A Long Overdue Update

Three months have gone by since my last entry. As I prepare this new update, I realize that ten months ago I started this blog to document the happenings of coaching a cross country team. It has been anything but. It has been more of a tale of the frustration in trying to get just one good program to last a whole season. Maybe I should have done a softball blog because this past season on the diamond was more satisfying than the entire past 10 months of X-C.

My E-City plan (as mentioned in the previous entry) was to keep flyers for Cross Country up on the walls for two full months, March and April. With only three positive responses, I pulled them down about 2/3 of the way thru April. At that point I figured it wasn’t going to happen. With the amount of freshman girls who tried out for both the basketball and softball teams, I had hopes that there would be a sizable interest in a Cross Country team.

So with that being said, I decided that I would return to the N-City program and coach there for another year. The money was good even though the commitment of the runners wasn’t. I figured it would be a good-paying baby-sitting job that would help pay off my mortgage. One of the E-City girls who had wanted to run kept after me about it. I asked her if she would be interested in running for N-City since students can play sports for another high school if theirs does not offer that sport. She said she would and I sent off an e-mail to the AD in N-City. It was also an e-mail to touch base with him for the upcoming season since I hadn’t heard from him in a while.

Now I’m not sure of the date of that e-mail (because my Comcast e-mail service only saves sent notes for so many days) but it must have been sometime in early April. For a couple of weeks I heard nothing from him. I then sent an e-mail to the Dean of Students there who used to be a teacher at E-City asking him about the AD who was not answering my e-mail. It turns out that the AD’s son is a pitcher for the San Francisco Giants and was hit by a pitch in early April. He had a concussion and was put on the disabled list. Apparently the AD had gone out to California to be with his son. My teacher friend said the AD would be answering my e-mail when he got back.

Well, it is now early June and I still haven’t heard from him. Did he send an e-mail and did I accidentally delete it? Is the recession affecting the N-City school and are they cutting back on some of the sports programs? I don’t know. And I didn’t follow up on it because for most of April and May my time was totally devoted to the E-City softball team. We still didn’t get a win (although we did get an official forfeit) but we did have a productive offensive season. We scored 53 runs which was more than the two previous seasons combined. But the poor defense is what kept us from getting a win.

And now it is early June. And that one girl is still asking about whether she can run at N-City. I told her again how unfortunate it is that we couldn’t have a team at E-City. Well, she decided to do something about it. An eleventh hour attempt for a fall team was begun. She came up with eight girls—7 freshmen and 1 sophomore. Maybe only 2 are from the “athletic” group that I had hoped would produce a team back in March.

But I wanted more than just names. I didn't want the debacle of last year repeating itself. I typed a whole list of things that they would have to do, what to expect, and other pieces of info to make them aware of what they were getting into. Well, the reality of what X-C is and what I would expect from them during the summer and the fall must have scared them off. Because I never heard back from them this week.

And now school is over at E-City. I'll hold off on contacting N-City in the hope that a position at another school will show up on the NJSIAA website. And if nothing does show up in the next two months, then I'll see what's going on at N-City. Worst case scenario is that in the fall I'll be a spectator over at W-Park watching X-C races.

On a personal note, my individual running has been making progress. I am now running anywhere from 2 to 3 miles everytime I go out. I have missed only two days this month and have a current streak of 7 days in a row. And all the aches and pains have subsided. Maybe they were just kinks that had to be worked out for an old man who was trying to do young things with his body.

Anyway, it will be nice to start the summer vacation with an established base of miles rather than having to start up from scratch like I have had to do the past two years. The only other problem is that the stamina and endurance in my legs hasn't come around yet. I wonder if it is taking longer because of my advanced age or maybe this is as good as I will get at this age. I wonder.

Or maybe it has to do with the extra baggage I am carrying. Maybe if I slim down I could build up the endurance. So on the way home, I stopped at the market and bought two boxes of cereal (kinds that I would never have bought before) and three vegetables and one fruit (another first for me). I also was able to walk past the ice cream that was on sale!!

Into Week 3

Today was the second day of our four day tryout session for the school's softball team. The talent level trying out for the 14 spots on the team is a bit higher than last year. I have moderate (not high) hopes for the upcoming season. But this is a X-C blog, not a softball one.

