<p>I don’t know if anyone can help me, but I didn’t think it would hurt to ask here. </p>
<p>I am a junior collegiate cross country runner at a (not super competitive or serious) Division 1 school. I walked onto my team as a freshman and was elected captain as a sophomore and again as a junior this year. While I was only the team’s #6/7 runner my freshman and sophomore years (the top 5 runners score, but the top 7 officially contribute in team scoring-so basically, I have always contributed to the team’s score), but with a summer of intense training and a change in attitude for the better, I became my team’s #2/3 runner this year. </p>
<p>So clearly, I have contributed to this team athletically, but I would without a doubt say I contribute to the team more than anyone else, even scholarship athletes, in other ways too (like, I organize spaghetti dinners, team bonding activities, and volunteer projects, lead drills and warm-ups at practice and meets, meet with my coach almost daily to discuss our team’s progress, always have a positive attitude at practice and keep my teammates in line, etc.). This weekend, my coach asked me to host a recruit when there were several other freshmen and sophomores, some actually on scholarship, who could have hosted the recruit instead.</p>
<p>While I run because I love the sport and not for any financial compensation, it has gotten to the point where I feel like I am giving so much to this team and getting nothing in return. I am constantly doing so many things-athletically and leadership-wise, for our young and growing program, even more than scholarship athletes. I know my coach has a time standard for scholarships that I am far from achieving, but it bothers me that I am working harder at practice than the scholarship runners who haven’t even hit those times themselves!</p>
<p>Do you think it would be out of line to talk to my coach about the possibility of a scholarship, if not for my athletic performance, for my improvement, hard work, and all my contributions to the team? I’m starting to feel like a doormat. </p>
<p>Thanks for any insight!</p>