To Cut or Not To Cut?
In every town in America you will find little kids running around soccer fields, playing on basketball courts, or playing in the dirt of a diamond. These are the places they learn how to play a game and hopefully grow a love for sports.
Recreation leagues that are usually run by cities or counties play a vital role in the introduction and continued growth of youth sports in America. As these kids continue on playing the game or games they love, many of them will be eventually be forced to face a hard reality. This reality usually begins towards the end of the elementary school years and will continue all the way through their middle and high school years. It is a reality that in many cases can shape a student's entire school experience. This reality that all student athletes must face at one time or another is, Did I make the team?
While recreation leagues provide the opportunity for everyone to compete, school teams and travel teams only have a certain amount of spots. Every student athlete that wants to play a school sport is then faced this question, Am I good enough to make the team?
Every year that question is asked by millions of student athletes, and for many of those the answer is no. A quick look into history will show us that some of the most notable athletes in the world also had to face this reality at one time in their careers. At the age of 11, Lionel Messi was cut from his junior team because he was too small. 13-time NBA All-Star Bob Cousy was cut from his high school basketball team his freshman year. The most famous of all athletes, Michael Jordan, was cut from the varsity basketball team his sophomore year in high school. All three of those athletes used that setback as motivation to hone their craft and they ultimately excelled on the biggest stage. For every Michael Jordan or Lionel Messi though, there are many that get cut, lose interest, and ultimately quit their sport.
This leads us to a great question for High School Cross Country and Track & Field Programs, Should programs have a tryout and a cut or should they allow everyone a shot to be a part of the team? There are many pros and cons on both sides of the argument. With the rising costs of running a program (uniforms, equipment, entry fees, transportation) and the lack of funding most programs get from their school systems, it is difficult to have to large of a team because of all the extra cost associated with having extra athletes. With this being the case, some programs have had to resort to having tryouts so they can effectively operate with a manageable amount of athletes. While on the other side of spectrum, there are many programs that do not have a tryout/cut and have either taken on the large amounts of athletes or found creative ways to manage the size of their rosters.
The Case Against Cuts
Being a coach myself in both Track & Field and Cross Country, I have my own opinions on this subject, but I wanted to hear what other coaches around the State were doing. I was fortunate enough to spend some time with a few coaches and hear their thoughts on this issue and what I found was that this is not such a straightforward question. In many cases the answers I received were not a simple "no we do not have a tryout/cut" or "yes we do."
Take for example Siegel High School. Siegel has enjoyed much success in Cross Country over the the past couple of decades, having won multiple State Championships. Their approach to roster management is quite interesting. They do not have a specific tryout and cut. What they do is have a certain set of expectations that are communicated to their athletes which include offseason conditioning, practice attendance, and time standards to run in meets.
The athlete goes into the season knowing that if they fail to show up and if they fail to do the work they are asked to do, then they will not have a spot on the team. Successful completion of required work and good attendance assure their spot on the team, but not necessarily a spot on Varsity. They have certain time standards that if not met, will keep athletes from running in a Varsity race. This system has worked to help identify the athletes that really want to be there, while also pushing them to grow as a runner.
Science Hill High School in Johnson City is one of the largest schools in the state and with that comes a large turnout for their Track & Field program. Similar to Siegel, Science Hill has a tryout where would be athletes come out for a three day "tryout" where they will work in the specialties or specialties they are looking to compete. Fortunately for Science Hill, they have a robust coaching staff that is able to identify who they believe will succeed in a particular specialty and who will not.
The athletes they believe will not be successful are encouraged to try a different specialty. Again, attendance and effort are stressed, but as long as an athlete is doing those two things then they have a spot on the team. Science Hill has adopted the philosophy of hosting and attending smaller meets where they enter JV only teams to give their non-Varsity athletes a chance to compete.
The Case For Cuts
Track & Field Coach April Winton at Franklin County High School does have a tryout each year. Unlike Science Hill and some of the other larger schools in the state, Franklin County simply does not have a large enough Coaching staff to handle all the kids that come out each year. Coach Winton's reasoning for the tryout is to focus on getting the roster down to a manageable size for her Coaching staff. so they can give the correct amount of attention to all of their athletes. Her tryouts have very low minimums that must be achieved to be a part of the team, but has shown to be effective in getting the number of athletes down to a desired size.
Similarly, long time coach of West Creek, now future AD of Kirkwood, Josh Stoeckl administers tryouts but for different reasons. He stresses your team need to have a standard.
"If being part of your track team is not special, the special athletes will not want to be a part of it."
Speaking with a few other coaches at Stewarts Creek High School and Blackman High School, I get very similar answers. They stress the importance of showing up and doing what is asked. Cuts are not based on talent, but on effort and attitude. It also seems to be a common thread among the schools that I spoke with and my experience as well that there is always a good bit of natural attrition.
Many kids want to be a part of a team and they want to be with their friends who are a part of a team. What many fail to realize is the commitment and the hard work that is required to be successful. Many will show up for a week or two of practice and simply realize that they don't have a place on a Cross Country course or on a Track. There are so many variables that come into play such as time commitment, athletic ability, after school jobs, or being buried deep on the depth chart. Regardless of what variable that may cause a kid to quit, there does seem to be a level of natural attrition that is helpful for all coaches to be able to trim their roster to a manageable size. As Coach Jonathan Sutton from Blackman High School says,
"We have found those who are not serious about the sport tend to make their own choice."
