This team took a tough turn
My sister was on the cross country team at Riverside before I was even in high school. I went to all of her meets and would listen to the stories she would tell about how everyone on the team were friends and were working as hard as they could to get better. This is how I fell in love with the idea of being on the team, I wanted to be a part of that loving and supportive team. When I finally joined the team, it was my sister’s senior year and it was everything I had ever imagined. I became friends with almost everyone and learned how to feel the beautiful pain of pushing myself beyond what I ever thought I could do. I remember the first meet I ever ran. Being at the starting line with all of my best friends, all of us with nervous laughter and butterflies in our stomachs. I remember the boom of the starting gun and the excitement I felt because I was finally doing what I’d wanted to do for so long.
The year after my sister and all her friends graduated, the morale and work ethic of the team took a turn. It was not as bad as it was going to get, but it was enough that the coaches felt they had to have multiple team meetings which we never had to have before. Everyone still loved each other and it was still a picture perfect team, but there were a few people who, for some reason, felt the need to not try as hard and be full of negativity. After that season, our coaches told us they were no longer going to be coaching in order for them to be with their family more. We understood and all were sad but were all supporting each other through that time. Those coaches were like legends to us and we were sad to see them go but they are still there for us, and us them, even if it is not in the same way. Our new coach was formerly the coach for the middle school team, so we all knew her and most of us liked her. This season was the first one with our new coach and the team is completely different from what it used to be.
The biggest change is the way that the new people to the team seem to think that they deserve to be fast, but are not willing to put in the work in order to get to that level. Cross country has changed from a lifestyle to an afterthought. Formally, everyone was running for a purpose. Running for the love of running, running to get stronger, running to meet new people, running because running is all they ever knew. Now, everyone seems to be running for one reason, they are bored and need something to do. I had never had to be a part of a team the disrespected the coach, cut workouts short, or brought their teammates down when everyone is working towards the same goal. The reason I joined the team is because the team was the exact opposite of what it had come to be. What could I do to bring this team back to what it used to be? To a supportive, hardworking team full of people who want to better themselves are are not willing to cut corners to do so? I do not know, but I will not stop trying to bring this team back to what it used to be when my sister ran.
- Anonymous
