I think its worst for girls to be denied decent practice. Many high school programs still have girls practice as much or even less yardage than master teams. I read this on the net, that one girl commented that they only practice 2,000 yards, while the boys I remember in high school had workouts of yardage between 5,000 to 10,000 befored they tapered. So, this ruling hurts girl swimmers more. This is the state of Missouri of course. This is from Phillip Whitten on the swimming world news on the internet. We complain about college programs being elimnated for boys or young men but what about the unfair treatment of girls in high school sports that can't practice on a USA swim Team during their high school years.
Parents
Former Member
It's been a while...
What you have here is a dilemma facing the entire sport. The non-competition clause in the state high school code is just one aspect of the main problem.
College and high school teams (college esp.) are trying to dictate the direction of the sport. You can see this everywhere. High school coaches directing their swimmers not to participate in club meets during season, rules forbidding the swimmers to practice with the club teams (usually with a coach that is more qualified and more familiar with the swimmer), colleges AND high schools turning well-rounded swimmers into specialty swimmers.
This is not right. A high school level swimmer should learn to swim every event. That is what is good for swimming as a whole. The high school and college coaches do what is good for their team during their season, regardless of what is good for the swimmers' athletic careers.
If it weren't for club swimming, there wouldn't be high school and college programs. Do people think that in 9th grade enough kids are just going to say "Hey, let's try to swim" to start a team? They should remember this before biting the hand that feeds them. It isn't fair for the swimmers to make them choose between representing their school on a fun organized team environment and becoming the best swimmer they can be. The best high school teams usually have a community USA club that feeds their program, and qualified coaches that run each (or both) programs. Those swimmers are the lucky few. Hiring practices for the high school coaches need to change as well.
USA Swimming should be in control of the direction of the sport in America. High schools don't send swimmers to Zones, Nationals, or the Olympics. Club teams do. Colleges don't send them either, unless it is a program that the swimmer came up through the ranks with because it was a dual college/club program. There are a ton of fantastic college coaches, but face it, D-I coaches are great recruiters first. They get fast swimmers, they don't make those swimmers fast, they were fast already. They then help those swimmers improve (try to improve) during their 4 years at school, but who is to say the swimmers wouldn't have progressed farther under the direction of their club coaches during their college career?
Here's a scenario... high schools don't have to hold practice 6x a week. Club coaches at local teams should try to turn the tide, dictate to the high schools who will swim for them. Tell them that they'll discourage participation on H.S. teams unless it is run their way. Practice with the club, swim meets with the H.S. It would be better for the high school to have the swimmers at meets only than not have them at all.
-RM
It's been a while...
What you have here is a dilemma facing the entire sport. The non-competition clause in the state high school code is just one aspect of the main problem.
College and high school teams (college esp.) are trying to dictate the direction of the sport. You can see this everywhere. High school coaches directing their swimmers not to participate in club meets during season, rules forbidding the swimmers to practice with the club teams (usually with a coach that is more qualified and more familiar with the swimmer), colleges AND high schools turning well-rounded swimmers into specialty swimmers.
This is not right. A high school level swimmer should learn to swim every event. That is what is good for swimming as a whole. The high school and college coaches do what is good for their team during their season, regardless of what is good for the swimmers' athletic careers.
If it weren't for club swimming, there wouldn't be high school and college programs. Do people think that in 9th grade enough kids are just going to say "Hey, let's try to swim" to start a team? They should remember this before biting the hand that feeds them. It isn't fair for the swimmers to make them choose between representing their school on a fun organized team environment and becoming the best swimmer they can be. The best high school teams usually have a community USA club that feeds their program, and qualified coaches that run each (or both) programs. Those swimmers are the lucky few. Hiring practices for the high school coaches need to change as well.
USA Swimming should be in control of the direction of the sport in America. High schools don't send swimmers to Zones, Nationals, or the Olympics. Club teams do. Colleges don't send them either, unless it is a program that the swimmer came up through the ranks with because it was a dual college/club program. There are a ton of fantastic college coaches, but face it, D-I coaches are great recruiters first. They get fast swimmers, they don't make those swimmers fast, they were fast already. They then help those swimmers improve (try to improve) during their 4 years at school, but who is to say the swimmers wouldn't have progressed farther under the direction of their club coaches during their college career?
Here's a scenario... high schools don't have to hold practice 6x a week. Club coaches at local teams should try to turn the tide, dictate to the high schools who will swim for them. Tell them that they'll discourage participation on H.S. teams unless it is run their way. Practice with the club, swim meets with the H.S. It would be better for the high school to have the swimmers at meets only than not have them at all.
-RM
