Favoritism in Cross Country?

Question

yesterday was the first day of cross country

and we had this race thing

and i was the first to finish

and these two girls were behind me

SO i'm really sort of short and not fat but like normal

and the other two girls were lanky and lean

and so the coach saw that we had all finished

and he completly ignored me and started talking approvinly to the other girls

and yes i'm quite pissed

is it typical in cross country to there to be a favoritism put on the stereotypicaly better running bodies

Answer 1

It happens all the time the same thing happened to me during track. My 4x400 team once won a race. I ran the first leg and give my team a good start but one of the coaches only congratulated the anchor and totally forgot about me and the other 2 guys that ran. In his eyes the guy who ran anchor was more important for him because he does Football also and that coache was the football coach also. The other guys and me in a way were people that were supporting his Player  

Answer 2

no, but youre already better than them, so the coach will train them to be as good as you. until they are as good as you keep up the good work and never give up. make it hard for them to ever catch you.

Answer 3

There's going to be favoritism anywhere there are human relationships.  The other girls may have performed better than expected thereby earning your coaches praise, but who knows.  Just keep doing your best

Answer 4

Ok, first be open to the fact that maybe your coach wasn't showing favoritism. You and the girls might be on different levels. Maybe they weren't doing well before or had a problem you didn't know about.

The same thing happened to me when I tried out for track. I didn't say anything to my coach, and I was completely ignored the whole time, even with my accomplishments. I wasn't too proud of myself, and the coach didn't know about my potential.

If I were you, I would read into this situation in the exact same way that you are. Talk to your coach about, tell him how you feel about the situation if this keeps on happening. Either way, you should be really proud of yourself for finishing first!! You go girl! :D

It's not supposed to be typical in any sport to show favoritism towards people just because of their body type. It happens though, and it's a part of life, and it sucks. Definitely keep on kicking those skinny girls' butts and don't worry too much about pleasing your coach. What matters is that you feel good about yourself.  

Answer 5

I think you're reading too much into it. It is also possible that you ran well, as expected, and they ran better than expected and thus got attention for it.

Answer 6

last year this happened to me in track, the longer your body is the more potential you have to go faster. so you may be faster then them now but later on down the road your couches think that they will be faster

Answer 7

As a Cross Country (XC) coach is my jobs is to win as many meets a possible. In xc. this can be done with one individual or one team. But the objective, for the coaches and athletes, is to advance as many individuals possible to the state meet. Yes there will be favoritism.

This is team sport top five runner for each team score. So your coach may be trying to build a team. That is his/her job and the only way to win xc meets. Yesterday’s time trail (a paractice race) was to see what kind of shape the teams was in. I do this every year also, just like my HS and college coaches did. Clearly if you were first then you performed better that the other girls. Good job! Now keep doing that in the regular  and post- XC season races.

According to your posting you were in front, so most likely did not see what was happening behind you, but the coach did see it. S/he could have been favoring you or maybe his as telling them the ran a good time. In reality, you don't really know what the coach said...do you?

It is possible that your coach might put you all on the same level (varsity or junior varsity) levels as yourself. Use this to motivate yourself to beat them in every race. Be his number one runner. Make to the coach favor you, not them!  Show coach what kind of runner you are make those girl chase you, and here is how you do it!

Assuming that you race the 5k distance (3.1miles)

Mile one: hard and fast  

Mile two: Maintaining a challenging pace

Mile three: Slowly push and squeeze everything that you have left over the last mile

Last 200-meters: Sprint through the line      (Do not slow until after crossing the finish line)

Good luck with your season

Answer 8

Steeplechaser - your job as coach is not simply to win as many races as possible.  Your job is to help the kids improve as runners, remain injury-free, have fun, perform as best they can, and hopefully win.  If you are focusing solely on winning, you need to reevaluate if you should be coaching at the high school level.

As for the question, I would not read too much into one conversation on the first day of practice.  One of the nice things about XC is that it is pretty clear who should be on varsity.  It is pretty hard for a coach to favor one athlete to the detriment of another.  I agree with the others who say it may be that they did something unexpected.  Also, you don't tell us how long you have been on the team.  If this is your first year, and these girls are on their fourth year, the coach may be talking to them about how this run compared to last year's time trial.  For all you know, the coach was talking to them about you.

I think you are putting too much stock into one perceived slight.  If you continue to feel ignored as the season goes on, talk to the coach about it.  Give him a chance to explain or to change his attitude towards you.  But for now, just focus on doing the best you can do.

Answer 9

keep coming in first and then he cant ignore you ha

Answer 10

Your coach is a dope for not paying attention to the first place person.