<p>so basically i just need to vent my frustrations here before i start my term paper.. that's due tomorrow... haha</p>
<p>i'm a junior and i've been running XC since freshman year. the only time i've not run in the varsity race was my first meet ever, freshman year, when i ran JV. so freshman year i had this awesome coach and i ran really well on varsity and i got a varsity letter. then she moved to hawaii so sophmore year i was the top returning runner on our team and our new coach was the coach that has been our school's track coach for about 5 years so far. the new coach, i'll call him Mark, is an ex-sprinter who has never run XC and hates distance running. Mark basically tells us to go running for an hour and he literally brings out his foldable chair with leg rests to sit in. so i ran varsity again but by the end of the season, instead of being the #1 runner on the team i was #5, and my times were not nearly as good as they were the yr before. this year Mark is the coach again, much to my disappointment. for the first 4/5 or so of the season i ran varsity. then, at confrences, one of my friends who also runs varsity was sick, so this other girl, a sophmore, had to move up and run in the varsity race to take my friend's place. to make a long story short, i beat the girl that moved up to take my friend's place, but Mark still gave the All-Conference Honorable Mention to the girl that i beat, instead of me. i didn't say anything because Mark isnt the type of person you want to annoy and i thought it would seem petty if i complained about it. then, this past friday i got sick. we had counties on saturday and i wasn't well enough to run so i didnt. i felt much better yesterday and today i went to practice. Mark handed out a paper with the names of the girls who are running in the Prep championship race on Wednesday, and my name was not on the list, but the girl who he gave the honorable mention to was. He knows i'm feeling better, and didn't even say anything about the fact that he's not having me run on wednesday. coincidently, this girl's father helps out with lining the course, etc for our meets and he's taking us to the meet on Wednesday because our coach has to go to court or something. this girl has never beat me in a race EVER, i have never missed a practice, and the only meet i missed was the one because i was sick. now, after getting varsity letters freshman and sophmore years, i'm in jeopardy of not getting one this year because Mark isnt having me run in Preps, i was sick for counties,.. and i dont know about states which is next week.</p>
<p>sorry this is so long.. i had to vent somewhere.
am i wrong? am i not seeing something? i know i should probably say something to the coach but he's really intimidating and i know he'll get annoyed because.. he just will. any opinions? similar experiences?</p>
<p>i think it is best if you speak to your coach in a mature manner saying something along the lines of "Coach, I'm don't mean to sound bitter but I believe that I am better qualified than that girl who you chose to run." Talk about the race in which you beat the girl etc. The coach may be playing favorites and since you are not bringing it up, he is taking advantage of the situation. A quick and solid word from you should bring him to his senses. If the scene gets ugly, drop it and speak with a higher offical such as the athletics coordinator. He is usually a good third party who can deal with this.</p>
<p>thanks for the advice everyone. i guess i'll have to let it go for preps, but if he puts her on the list for States then i'll definately talk to him about it</p>
<p>I think if you get into the whole "it should have been me, not her" thing it will get too messy. Tell him you really care about the sport, that you have been training quite a bit and think you are qualified to run varsity in general and run that race. Bring up that you are concerned about not getting a varsity letter and ask him to tell you why he did not feel you were up for it. Act motivated and sincere. </p>
<p>Wow seriously, I am happy my XC coach sees who has what it takes and who does not.
Good luck. It's not the end of the world :)</p>
<p>i have a similar situation.. it goes like this, Im a top sprinter (ranked 23rd in the state in the 200m my sophomore year) but i have a coach who hates me b/c im not exactly the hardest worker or the most serious about track (although i do enough to get by).... well some new freshman kid comes my junior year who is an ok runner. One day i check out the meet list and he is taking my place as lead off runner of the 4x100m relay (ive been on the team since freshman year we've qualified for regionals every year that i ran on it. So im like ok this has to be a one meet thing b/c my strength is the curve which is the first leg of the 4x100m. So im hanging out with the sprint team coach and he tells me that the other coach just wants to try something new and i'll be back next wee, so i just run my races and hang out. So the next week comes and im still not on so im like wth.. well i get back on the team for the rest of the year and the week b4 sectionals who pulls me out again. So when sectionals come he is like are you ready to run us into regionals? and im like ummm no and i refuse to run the 4x100. Needless to say i got suspended out of the rest of my events but still had a great time watching the meet.</p>