Cross Country Presentation SCVAL BOM Meeting January 21, 2010

Agenda  Goal  Cross Country – Past and Present  Benefits of Cross Country  Requested Action  Summary

Goal  To ensure that Seniors (boys and girls) can continue to run at the Junior Varsity level  This is consistent with 50 years of SCVAL practice  This is what all other leagues and sections do in California  Its what the SCVAL cross country coaches want  Its what the parents and student-athletes desire

SCVAL Cross Country Tradition  The SCVAL has held competition in XC since 1954  The 1963 bylaws show that senior boys were allowed to compete on the JV teams  Since 1989 the records clearly indicate seniors were competing on the JV team In summary, senior boys have been running on the JV teams at the league finals for 50 years.

California Cross Country  What Do Other CCS Leagues Do?  There are 9 other leagues in the CCS and all of them hold JV races at their league finals and all allow seniors to compete in the JV races.  What Happens At League Finals Outside the CCS?  In 2009, over 50 League Finals listed seniors in the JV results  After extensive research, we could not find a single league in California that prevented seniors from competing at the JV level Source:

The Most Accessible Sport  Cross Country provides the best opportunity for the largest number of participants  There is no limit to the number of participants in a race  Most other sports have a limit to the number of players in a game  A single race may easily accommodate 100 or more runners  Only the top 5 finishers for each school determine the teams’ score  Less talented performers do not impact the team’s results  Cross country is the most affordable sport  The cost of a pair of running shoes

Sports involves competition  Not allowing seniors to run at the JV level creates a significant disincentive to participation  Varsity is the competitive race for the fastest runners regardless of age group  Frosh/Soph provides a competitive race for freshmen and sophomores not ready for Varsity  JV provides a competitive race for all others, but particularly seniors and juniors  The last 19 finishers (out of 77) in the 2009 DeAnza division Varsity race were Seniors because they were forced to run Varsity

Why Change?  Who benefits from prohibiting seniors from running in JV?  What makes SCVAL different from every other league and section in the state of California?

Coaches Quotes  “The leadership that seniors demonstrate is invaluable to me. The seniors know the tradition of how the team is run, they keep freshman from getting lost on runs, they teach freshman race tactics, etc.. Without seniors, I would be lost.”  “I have been coaching since 1984 and prior to that watched one of my daughters compete for four years. I have never seen an invitational that did not allow seniors to compete in the JV race.”  "I have 100 out for cross country and I have one assistant," she said. "I would be lost without seniors who are not good enough to make varsity. A lot of them are great leaders. They don't want to run varsity. They just want to be part of the team. If seniors know they can't run in junior varsity races if they're not good enough to make the varsity, why would they come out for the team?"

Requested Action  Reverse the November emergency BOM meeting decision to prohibit senior boys from participating in the JV race at League Finals  Ensure that Senior boys and girls can participate in Junior Varsity races next season  Appoint a rules committee consisting of 2-3 cross country coaches to review the Cross Country By-laws and recommend changes

Summary  Cross Country tradition indicates that skill (not age) is the primary determinate of participation level  All other leagues in California allow Senior Boys and Girls to compete at the JV level  Not allowing seniors to run at the JV level creates a significant disincentive to participation and no other group benefits  We request that you take the necessary action today to ensure that senior boys and girls may continue to compete at the JV level