Sweet jesus I hate high school coaches

[mike_dyer]

ADs too.

It's almost like the ones at the school my kids go to weigh all options and carefully choose the very worst thing they could possibly do, then they go all in on it.

I could write a book about this, but here is the most recent brilliant move in a very long line of brilliant moves.

The football team is terrible. It's a D4 school in a league of D6 and D7 schools. They have won 5 of their last 20 games. None of that matters to me, I'm not involved with the football team. The problem I have is that their lifting program is idiotic, and I wouldn't even care about that but for some reason they think my daughter needs to adhere to it. They do around 30 different exercises per workout, I think my favorite one is the one where they hang rubber bands off of squat racks and pull on them for a little while. The coach told me all about how much he paid for it, he said some pro football player uses it. Good thing he's coaching the Miami Dolphins and he's got lots of those to work with, amiright???

Anyway, my kid does her own thing. She lifts in the basement and she's pretty strong, really. She has a good chance to win state in power lifting this year. The other day she was hitting off of a tee like she does most days, the football coach waddled through and yelled at her for not hanging rubber bands on squat racks and pulling on them for a little while + 29 other ways to not get much stronger. The next day she goes to get the tee and the net and they tell her that since there isn't a coach there to watch her hit they can't let her do it, it's not safe, she's in danger of getting injured, etc.

I'm waiting on a reply from the AD. When he lets me know it's all about her safety I might tell him that I'm going to talk to an attorney about how their negligence has put her in grave danger nearly every day of the week for the last few months. I mean, she wasn't injured hitting a ball off of a stick with another stick, but now that I know it's such a dangerous activity I feel like it's my duty to step in and make sure they don't put any other kids in harm's way like they have done in the past.

 

[Louuuuu]

'Feel better now?

 

[Practice?]

If this is a serious post, I would suggest you request a meeting with the Coach and AD to discuss the situation. Unfortunately posting on social media probably won't help your case any; especially if they learn of your displeasure from this post prior to talking with them. Good luck

 

[daboss]

Fiest thing you should know before your war on the school personnel begins is you are fighting a battle on their turf, not yours. This war is one-sided and favors the school. Perhaps you can make a difference but in most cases that difference will not be the result you like. As a matter of fact, school policy and/or new policies could be implemented that will damage your child and all other innocent children just because you want things your way. Plan on it not happening and take a good look ahead to see if your daughter can survive the damage inflicted by your effort.

Secondly, be sure you have ALL the facts before storming the halls demanding justice. Teenagers have a natural knack for only supplying enough of the facts to justify their innosence. It doesn't mean they lie. They simply don't waste words with some facts that might be helpful before you put the noose around your own neck. I suggest if you believe you need a lawyer that you get her one as well. After all, she may need to defend herself later. lol.

Seriously, you can't win a fight against school policy. They have too many cracks to hide while you walk in the open and expose yourself to a large volume of "need to know" rules and bylaws you will surely be hearing about throughout your school years. There is an "Athletics Handbook" either written or unwritten as well as a bible of policies and protocol that will be released to you each visit you make to the office or board meeting. They will get to know you by name. That's not a good thing unless your name begins with "President" or the "Honorable" bla bla bla.

Your daughter has choices. Quit powerlifting if pulling a rubber band is not her thing. My point is this; if the exercise she was told by a coach to perform is not putting her in any physical danger than that is the exercise she should be doing. Maybe it's not about the resistance to the rubber band as much as it is the resistance of your daughter (or you) to follow instructions as told by her acting and current coach. If there is resistance to follow the coaching the school is providing, regardless of how stupid you believe it to be, quit and go on with life without them. There's more going on here than lifting weights. Your daughter is developing her social skills thru life lesson opportunities in a social environment. Following instructions and performing tasks to the best of her ability is the exercise. This is what will open doors for her in the real world.

After you cool down from reading the above paragraph read it again with an open mind. I think you'll begin to see the points I'm trying to make.

My guess is there has always been a school policy that the girls are not allowed to hit off a tee, even within the confines of a net unless they are supervised. That would only make sense in a "sue happy" world. They simply turned their heads to it until it became apparent that instead of doing what she had been instructed she decided to do what she wanted to do. It was not allowed and probably setting a precedent with the coaches involved. My suggestion is twofold. Your daughter should tell the coaches involved she's sorry and ask if there would be any time in the future she could hit off the tee when it wouldn't disrupt whatever else is going on. The other thing is let go and start looking at the big picture thru the eyes of others---------namely the coaches she needs to get along with to make her school experience a good one. Good luck.

