There's a trend in this state (Rhode Island) that disappoints me. From time to time, in certain meets, they will do away with the 500 freestyle. And (when my daughter was on the HS team) I personally witnessed that it's sometimes because the coaches can't entice anyone to swim it. Lame! Sometimes it's because the team is so small that they don't have enough swimmers. OK...maybe! First, if I were the coach, and I have plenty of swimmers on my team, I pick a kid and tell him/her to get up on the blocks and swim the race!!! But...if the rules are going to be bent by not conducting an event...when a team is truly shorthanded...why not bend the rules differently? Instead of scratching an event, let certain swimmers compete in an extra event so that ALL the scheduled events can be competed?
Dan
I think it is so unfortunate that teams can't get 15 to 20 kids. I see it in some of the teams my son competes against. They have two teams that are struggling to get even 10 guys. My wife is a 4th grade teacher and she told me the other day, " you would not believe the lack of athletic ability and desire of the kids today". Many reasons combining to cause this, but the results are so sad. If you think it is bad now, expect it to keep getting tougher to field teams.
If your a coach, AG club, jr HS, or HS you need to be promoting swimming and recruiting kids. Parents need to be vocal to friends and relatives and encourage more kids to swim. Swimming is not as glamorous as the ball sports. All will be suffering but the less glamorous sports will feel it more.
I think it is so unfortunate that teams can't get 15 to 20 kids. I see it in some of the teams my son competes against. They have two teams that are struggling to get even 10 guys. My wife is a 4th grade teacher and she told me the other day, " you would not believe the lack of athletic ability and desire of the kids today". Many reasons combining to cause this, but the results are so sad. If you think it is bad now, expect it to keep getting tougher to field teams.
If your a coach, AG club, jr HS, or HS you need to be promoting swimming and recruiting kids. Parents need to be vocal to friends and relatives and encourage more kids to swim. Swimming is not as glamorous as the ball sports. All will be suffering but the less glamorous sports will feel it more.
