WARunningHistorian wrote:
GSL Fan wrote:And in regard to students choosing NC, the boundaries in Spokane are very weird. Over the past 6 years, NC (Boys) have only had 1, maybe 2, athletes opt into NC while living in another school's boundaries. There are some that have moved out of NC boundaries, but kept their students there. The one that I know of for sure is not a varsity runner, and may never be.
Oh, ok, IDK you were referencing girls team coaches as well as boys. I think saying CV is good at recruiting (seemingly bc they have large #s) and Shadle is good at community (bc they seem fliendly) etc may be generalizations. However generalizations are often correct and perhaps you are spot on with your observations.
Regarding students choosing NC, I would argue that your numbers are incorrect. I have heard a range of reports ranging from opponents saying NC clearly recruits runners from other middle schools and I have heard from strong NC alumni/allies that NC would never stoop to such a level. IDK what is correct. But I can say that I have a friend who works for the school district who says they occasionally see paperwork regarding NC runners and choosing NC even though it's outside of their boundary. Many more than 1-2 in the past 6 years. I just googled addresses of NC runners and compared it to the district boundary and a number of them do seem to be outside NC boundaries. Of course IDK what that means, perhaps their older siblings went to NC or parents teach their and so they are grandfathered in, but it was surprising to see. IDK how I feel about choosing schools either, it seems like a parent should be able to choose a school that will fit well with their child, on the other hand when it comes to sports and keeping the playing field level, that may be another thing altogether.
I'm going to clear some of this up. I am a middle school of a school that feeds into both NC and Shadle. All of NC's middle schools feed into NC and another high school. Over the years I have been coaching at the middle school, I have noticed that my boys tend to go to NC while my girls go to Shadle (This is true at another nearby middle school too). There are some exceptions, but in general this is true.
I have coached more than half of the NC runners. I've known most of the NC (and Shadle) runners since Fa 2008. Since I have been coaching at the middle school (Sp 2009) I have only known one student that chose NC over the school in whose boundary they live in. There are a few that have moved after middle school, but as of eighth grade all but one has lived in NC boundaries. I know this because the coaches (both NC and Shadle) are so careful about who they talk to in middle school in fear of being charged with recruiting out of their boundaries. Part of my job is to find out who is going where so I can connect them with the high school coach.
This is only speaking of running. In other sports, NC loses a lot of athletes to other schools.