 

[tjsmize3]

I'm waiting on a reply from the AD. When he lets me know it's all about her safety I might tell him that I'm going to talk to an attorney about how their negligence has put her in grave danger nearly every day of the week for the last few months. I mean, she wasn't injured hitting a ball off of a stick with another stick, but now that I know it's such a dangerous activity I feel like it's my duty to step in and make sure they don't put any other kids in harm's way like they have done in the past.

Might as well save your money and skip the attorney... no damages, no case. AD probably understands that also.

 

[Hilliarddad3]

Would also be a great view from the bench this season too........

 

[Fairman]

Unlike travel ball; jumping to another team is very difficult at the high school level. She will have learn to follow the rules no matter how idiotic and then bend them to her needs. Welcome to life. If she insists on charging full force into the softball coach, football coach; the AD: the Principal; the School Board.....etc, she will have a very frustrating high school career. The system protects itself and any outside threat will be isolated and squashed.

She needs to find out what the rules are for using the cage and then attempt to work within those rules. It maybe possible for her to push those rules but only with some help from the inside. The louder you shout the less likely she will be to hit off a tee, ever.

 

[mike_dyer]

Unlike travel ball; jumping to another team is very difficult at the high school level.

Not for us, and by design. She's open enrolled, she can roll back to our home district at any time with no penalty.

 

[mike_dyer]

Your daughter has choices. Quit powerlifting if pulling a rubber band is not her thing. My point is this; if the exercise she was told by a coach to perform is not putting her in any physical danger than that is the exercise she should be doing. Maybe it's not about the resistance to the rubber band as much as it is the resistance of your daughter (or you) to follow instructions as told by her acting and current coach. If there is resistance to follow the coaching the school is providing, regardless of how stupid you believe it to be, quit and go on with life without them. There's more going on here than lifting weights. Your daughter is developing her social skills thru life lesson opportunities in a social environment. Following instructions and performing tasks to the best of her ability is the exercise. This is what will open doors for her in the real world.

After you cool down from reading the above paragraph read it again with an open mind. I think you'll begin to see the points I'm trying to make.

Cool down from reading what???

Laughable.

At any rate, my daughter doesn't play on the football team, she does play on the softball team though. The guy who coaches the football team isn't a softball coach, he's not even a teacher at the school. In all actuality he should have nothing at all to say to my kid for any reason. Ever.

Never mind the fact that the "workouts" would almost as beneficial to her as playing x-box would be. Please explain to me the benefits of attending football workouts at the request of the football coach who has no involvement with any sport that she participates in.

A funny thing happened when I talked to the AD about it. This might be hard to follow, and it's so stupid that it's hard to put into words but I'll give it a shot. Here goes.

Either the guy who told her he wasn't allowed to open the cage for her anymore because the AD said so is a liar or the AD is. The truth is that they are probably both liars and that neither of them is smart enough to be good at it.

The original story was the AD stopped ole super coach on Thursday at school and gave him the business about allowing her to hit a ball off of a stick with another stick. I talked to the AD about it on Friday and he said "Ole super coach called me last night and said he wasn't going to open the cage for her anymore because he doesn't want to be held responsible if anything happens."

No mention of a school policy even.

I was about to dig into it and figure out which one of them didn't develop socially beyond about a 5th grade level but it doesn't really matter.

 

[brownsfan]

I take it your dd is a freshman and this is your first go around with a dd playing in HS ball? From thre posts, on this thread...yes. This is my second go around and let me be the next to tell you to chilax. All you may do is make things worse, whether or not you're correct. Whether or not it's school policy to hit off a tee, it's out of your control. It's out of your dd's control. What's in your control is allow her to hit in your garage, basement, etc.

As for the open enrollment thing, I'm assuming then it's for academics and not athletics. You may want to double check on that before pulling her. From my understadning, she'll still have to sit a half year.

 

[mike_dyer]

Your understanding of open enrollment is incorrect.

They can return to their home district with no penalty. A transfer to a random district without an actual move requires them to sit half of their season.

As far as her being a freshman,,,, she's not but I don't think I understand the premise. Is it in their junior year that a kid and their parents realize that they need to heed all advice from the guy who drives school bus #8, a part time custodian, the school nurse, or other random people employed by the school district? Is there some kind of hierarchy? I mean because what if the guy who mows the lawn thinks Pavel Tsatsouline's "Power to the People" is the way to see the most gains in a short amount of time, but the boy's JV tennis coach thinks Strong Lifts 5x5 is the way to get jacked, and then the junior high soccer coach chimes in with "The Texas Method will have everyone 'mirin"?

