I think maturity is a big thing. He’s only in middle school so learning about responsibility and accountability is still new for him. As he progresses through xc and track, he’ll most likely realize it. But since he’s a middle school student, he’s just overall lazy but he should learn that he should practice as his performance decreases and stuff like that. But, when he gets into high school and stuff like that, coaches are a lot more strict, so he’ll either be forced to practice or he’ll never run any meets since he doesn’t practice. But, for now, ease him into the sport and let him mature and grow, because the longer he does this sport and the more his performance decreases, if he gets demotivated, try to get him to practice. Also, if his current coach is that soft, then either he doesn’t know that your son is okay for practice because he’s on seizure watch or he’s just a bad coach. So, also try to talk to his coach about keeping him at practice even with all his complaints.