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
Jeff,
I've been biding my time to make this point, and you have provided the perfect set-up. Thanks for the assist.
I'm of two minds on this issue. On the one hand, I see the point of those folks (including my old college coach, John Leonard) who want their children to be able to compete for their high school while working out with their club. It is pretty assinine, and smacks of Avery Brundage "shamateurism," to exclude the very best swimmers from high school athletics because high school workouts are not enough for them.
On the other hand, there are areas of the country where the club swimming is so strong that anyone who is not already a good club swimmer will have no shot at all making the high school team. Of all people, a pundit on one of those local sports talk shows made this point when he discussed his days playing baseball. He was good enough to be above average on his junior high teams, but when he moved up to high school, all these kids who had made a major commitment to "select team" baseball scarfed-up all the roster spots, and he had no chance. I have seen this myself in GRADE SCHOOL athletics, where my daughter had no chance whatsoever at making the volleyball team. Geez, where is the entry point to the sport when at such young ages you are already cutting half the people interested in participating? To take Jeff's friend, it is great that he had a high school program to provide an entree, but what if his friend grew-up in Mission Viejo? In that area, letting club swimmers in may slam the door shut for everyone else. Now, you can argue that people who want to swim high school in these areas ought to join the clubs at a younger age, and do the work just like everyone else. Is that a feasible approach for every family? What about people who get hurt, or otherwise don't get interested in the sport until a later age? Is it reasonable to expect children to get serious about a sport long before the reach high school to be able to play in high school?
What's the answer to that? I do not know. Clearly, the Missouri approach (our practices, and only our practices for the duration of the season) is a crude approach, that if it has this positive effect for some areas, imposes too high a price on a lot of talented swimmers. To those who want to bring in all the ringers wherever they can find them, I would say fast swimming is great, and forming a strong team is an impressive achievement. However, what else is happening in your area that allows beginners to get into the sport? Does your high school have a JV program where everyone swims? Is there a summer league team, where everyone swims? If you have only club swimming, is this a feasible option for everyone who might be interested (or does it simply reinforce the socio-economic/geographic/ethnic patterns in your community)? In some areas of the country, a coach can say just give me the olympic hopefulls and other big guns, and the devil take the rest. (And many coaches would like to be able to say that... You can tell by which swimmers get the majority of their attention.) That is a short-sighted attitude. Where do your "big guns" come from? Would Rowdy Gaines (who started at 15) have a chance in your system?
Matt
Jeff,
I've been biding my time to make this point, and you have provided the perfect set-up. Thanks for the assist.
I'm of two minds on this issue. On the one hand, I see the point of those folks (including my old college coach, John Leonard) who want their children to be able to compete for their high school while working out with their club. It is pretty assinine, and smacks of Avery Brundage "shamateurism," to exclude the very best swimmers from high school athletics because high school workouts are not enough for them.
On the other hand, there are areas of the country where the club swimming is so strong that anyone who is not already a good club swimmer will have no shot at all making the high school team. Of all people, a pundit on one of those local sports talk shows made this point when he discussed his days playing baseball. He was good enough to be above average on his junior high teams, but when he moved up to high school, all these kids who had made a major commitment to "select team" baseball scarfed-up all the roster spots, and he had no chance. I have seen this myself in GRADE SCHOOL athletics, where my daughter had no chance whatsoever at making the volleyball team. Geez, where is the entry point to the sport when at such young ages you are already cutting half the people interested in participating? To take Jeff's friend, it is great that he had a high school program to provide an entree, but what if his friend grew-up in Mission Viejo? In that area, letting club swimmers in may slam the door shut for everyone else. Now, you can argue that people who want to swim high school in these areas ought to join the clubs at a younger age, and do the work just like everyone else. Is that a feasible approach for every family? What about people who get hurt, or otherwise don't get interested in the sport until a later age? Is it reasonable to expect children to get serious about a sport long before the reach high school to be able to play in high school?
What's the answer to that? I do not know. Clearly, the Missouri approach (our practices, and only our practices for the duration of the season) is a crude approach, that if it has this positive effect for some areas, imposes too high a price on a lot of talented swimmers. To those who want to bring in all the ringers wherever they can find them, I would say fast swimming is great, and forming a strong team is an impressive achievement. However, what else is happening in your area that allows beginners to get into the sport? Does your high school have a JV program where everyone swims? Is there a summer league team, where everyone swims? If you have only club swimming, is this a feasible option for everyone who might be interested (or does it simply reinforce the socio-economic/geographic/ethnic patterns in your community)? In some areas of the country, a coach can say just give me the olympic hopefulls and other big guns, and the devil take the rest. (And many coaches would like to be able to say that... You can tell by which swimmers get the majority of their attention.) That is a short-sighted attitude. Where do your "big guns" come from? Would Rowdy Gaines (who started at 15) have a chance in your system?
Matt
