This is a question for all experianced runners that have maybe gone throgh something like this before.?

Question

My school track and xc teams and a high school track and xc teams are coached and managed by the same people. Our practices are together but we obviously do different things. But every once in a while we do the same workouts and as a bunch of friends we run road races in the city. Lately I have been doing better than I ever have before. I beat almost all of the high school runners in a road race recently and just today I placed 4th-5th place in 5 by 300 sprints. I also am now first at my school in the xc 2 mile and second in my schools all time xc 2 mile. But now I face a delima. The high school that we are practicing with have very strong track and xc teams and in a few years will most likely be competing in state championships. The downside is that the school does not have very good educational values. Another high school in the city has top marks in education but does not have a strong track and xc teams. I love running but school is important. Where should I gonextyear?

Answer 1

I understand your situation. I come from a very small town in Massachusetts, and two years ago we had the fastest guy in the state on our team. It's tough when you know you're a big fish in a small pond, regardless of whether it's in sports or in school. I'd advise you to go to the better school. The benefits in a good education always outweigh excellence in sports.. I don't know how you feel about it, though. But hear me out. The change between schools doesn't have to be the end of your developing skills. Running on the new high school's team, you could always keep in contact with your old coach, ask your old team for workout ideas, etc. (This would be good if your new coaches aren't up to par) If it's just the new high school's team that's lacking, you personally can still go very far (that's what's so great about a sport like running- it's so personal) as an individual qualifier. Now, if winning as a team is a big value to you, take control! Give your new team everything you learned from your days with the good team, encourage everybody, get new recruits, and maybe your new school's team will get better! High School athletes like to be on the winning side. By continuing to try your best and bring everybody else up with you, no matter where you go to school, you will see people following you up. Good luck!

Answer 2

Go to the school with good education, and if you are really good enough join a city track club, you'll go farther there anyway, you could get a scholarship for university that may be split academic and sports,you can run track & XC there and get an education, you will not be running all your life even if you do run in Europe grand prix meets, make the Olympics you'll need an education to get a job after it's all over.

Answer 3

I once had to make a similar choice.

I went education, my old school won state, my team... well, we didn't win much. Some things have made me think back on the choice, but the running was never an issue. There is an individual aspect of running that should be able to help compensate for the poorer team. Make sure you do your summer training properly, that will minimize the effect of poor coaching in season.

The education you will recieve is far more important. All you get out of extra curriculars is what you put in them, so you should be able to have a good running experiance at either school.

And as someone said, chances are you aren't going to be a pro runner (no offense), so education is far more important.

Answer 4

Dude I think you should go for the stronger team. As one girl said before that college's look at your high school gpa. Well they don't and I know from experience. If your already pretty smart all you have to do is score high in the sat or act and you can get in pretty much anywhere they do not look at gpa or nothing like that. As from experience we had a state winning cross country team and it was the best time of my life so far. Trust me running against a great group of guys make it so much more fun then pretty much running by yourself with a sorry group of runners. Also running against better runners everyday only makes you better. Who knows maybe you can get yourself a scholarship? Anyways education is important but like i said if you are smart and can score high on the act or sat then stay at the school your at and have fun running. If you struggle at school and need the better education they you'll need to go to that school.

Answer 5

Go to the school with the better educational system. You can still compete in track and XC and still accomplish individual goals. The team success would be nice, but in the long run, the educational success will serve you better. Good Luck!

Answer 6

Go to the high school that is stronger in education. Yeah, it'd be nice to have a really good team, but that's not what should be deciding for you. Think about it - you're choosing a school. Schools are for education. If you're that good, you'll probably improve. So if you are as good as you can be, it's still VERY possible to continue your track career into high school.

Answer 7

I personally would want to go to a school that has better education....If college is a reason, most colleges these days do base who they want on GPA, not just because you play a sport good....Wouldnt you like to be the all star athlete at the school where theye have better education values.....others will look up too you and people will definetly notice you easier!!

Answer 8

Unless you're likely to become international, education is so much more important. You don't have to train with the school team, Im sure there are local running clubs too

Answer 9

go to the one with the higher education.
i mean, when you learn how to run on a bad track just as good as the runners on the great track, it makes you better on the good track. so if you look at it that way, there's two benefits!

Answer 10

Go for the education, you can always train on your own and go for it the running at a good college