We are into week three since I put up the Girls X-C flyers and the roster still contains the two girls. One girl who picked up the softball forms packet back in January is the co-captain of the basketball team and very athletic. She didn't show up at the first tryout yesterday so I saw her at lunch and asked her why. She said she was planning on running spring track at a neighboring school (NJSIAA rules allows a student to compete at a different school if their school does not sponsor that given sport). I then asked her if she had given any thought to running Cross Country. She said yes she was going to go out for the team. I then told her there was no team unless students came to me expressing interest. My plan is still not to do any recruiting--I only want students who WANT to run, not ones who are a bit coaxed.

So I now have three runners. I also have been reminded how the E-City student is regarding announcements and posted messages. They either don't read them or they read them but interpret them differently than their original purpose. So tomorrow morning, I'll be adding an addendum flyer clarifying that a team roster has to be in place by late April for the team to exist in September.

After One Week

In a previous blog entry, I mentioned that there were about 22 freshman girls who were either on the basketball team or who signed up for my softball team tryouts. I added a few others who "looked" like they could be runners. I figured some of them would reply to my Girls X-C flyers this week. Well, so far, two have expressed interest in joining a team. And those two were NOT on my list of potential runners. Not only that, they are both cheerleaders (in another entry, I mentioned that I would prefer the real female athletes and not the tennis players nor the cheerleaders).

Well, one of the girls is in my freshman math class. She sounded very interested and I told her to try and get some of her classmates to join. The other cheerleader said she always enjoyed track and wanted to join. I too told her to try and get others to join.

So as of right now, I have two girls on the "future" team. I had hoped to have had a few more stop by my classroom and I wonder if any more will come in the next few weeks. Softball tryouts start next Monday. I am going to set a deadline date for myself of April 30--to decide whether I have enough girls to coach at E-City and resign from N-City, or to give up on E-City and go back to N-City.

As for the payment from N-City, it finally arrived today. At my interview in September, the AD quoted me the amount I would get for coaching the school's X-C team. The number was quite large (more than my E-City softball and X-C payment amounts combined), so I figured he was blowing smoke or I was mishearing him. Well, today when I opened the envelope and looked at the check, sure enough it was all there. That amount of money for baby-sitting a group of kids who have no commitment nor are in any kind of shape may make going back to N-City in September a lot easier than I expected.

Stay tuned.

And Now I Wait

I posted the Cross Country flyers today after school so most of the school's female population will see it on Monday. I will then just sit back and see if any of the many female students come forward expressing interest in joining a new Girls Cross Country Team. Between today and March 9th (the first day of tryouts for the Softball Team), I hope to have an idea if there is enough interest.

In other news, it has been a month and five days since I was last at N-City to finalize all papers so that I could receive my payment for coaching last fall. It has been five days since I mailed a letter to Sister Treasurer to find out when I'll be getting my check.

And on a personal note--despite the cold weather, the snow, and my busy school schedule, I have been able to go out for runs at least twice a week. Each run is 2 miles and as the weather warms I hope to increase the frequency. The slight bruising pain (bursitis?) in my left hip has been joined by another pain in my right buttock. Fortunately neither one ever flares up enough during or between runs to cause me to stop.

Mid-January Update

I drove over to N-City School today in my never ending effort to get paid for the Cross Country duties performed last fall. This would hopefully be the final step before receiving the money. I had to supply them with SSN and Birth Certificate proof. All went well and I should be receiving my stipend soon.

As I cut thru the gym to get to the front entrance of the school I recognized one of last year's runners and she recognized me. I couldn't remember her name so I just said hi and she said "hi coach" back to me. I couldn't remember her name because she only came to about two or three practices at the beginning of the season. Then she had to drop out because there seemed to be a problem with her lung or heart, I can't remember which. And she wasn't one of the top runners on the squad either. But she always seemed to be positive, always smiling, and always giving her best at the few practices she attended. During the season if I ever ran into her before the start of practice, she would say that she was hoping to be healthy and back running next season.

