Contacting XC/Track Coaches

riverrunner
Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:37:06 +0000

Hi Ursa, and thanks for telling us your family’s sport is baseball. This is so different from track because it’s skill based rather than straight-up timed/measured performance.

A high school coach can be a huge help in framing an athlete in skill sports, but really, for track/field and swimming, the stop watch or tape pretty much tells the story. HS coaches can speculate about potential, and can certainly talk about improvements during HS, coachability, and attitude, but college coaches have their own very set ideas about HS times that translate well to college success, no matter what the HS coach says.

I’m sure this is very different in sports like baseball/softball, soccer, basketball and football where coach communications analyzing abstract skills including field sense, ball-handling ability, and even leadership and teamwork play into the decision.