Please note that there are some legitimate reasons for missing practice that will not have a major impact on your competing in the following matches. They include the following:
1. Illness
2. Injury
3. Educational reason that could not be avoided (taking of SAT or ACT exam)
4. Participation in a school-sponsored event (concert, National Honor Society, etc.)
There are other reasons that will have a direct impact on your competing in the matches following your absence. They include the following:
1. Unexcused absence from school
2. In or out of school suspension
3. Homework that could have been completed at another time
4. Work scheduling that could have been arranged differently
5. Decision by player to go hunting, skiing, or to participate in another extra curricular activity
during the season.
By major impact, I mean the following. If a player is ill and notifies their coach prior to practice to let us know the situation or if they are on the absentee list as sick but they are healthy enough to play in the next match, while another player may replace them in the starting lineup (if the sick player was in the starting lineup), he will not miss time based on the illness. The same goes for a player recovering from an injury or if a player is late or misses practice due to the taking of a standardized examination or school activity. These players will not be subject to disciplinary actions but may not start simply because they were not at practice the day before.
However, if a player is absent from school for no apparent reason or gets in trouble in school resulting in some type of school disciplinary action, there will be a penalty. A student-athlete that is suspended from school cannot participate in an athletic event on the day of the suspension. Players may or may not play in the match following the return from the suspension. That will be up to the discretion of the coach. The same applies for players who choose to miss practice or games to participate in extra-curricular activities (hunting and skiing for example). It will be up to the discretion of the coach as to how much time a player misses for an unexcused absence from practice.
Homework is a necessary part of high school life, however, there are enough hours in the day, especially considering that most of our practice sessions are right after school, for you to complete your assignments. You have to learn how to budget your time. The same goes for after school jobs. We strive very hard to give you enough notice so that you can arrange your work schedules such that they do not conflict with our practice times.
Remember that we are in this together and with a limited number of players, we cannot afford to have players miss practice for illegitimate reasons. This hurts the team and your teammates and undermines the work that all of us are putting in.
Robert DuPrau
Boys Varsity Soccer Coach