Forums >General Running>Next generation gets it
Yesterday morning my HS freshman son was very upset when he realized that the day's band competition across town meant that he would miss a hard workout at track practice. He begged me to slip away from work for a bit to pick him up from the band competition and get him over to practice. How do you say no to that???
- Joe
We are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.
Latent Runner
Props to your son.
Fat old man PRs:
That's awesome he really wants to be at the hard workout days. Not too many freshman would have that attitude! So, did you let him sneak out for a bit?
not bad for mile 25
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Sounds like my HS days, Tuesday XC dual meet sometime from 4-5, marching band practice at 6 that night, then XC meet on Saturday, band competition that night. I don't thank my parents enough for the running around they did... I'm glad your son's getting the same opportunities I got.
Know thyself.
Last fall, my HS freshman daughter always begged us to get her out of band practice early to get to hockey practice. Although she has no interest in running. (Except when she gets to dress up for the zombie runs.)
Maybe the theme is how much they dislike band. Mine does anyway; she is quitting after this year, mainly because she hates the marching part.
Dave
So, did you let him sneak out for a bit?
Oh, yes. When a kid really wants to run his hard days, what are you gonna do?!
Oblige of course. My son hates to miss practice, even the optional ones. This is despite me telling him he could be much more efficient running on his own (I have no idea why they need a 2 to 2.5 hour practice to muster a measly 6 to 8 miles).
I guess that means they're really enjoying it.
Last fall, my HS freshman daughter always begged us to get her out of band practice early to get to hockey practice. Although she has no interest in running. (Except when she gets to dress up for the zombie runs.) Maybe the theme is how much they dislike band. Mine does anyway; she is quitting after this year, mainly because she hates the marching part.
I'm amazed at my son's school, how many kids run track/xc and are also in at least one other band (Marching, Symphonic, Jazz, etc). The common theme is their band director is amazing. He's demanding, but he makes it fun, and they are very successful. The music program is probably one of the best thing the school has going for it.
Proboscis Colossus
It's like that at our school, too. There is a handful of students who participate in extracurricular activities, and those students participate in a LOT of them.
The majority of the boys' XC team is also in my band, which makes it tough when we have a Saturday contest, but the XC coach and I make it work by shuttling them back and forth, much as the OP described (it's usually a parent such as the OP that does the driving - bless you, joescott!).
Two of those band/XC kids, as well as my first chair horn player are also heavily involved in FFA (Future Farmers Association), and their busy season is...well, they're always busy. Texas, you know. Same thing as XC there, and it works out fine (Agricultural Science Teacher/FFA sponsor is the parent of one of those XC/band boys).
And don't get me started on how many kids I share with the drama club!
Thing is, I'm under no delusion that band is the MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE SCHOOL AND EVERYTHING SHOULD WORK AROUND US. Cross-country is important. FFA is important, and so is drama. I even think football is important (though not proportionate to the amount of attention it gets), and work with the football coach on sharing players.
So to the OP...kudos to you and your boy. If I understand correctly, he's fulfilling his commitment to the band and putting in the work it takes to better his running. That'll pay off later!
"God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people
Ha. Should've known you'd chime in here.
I'm under no delusion that band is the MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE SCHOOL AND EVERYTHING SHOULD WORK AROUND US.
Thanks for this. You should have a talk with the Band Director at our school.
My daughter would probably stick with band if she could do just the Symphonic part, but if you are in band, you are marching. She truly hated the marching part. Combination of the seemingly endless extra practices, and what ended up being a lot of really crappy weather for virtually every one of last fall's football games. And probably didn't help being an average-sized 14yo girl hauling around a sousaphone. Although of course the instrument was her choice.
A lot of people say this about the band program at our high school as well. OTOH, my daughter is completely burned out on band (marching) and has decided not to do it again next year and focus just on xc and school. Although I would have totally supported her either way, I could not be happier that she came to this decision--as did a few of the other xc kids who are also juniors. The most common track for marching band kids who also play a fall sport is to do 3 years (freshman, sophomore, junior) then get fed up and quit band. There are strikingly few seniors in the program and most of them only do band.
The logistics that go into a marching band competition are beyond crazy to me. I can see having one or two competitions per season, maybe, but the schedule our band director tries to keep is sadistic to the kids and the parents. As a section leader my daughter was often in meetings with the other section leaders and the band director and staff. One long weekend (Columbus day) they had to play a football game on Friday night, a band competition on Saturday (and an xc meet for the xc kids) and a Columbus day parade in Boston on Monday. The band director then told them he had signed up for another local parade on Sunday--they get paid for parades so he was looking at it as a fund raising opportunity. My daughter and the other section leaders mutinied. They said they would quit if he didn't drop out of the Sunday parade ... and so he did.
Runners run
Yep, couldn't resist!
Yeah, at a school as small as ours, none of us can afford to be jerks and declare that "our" kids can't participate in anything else, or we'd all lose good kids (though lets be honest; football would lose the least).
Ah, the girl tuba player! You know, I hate to paint with a broad brush, but I've always found girls make the best tuba players. No idea why, but every girl I've had play tuba has been a good one.
Anyway, I understand about her not wanting to march. When I was in HS, marching band was my favorite thing - symphonic band was fun too, but boring in comparison. Totally the opposite, now that I'm on the other side of the podium...I enjoy the first few games - the adventure, the sense of being part of a "big deal" (Texas. Football. I can probably stop pointing that out now.), and the kids getting to play in front of their biggest audience all year. But UGH it gets to be a hassle, especially at a single-director gig (thank God for DW, who works my colorguard and helps a great deal with logistics).
I have some kids who live for marching band, but a lot of them are right there with your daughter. For some, like your daughter, it's the equipment demands. For others, it's memorizing the show music. Some just don't like losing their Friday nights and Saturdays during October, and I can understand all of these. But...I need to keep it going, and so I have a rule that in order to be in band period, you have to be in marching band, the reason being that if I didn't, I firmly believe I'd have a marching band of about 10 and a concert band of 70 (we have about 40 as it is).
MTA: I do try to go easy on them with the schedule, which seems to help. Only one 1.5-hr practice per week outside of school (though I retain the right to call sectionals if needed), and we've never needed to have more than one performance per weekend in addition to the game. Percussion and colorguard usually have one more practice per week. Hey, I'm not going to name names, but some people involved with the program are training for their fall marathon during this time! During concert season, no after-school practices at all.
We do start summer band usually 2-3 weeks before the rest of school starts (like football and volleyball), which is a tough pill for me some of the kids to swallow. Necessary, though, when the first performance is one week into the school year.
+1
jfa
Nice going joescott. Sounds like you're raising him well.