Free Riding and High School Sports

My high school had over 3,000 students. Sports were a huge part of our high school culture. My field hockey team only had about 25 members. With so few teammate, you had to give your all in practice or you ran the risk of coach turning practice into the sprinting scene from Miracle. The small size of the team allowed us to overcome the free rider problem, making us a more effective group. Our practices were tough, but truly prepared us for our games and this lead us to States.

Many of the girls on field hockey would run track in the off season to stay in shape. Our track team had almost 100 people on it, and it was most athletes’ secondary sport. On this team, the free riding problem was rampant. With 100 athletes and only 3 coaches, there was no way for the coaches or even the captains to ensure each teammate fully participated. Many times, on our “fun run” days, there would inevitably be kids who would hide around the corner away from the coaches’ view while the rest of the team ran. They would wait for everyone to come back, and then fall in line as if they had ran the whole thing! The large size of the team encouraged the free rider problem. Additionally, there were no selective incentives. Track tends to be an individualistic endeavor. An individual, not the whole team, qualifies for States. So it was difficult to get individuals who were not as heavily invested in track to pay in to the common goals of the team. Who knew high school track teams could be examples of latent groups!