Well, today she said that her "ailment" turned out to be absolutely nothing. She then said that she was ready for next year and would be training during the summer. If I had 10 runners with her positive attitude never mind the lack of speed, the decision of whether or not to go back to N-City would be even tougher than it is now. So I then said good-bye to her, told her to have a good winter, and then went home to find out her name. Of all the runners from last year's team to run into today, it had to be the one who probably cared the most about the team.

As for the E-City team, my plan is still to put the recruitment flyer up, but a week earlier than last mentioned. I hope to put it up on Monday February 23rd, after the girls basketball season ends. I've been attending the girls' games, both home and away, to show them that I'm a big supporter and hopefully to convert that into some interested runners. Not that I normally don't go and support the team, I do. But I am making more road games this year.

I've finally got an accurate count on the girls basketball team. They number 15, 10 of whom are freshman. As for my softball team, 12 freshman girls have expressed interest in trying out for the team. Of those, there are 3 who are in both groups.

This is exam week which means proctoring exams. And as I scan the room for cheaters, I am also getting to know who the freshman girls are and gauging as to whether they look like running material. There are about four more girls who aren't in either of the above two sports groups who may make decent runners. So all told there are about 23 female freshman candidates who could be X-C runners. Again, I try to contain my excitement and will only hope that a handful come forward in late February and early March to sign up.

And maybe I can also hope that the N-City girl will transfer to E-City!!

Two Words

I was originally going to leave E-City school early today to go up to N-City school to get my X-C money. And then talk to the Dean of Students about the teaching position he offered me last week on the phone. Well, we had three teachers out today. So because I had to cover a class in the late afternoon, I wasn't able to leave early to drive up there to see the Treasurer before she left. I'll try again next Monday.

But as for the teaching position, I thought about it over the weekend. And without meeting the Dean today, I was able to make a decision.

Here are some pro's and con's affecting my decision:

On the E-City side, I would have to give up coaching the softball team.

On the N-City side, I would have a shorter commute.

On the E-City side, I would have to give up my wonderful job of running the candy store.

On the N-City side, I would have a little more control over the X-C runners, i.e. seeing them every day and maybe getting them to go to practice more often.

On the E-City side, I would have to give up teaching the higher math classes like Honors Algebra and Pre-Calculus (I'm pretty sure the academic levels at N-City are a bit lower than those at E-City).

On the N-City side, the salary would definitely be higher based on comparing the X-C fees at both schools.

On the E-City side, I would be severing the long six year relationship that I've had with the students, the faculty, and the school.

So what was my decision? Well, it came down to two words (or one??).

White Board.

Leaving E-City, I would have to leave my cherished white board and go back to chalk boards.

And chalk dust. Chalk dust on my clothes, on my hands, on my shoes, in the air, on my desk, on my computer, etc. etc.

Nope. No chalk dust for me!!

Job Offer

A couple of days ago, the Dean of Students at N-City school called me. I know him because he was the Academic Dean at E-City school before he went to N-City. The N-City school will be expanding to three levels next year (grades 9 to 11) and he asked if I would be interested in a teaching position there. My plans were to go to N-City this Monday to finally get my X-C coaching fee, so I told him that I would think about it over the weekend, and stop in and see him on Monday.

Next Year

The state Meet of Champions was run last week so the Cross Country season in New Jersey has ended. Some teams and some individual runners will be racing today in the Nike and Footlocker championships in Wappinger Falls and in the Bronx respectively. But there will be no more X-C races in New Jersey until next September.

And now with the off-season here, it’s time to start thinking about next year. This past year, if you read my blog, I was coaching a brand new Cross Country team in N-City. At first it looked like a golden opportunity. At my interview I was told there were about 30+ runners who had signed up in the past couple of weeks. At that first practice, there were 11 runners. But as the weeks went by, personal issues came up as well as injuries. Work days took their tool as well as a growing lack of commitment. By year’s end, there was only one runner who went to the CTC championships. A sad showing.

As of today, I am about “30-70” for coaching a 2nd year at N-City. I know it is the first year that they have had a X-C program, but the work program and the lack of commitment could be serious deal breakers. The former is an excellent program that the school has but one day a week that runner is missing practice. The latter is something that can’t be taken lightly. A lack of commitment means missed practices which translate into zero improvement during the season. So the 30-70 means that I might be coaching there next year if I can’t find anything else and I would be able to put up with those problems.

