ran at the PAL meet and it didn't seem to be an issue that Carlmont was or wasn't there. It gave other athletes like Lauren Croshaw a chance to shine. It was nice to see distance runners from other schools get a chance to win at PAL and qualify for CCS.

In keeping with the spirit of the thread I guess a better question is did the runners who left the Carlmont team run faster than they would have with the current Carlmont coaches? If the times the poster put in this thread are correct wouldn't Reyen's time of 4:00.95 convert to around 4:19? This would make him faster than everyone in CCS but the Strums and MacQuitty. I don't know what Petersen has run for 3200 but I think a 17:20 5K would equal a sub-11:00 3200. I know a former Hillsdale runner is running with the Carlmont kids and he seems to be running well. I don't know if college coaches will be able to see these runners, but can't college coaches see the times just like they get info on other club sport teams? Did the Carlmont parents decide that their kids were better with the club situation than staying on the Carlmont team? I have to wonder what made the coaching situation so bad at Carlmont that such a large group of runners and parents would choose to follow a coach that the entire league seems to think is a villian? A post above said the Carlmont kids were enjoying themselves and training hard like they wanted to. Isn't that the point, the kids being happy?

Jeff Gilkey said...

Everyone please stop! Enough is enough already. I hate the fact that the Carlmont runners did not get the chance to compete in track for their school. The kids missed meets like Stanford and Arcadia not to mention the chances to win league and CCS titles and compete at the State Meet. Do you think any of us are happy about Jessie not getting a chance to defend her CCS title? The kids were put in a bad spot but they dealt with it the best they could. They have been through a lot of adversity and showed a maturity that few of the so-called adults have shown the past year (myself included). I'm just glad they didn't quit training and will be able to come back and run Cross Country and Track for their school next season!

Albert Caruana said...

Folks, let's give the whole Carlmont situation a break and respect the wishes of all those involved.

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

What is the club situation for Carlmont next year? Is the club coaching being allowed or are the athletes going with the coaches in place?

Anonymous said...

One can only assume based on the fiasco of this year's XC and track seasons at Carlmont that the current coaching staff will not be retained. And that next year's coaches will have a more positive approach to integrating club programs and outside training, and put the needs of the students first.

Anonymous said...

Or how about Carlmont hire the right coach who runs their own quality program so no outside club is necessary. Will that still work for you, or are parents going to fight against anyone who gets hired?

Albert Caruana said...

End of the road here for comments.

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