 

[oiler_pride]

Reference:
Bylaw 4-7-2 Transfer Bylaw Review
Exception #9 Transfer Into Residential Public High School
http://www.ohsaa.org/eligibility/4-7-2Guidance_Exc9.pdf

 

[Louuuuu]

Is it in their junior year that a kid and their parents realize that they need to heed all advice from the guy who drives school bus #8, a part time custodian, the school nurse, or other random people employed by the school district? Is there some kind of hierarchy? I mean because what if the guy who mows the lawn thinks Pavel Tsatsouline's "Power to the People" is the way to see the most gains in a short amount of time, but the boy's JV tennis coach thinks Strong Lifts 5x5 is the way to get jacked, and then the junior high soccer coach chimes in with "The Texas Method will have everyone 'mirin"?

Oww. My head hurts from attempting to process...

 

[daboss]

Cool down from reading what???

Laughable.

At any rate, my daughter doesn't play on the football team, she does play on the softball team though. The guy who coaches the football team isn't a softball coach, he's not even a teacher at the school. In all actuality he should have nothing at all to say to my kid for any reason. Ever.

Never mind the fact that the "workouts" would almost as beneficial to her as playing x-box would be. Please explain to me the benefits of attending football workouts at the request of the football coach who has no involvement with any sport that she participates in.

No mention of a school policy even.

You mentioned in your original post that your daughter was participating in a lifting program at the school and in a following paragragh she is strong and probably a contender to do well in State powerlifting. This led me to believe she is actively working within one of the programs at school. I assumed since the references were made by you, this was the case.

If she is working out as part of a conditioning program, doesn't matter for what sport, she has a supervisor that is in charge. That supervisor would need to be approved by the school to have such a position. It doesn't matter what their job title is or if they work anywhere else. They have taken the time to become eligible for the position by attending and/or passing all the required classes, seminars, and clinics. This takes time and dedication and in many cases the same people end up volunteering their time so programs for the kids can exist. That supervisor is probably bound to oversee a pre-appoved program. I'm guessing one or more of the coaches have suggested what is to be done and the overall theme may be generic in nature. It is possible the entire program is part of a football related program and is "open" to the rest of the student body. If so, I would expect they are required to participate within the same structuring as the "intent" of the program. I would consider this a smart and generous move by the school.

If your daughter is unhappy because she is not allowed to "do her own thing" why doesn't she simply go home and work out with her own equipment? If this program is not a prerequisite for any of the sport programs she wants to participate in there shouldn't be a problem.

You may know more about conditioning than anyone else in the school district. I don't know you. Maybe you should be my conditioning coach. Lord knows I need one. The problem is you are not in charge. This program is somebody else's baby. It probably wasn't "intended" to be what you would deem to be 100% productive for softball players, powerlifters, or more importantly your daughter's use. Obviously, by your own words, it is a waste of her time.

Just because the area is open doesn't mean she can go there and hit off a tee. You see no problem with it, that nothing bad can happen because all she is doing is swinging a 30+ inch long 20+ oz battering ram as hard as she can while hitting projectiles off a mobile stick with a base to hold it upright. Even within the confines of a net such as a batting cage I have witnessed people getting hurt. One of the worst head injuries I ever witnessed was the result of a person standing too close to the net when a line drive took her out. We've all seen bats come flying out of hitter's hands. Just a part of the game. There may have been a close call that prompted the supervisor to halt the hitting off the tee and that's why we're even discussing it. Another reason to get all the facts before hiring a lawyer. In this case I'm sure these are only a few of the many reasons they don't want it going on during a conditioning session. Maybe they simply don't want the net taking up the space while others are there to pull on their rubber bands as instructed.

Regardless; you won't win the battle.

 

[mike_dyer]

I really don't care anymore.

 

[mike_dyer]

'Nuff said.

 

[mike_dyer]

Reference:
Bylaw 4-7-2 Transfer Bylaw Review
Exception #9 Transfer Into Residential Public High School
http://www.ohsaa.org/eligibility/4-7-2Guidance_Exc9.pdf

From the link:

A student shall be entitled to one transfer to the public high school located in the public school district within which the student’s parent residence is located regardless of whether the student is transferring from a public or nonpublic school.

I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I said.

 

[mike_dyer]

 

[coachjwb]

I don't always agree with your posts, Mike, but I have to admit they are well written and almost always make me smile ...

 

[poden-smoden]

Is that a record or something to have 4 straight replies from one person two and a half months later? Sorry I didn't really read any of the thread and just noticed that. Have a great weekend all!