The scenario that probably fits me best would be to take on a coaching position for a school that already has an established program. Between now and September I will be looking for any openings at northern schools. Starting a program and doing the normal practices is a bit more than I would like to handle. I would rather concentrate just on the coaching aspect instead of also initiating the program.

I did get one benefit from the N-City program (besides the money) and that was one year of experience. At the end of the 2 month season, I felt that I had learned how to plan a season, how to be organized, and how to get the most out of a practice. I hope to be able to use this experience in the spring’s softball program at E-City. But that’s for another time and another blog, if I create one.

Now I would be very hypocritical of what I said two paragraphs ago if I said I haven’t given up hope of starting a X-C program at E-City. Now that I look back on that effort, I realize that maybe starting a boy’s X-C team may not have been such a good idea. The reason why I did so was two-fold. First, I felt that a boy’s team would be better than a girl’s team and would be able to compete against the other schools in our conference. Second, there is currently only one sport in the fall and that is girl’s tennis. E-City does not have girl’s volleyball, field hockey, girl’s soccer, boy’s soccer, football, or any of the other fall sports that exist at larger schools. So the plan was that since the girls had a sport in the fall, I would start a new sport for the boys.

If I do decide to try again at E-City, I realize now that I will have to change genders. The 15 boys that had signed up the previous May were a total disappointment in terms of responsibility and commitment. And since my initial effort, the school has implemented a soccer club and an intra-mural basketball program during the fall which many of the boys have joined. That leaves very few if any boys who could be candidates for a new boy’s X-C team. At E-City, the boys are either big soccer fans or basketball fans. There is no third option.

So the option for a new team may lie with the females of the school. The girls are not as involved in sports as the boys are. They have the tennis, basketball, cheer leading, and softball programs. So since they are not that much into sports, the school’s girls may be where a new sport may grow and thrive. In fact, I feel that there is a different relationship with the females in the school than there is with the boys. The girls, whether they are athletes or not, will say hi and talk with teachers, while most of the boys won’t even look at you as you pass them in the hallway. So I need to count on this rapport with the school’s female population.

Why didn’t the girls come forward last year when I was looking for potential runners? Did they not listen to the announcements over the school’s intercom? Did they not see the 40+ signs I had posted around the school? I think they did. Two did come to me and I signed them up as managers for the short-lived boys team. What I think happened was that most girls in the school thought of X-C as a boys sport and didn’t realize that there are girl’s X-C teams as well.

So once I get an idea in my head, it always begins to grow. I have devised a plan for starting a new girl’s X-C team next fall. I don’t expect to get any of the girls from the tennis team. They seem too committed to that sport. Plus they don’t seem to be true athletes—walking around the court hitting a tennis ball softly is worlds apart from the demanding workouts of a X-C team. The same could be said for the cheerleaders. True, they are a bit more active and athletic than the tennis players, but still, too dainty for me to be a X-C runner. No, my target is going to be either members of the basketball and softball teams or girls who have no sport affiliation at all. Since I coach the softball team I will know which girls I can approach about joining a new team. This past week I dropped in at an open-gym session for the basketball team and I saw quite a few new faces (mostly freshmen) trying out for the team. Next spring I might touch base with the basketball coach and ask him if he would like any of his team to run X-C in the fall as part of a training program.

My plan will kick off on March 2, 2009. That is the day of the first tryout for my softball team. From talking to the girls at the school, it seems that there will be a lot of girls trying out for the team. That means I will have to cut girls which I didn’t do last year. To quash any ill feelings toward me from a girl who was cut, I’m hoping that by having an option to join a new sport in the fall, coached by me, may be enticing enough to the girl who was cut.

Next year, instead of putting 40+ signs around the school, I’m going to keep it very low key. I will put up just three signs which will be positioned at locations where all the girls of the school will see it and probably very few boys: outside the two girl’s bathrooms and one outside the girl’s locker room. And the key selling point of these signs will be that “you don’t have to be fast to be on a X-C team, you just have to be dedicated”. That way I could get both athletes and the girls who feel that they may not be athletes.

