Full disclosure: I am the Centerville Boys Head Coach. I coached under David Dobson, the Centerville Girls Head Coach, for 4 years. Our programs are run completely separate so I don’t have any insider point of view, but I do have an opinion on the matter. I don’t come to Yappi often but I came tonight to share my thoughts.
it was heartbreaking to watch those girls realize what had happened today. I don’t think they thought in a million years they wouldn’t be running next week. But I know the coaches’ hearts were breaking too. Not because their “cute plan” would make them look bad, or because their jobs would be on the line. Their hearts were breaking because they knew a decision they had made ended the season. The decision to run the second seven is not some power move, or the coaching staff trying to out smart everyone else. It is just what they do. And they have done it for many years. The second seven girls love the opportunity to run in the varsity post season. It gives more girls the opportunity to run in the coveted “gold shorts” and be a contributor to the team. Did it work out for them this year? No. Will they be more cautious in the future? Probably. But if you listened to their team meeting after the race you would have heard why Coach Dobson is one of the best, if not the best, coach in the state of Ohio. He talked about their core values, something their team developed at the beginning of the season. How they are not defined by their performance on the course alone. He doesn’t develop fast runners, he develops good people who happen to run fast. In no way should his future with the team be in jeopardy. In the off-season he did a book study with his team on the “The Energy Bus”. His team will learn and grow more from that book and this experience than they did from 4 state championships and 2 second place finishes in a seven year span. He will lead them through this experience and they will come out the other side stronger. He is an amazing coach and I hope my four year old daughter decides to run cross country 10 years from now because I would love for her to be coached by him and be part of their amazing team.