Reply to What are the easiest and most difficult school sports teams to make?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Usually no one gets cut from track and cross country.  They are considered "social sports".  In fact at some schools there are so many team members that the coach can't keep track of all of them.[/quote]

The reason that track and XC don't cut is that it takes years of running to develop a runner, and most kids don't run until MS or HS.  Often you can't tell what a freshman will do by senior year.

Runners dislike and are kind of baffled by kids who join their teams looking to socialize.  If kids are not good but willing to run hard that's ok. Kids who join the team and then don't do the work are hated.  As a coach, I struggled with those kids, but fortunately did not deal with them much. [/quote]

My sons are D1 college runners; the oldest  is now a team captain and both were team captains in HS.  Both started out as soccer players, then added XC in MS, and gave up soccer in HS to focus on XC and track.  The sport has done so much for them, and we are so grateful to their amazing coaches.  Through running they learned discipline, patience, resilience and the value of consistent hard work.  The HS running scene in this area is very strong with intense, but friendly rivalries among runners and schools.  Kids from the DC area who go on to run in college have a blast when they run into (no pun intended) their former teammates and rivals at college meets.

For those with kids looking for a HS sport, it's true that HS teams running teams don't usually cut.  As a parent what I've observed is that the faster kids are respectful of those who aren't fast, but who are trying hard.  Those kids get to enjoy the team comraderie and develop more confidence in their physical and mental abilities.  Occasionally, they surprise not only themselves, but their teammates and coaches with their progress.  That said, however, ITA agree with the coach that kids who are giving at the level this sport demands -- i.e., running every day, year-round, regardless of the weather or school breaks or exams -- are "baffled" when they see kids who don't put in the effort -- even -- and maybe-- especially when they have the potential.             [/quote]

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