All very well stated, Daniel. As a HS girls’ coach I face all that you do. The girls on our team tend to be very high achievers off the track, in academics, music, etc. In most cases, those activities are more significant to their futures than is track. We have no girls who will get into college based on track, much less get a scholarship, but many of them can aspire to Stanford, Yale, etc. based on academics and other talents. So we are flexible, as we must be. Our basic attitude is that we are fine with their scheduling conflicts as long as they let us know (rather than just not showing up), make good efforts when they are with us and don’t cause trouble. As a high school coach we certainly do not “own” the kids like a college coach with scholarship athletes. This week, our only good pole vaulter is going to miss two meets because she is representing the school at some big academic competition out of state [somewhat frustrating]. We will also miss an important sprinter because her family is going to Hawaii on vacation [much more frustrating]. There is a lot we cannot control, so we just carry on doing the best we can.