And the most important thing I have to do is to control any anticipated excitement on my part. I was in another world last summer anticipating the approaching X-C season and when it never got off the ground it was a crushing disappointment. When the N-City opportunity came along, that too was exciting, only to fizzle out after two months time. So as March approaches and my plan either works or not, I need to control my excitement. So as I always say, “stay tuned”!

End of the Season

The N City X-C season finally came to an end this past Saturday. During the week leading up to the final day, the lack of commitment by the runners continued to show at practice. The number of runners who showed up were 3, 1, 1, and 0. On Saturday, instead of five runners going to the CTC Championship at W Park in E City, there was only 1. So off we went, me, the runner, and the AD in two cars. The AD told me that he would drive the runner back and I could go directly home instead of driving all the way back to N City.

It rained the whole time driving to the Park. When we got there, the runner and I walked around trying to figure out where the 2.1 Freshman Course was. In the morning, the Public School North II teams were having their Sectional Championships. We got there just as the last race was finishing. The grounds were wet and muddy. As we walked around, we could easily tell who had run in a race that morning. If their legs and other parts of their body were muddy, we knew that they had raced. A beautiful site.

We went over to the finish line and checked in with the officials. The Freshman girls were to go off at 2 and my runner would follow in the boys freshman race at 2:20.

What a year this had been. It started out back in early September at an interview for the coaching position when I was told that 30 some kids had signed up for X-C. That was followed by that beautiful Saturday morning when 11 students showed up for the first practice. 9 girls and 2 boys. It had the makings of a solid girls team. But the apathy crept in along with a lack of commitment. And by year's end there were no girls and just one solitary brave soul, ready to run his heart out on the muddy fields of W Park.

2:20 came and he lined up with the other runners. The gun sounded and off he went. He was strong for about the first 1/3 of a mile but then the lack of practice began to show. He dropped back steadily. Finally as he came back to me from a loop to the other side of the park, he was walking and running. I spurred him on to the finish but he was experiencing pain and discomfort that an out of shape X-C runner always would. He finally crossed the finish line and he could barely stand up. We got him to the AD's car, loaded him in, drove over to where my car was, and got him some fruit and gatorade. Then I told him he ran a helluva race and off they went. He officially finished the race and his name appears on the online results. And he actually beat two other freshmen!!!

I decided to hang around and watch the rest of the races. I was able to take in the Girls Varsity as well as the Boys JV and Varsity races. It's hard to believe, but this was the first huge high school X-C meet that I had ever attended. It was quite exciting. I got in a position where with minimal walking/running, I was able to view the start, the middle, and the finish of the races. And along with the excitement, I also felt a bit of disappointment. As I watched these teams of young boys and girls battle over the muddy course, I realized that I was a coach without a team. Or more accurately, a coach without two teams.

And now the season is over. Today I had an open gym for my softball team. There were some new students trying out who showed some promise. But that's another sport for another time. As for X-C, I don't know what my future will be. I guess you will just have to stay tuned!!!

Bullet proof running gear?

If I was a betting man, and there was an "over-under" on the number of runners who would show up this week, I would have chosen the under. As I previously mentioned, the number of runners showing up has been dwindling. Three last Friday and two on Saturday. The weather has been getting cooler and today was rainy. Yesterday and today no runners showed up. But the real reason I haven't mentioned is that the official gang initiation period kicked off last Friday and is supposed to run thru Halloween. The annual event, held every October, got off to a roaring start last Friday with 6 drive by shootings in N City. Basically the runners on the team are just plain afraid to come to practice. So I will be canceling practice tomorrow. Thursday is a normal day off and Friday is Halloween and the team voted weeks ago not to have practice on that day. So the next practice will be Saturday. That leaves just one week to work hard to get in shape (the runners who will be going) for the championships on 11/8.

If this program continues in the future, having gang initiation week in October is going to put a crimp in this team's preparation for any late season races. I may have to google Bloods, Crips, and Latin Kings and find out how to contact their representatives. Maybe I could convince them to move their initiation period to another time of the year.