Run-Down Forums

[Dan]

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/story.asp?id=243673

Dan
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[Micah Ward]

It's hard to make a definative stand based just on the newspaper article. But as you know, I am a law and order person. If the rules are written down and the coaches violated the rules then I see nothing ridiculous.
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[Dan]

It sounds as if the only violation was the number of runners at the camp. I don't know if Oregon has any such rule or what the number would be, but it's the sort of thing that no one ever brings up when discussing summer activities, so it would be extremely easy to overlook innocently.

(Remember, the Illinois HS federation has long been regarded as one of the worst around. Weren't the Torres brothers disallowed from competing due to club affiliations or something?)

Dan
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[Micah Ward]

The way I read the article it was the length of the camp that was the problem, not the number of participants. It mentioned a limit of 25 days of contact and I assume the violation was for that. I hadn't heard anything about the Torres brothers or the Indiana association.

I do know that there can be some goofy rules. We just recently had an alert to officials in Georgia that high school runners could not wear sun glasses during cross country competition. It came up because of a runner that had prescription glasses that have the variable tinting. When he is in sunlight they get dark. So it caused a problem at one of the meets he ran in when an official informed the coach of the no sunglasses rule.

I'm kind of at a loss to understand why sunglasses should be banned anyway.
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[Dan]

They're allowed in Oregon, which further clouds (no pun intended) the issue of questionable rules across associations. I believe they're categorized as safety equipment, just as watches are allowed because they're equipment like spikes.

Dan
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[Paul]

I can see both sides but I have to say I find these kinds of rules strange. More and more people are finally coming to the conclusion that these kinds of rules have been detrimental to US distance running. When you see all the camps that the other sports participate in, you have to wonder if a kid gets any time off during the Summer at all. As a corollary to this, I mentioned to Dan to find out he wouldn't be in violation if he actually wrote out specific workouts for the Summer. I'm not sure if you're even allowed to make training mandatory during the off season. If I remember correctly, Dan thought that would be funny; getting fired before he was even hired.
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Paul

"Gaunt is Beautiful" Cassidy's T-shirt

[Dan]

At least in Oregon, the summer is pretty much unregulated. There are still certain things you have to do in order to not be formally "practicing," but they aren't much of a limitation. As far as I know, camps are a non-issue here. Making them required would be stepping over the line, though.

Dan
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[Paul]

While its true that camps are not mandatory, in the team sports like football and soccer, if you don't attend the coaches summer camps, for some reason you just end up sitting on the bench during the season. Parents have to juggle vacations with their kids around the various camp offerings.
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Paul

"Gaunt is Beautiful" Cassidy's T-shirt

[Dan]

I'm not aware of any cases where athletes have been punished for not attending camps. However, not attending might make someone less prepared to play, in which case they'll likely find themselves sitting. A coach would be foolishly spiteful to not play someone who is deserving, simply because they weren't at camp.

Dan
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