Why High School Athletics Need Fixing

[Revan 0]

I've been running alot lately just because of Track season starting soon and trying to get in shape again. During the summer I have to bang out like five miles a day and sometimes an eight . I immediately notice not being in sdape too; waking up in the morning is even harder. I hate the way I feel about myself and just get super emotional. Anyway, I everytime I start running I remember running in high school. Anyway here's an excerpt from one of my old journals I found:

 

My high school experiences changed the way I think about athletics and here's why. My coaches get really angry with me all the time because I'm a super sensitive runner, sensitive being physically. I have to warm up longer and take special precautions to not get hurt. I'm hurt a large fraction of each running season. Each year it's been a different one. My first year I had knee issues, and I was out for the entire year. My second year I was having calf and shin problems, then the following year, first week before our races for the season began, I hurt my ankle. What a bust! It was my best season ahead of me! I was planning on making the top 15 of the team. Each year the team takes a trip, usually up to San Francisco for the Golden Gate invintational, although every so often they go to New York for the Manahatten Invintational. I'm so pissed I missed that this year!!!

 

And it doesn't help at all in running that I have the madest allergies in the world. Every year during the fall I get all these crazy-*bottom* *BLEEP*ing allergies. It ruins my entire season every year. All summer long I train so hard and get really good, and then fall comes: BAM! My seasons over. The pollen just takes over my system and I get dominated. I fall behind no the runs, I can't run as hard, I lose all my energy, and not to mention it's just impossible to breath! How am I supposed to conduct a cardiovascular activity with all these mad allergies going on in my body!?!? It just pisses me off that my body is holding me back from my true potential in running.

 

Don't get me started on the coaches. They just don't care. After your freshmen year and they see how well you run and that's your reputation for the rest of your career. They get a fresh set of people every year. I don't matter.

 

In retrospect I'm thankful for the experience but at the same time remember why I felt like this. My cousin was going to go to Columbia on a football scholarship but destroyed his shoulders on a bench press. The coaches kept encouraging him to move up in weight and my cousin who was constantly searching for their approval bought into it. I think about it, and High School coaches, unless they are actually good people, do not care about the individuals on their team. It doesn't matter what happens, they will let you destroy your body because by the time you've done it, you're gone. Anyway, just my two cents.

Edited January 9, 2008 by Revan (see edit history)

[guitar22891 0]

My high school experiences changed the way I think about athletics and here's why. My coaches get really angry with me all the time because I'm a super sensitive runner, sensitive being physically. I have to warm up longer and take special precautions to not get hurt. I'm hurt a large fraction of each running season. Each year it's been a different one. My first year I had knee issues, and I was out for the entire year. My second year I was having calf and shin problems, then the following year, first week before our races for the season began, I hurt my ankle. What a bust! It was my best season ahead of me! I was planning on making the top 15 of the team. Each year the team takes a trip, usually up to San Francisco for the Golden Gate invintational, although every so often they go to New York for the Manahatten Invintational. I'm so pissed I missed that this year!!!

Wow!! That really sucks bro that you are such a sensitive athletic body. I myself am probably the most atheltic and built person at my school. For the past 3 years I've participated in Cross country, soccer, and track & field seasons. I have to say the only injury I've had was a mild shin splint freshman year. I suppose I've been pretty lucky as far as that goes as you are not alone. Both my close friends have had to skip most of the season because of knee related injuries.

Don't get me started on the coaches. They just don't care. After your freshmen year and they see how well you run and that's your reputation for the rest of your career. They get a fresh set of people every year. I don't matter.

As far as your team going on trips to new york and such is amazing. My school is probably a lot smaller though and almost sort of like a private school so it has never had such funds. On the plus side I'm happy to say that I've landed on amazing coaches. Smaller school means smaller teams so more attention to the athletes. If any of us were injured or had a problem our coach was on top of it always. He didn't even care so much about winning and always watch proudly pushing us to the limit.

Its been a great experience for me too and I think I will also be looking back at the positives and negatives when I graduate. Although taking part in a sport in high school should be a neccesity in life.

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[DeM0nFiRe 0]

I'm really sorry to hear how your experience has been. I am fortunate enough to be able to say my experience has been alot different.My freshman year, I was really bad at running when I started Cross-Country. My first race I was dead last with a time of about 40 minutes. No one made me stop running or anything, and although my coach for Freshman and Sophmore year in Cross country wasn't very good, I was able to push myself to get down to 26 minutes that season. When Track Started, I had planned to do sprints, but my coach encouraged me to continue with distance. I ran my first ever mile in 6 minutes, and 29 seconds my freshman year. I just kept pushing myself and pushing myself so now, in my Junior Year, I'm the Third best on the second place cross country team in my city. I am the second best runner on my Track team, and myself and the number one runner usually amount to about Half of the points the entire team scores. My 5k time is at aroun 18 minutes, and my Mile time is just above 5 minutes.