Sunday, March 28, 2010

CTK Track news for the week of 29 Mar 10...

Greetings Track Families,

Thanks to all of the families who pitched in to make our meet on Saturday run so efficiently. Results are now posted and will turn up on athletic.net soon.

Missing Radio!
Did anyone accidentally take home one of our walkie-talkies attached to your belt after our meet? I have hunted everywhere but can't find one. Please let me know right away if you have it.

Speaking of lost items, the Lost & Found page on the web site is amassing quite a collection of clothing. Is anything yours?

Spring Break
This week we will begin our Easter break. There will be no practice Thursday, no meet next Saturday (April 3), and no practice the Tuesday after Easter (April 6). There will not even be a weekly newsletter next Sunday evening with which to curl up. (Parents are encouraged to send their kids out running every time they say, "I'm bored" over Spring Break.)

The weather for Tuesday may not cooperate, so remember to check the Twitter box on the home page of the web site after 4pm Tuesday in case rains forces a cancellation.

More YVHS Athletes for Hire
Our next meet, on Saturday April 10, will be at Ygnacio Valley High School in Concord. If you are scheduled to work that day, you can again hire an Ygnacio Valley HS athlete to work in your place. Please let me or Katy, our tireless volunteer coordinator, know if you would like to do so and we'll set it up..

Relay Meet
Our next meet will be the annual Mary Chatterton Memorial Relay Meet, named in honor of the late coordinator of the St. Agnes track team. The meet will consist of just three relay races but will involve athletes from seven other parishes and will take about as long as a regular meet.

Since it comes at the end of Spring Break for many schools, we understand that lots of families are away for the week which is completely fine so long as you tell your athlete's coach. (See the Staff page on the web site for contact info for one coach from each primary group.)

The races this year are the 4x100m relay, the medley relay (200/200/400/800m), and either the 4x200m relay (grades 2-4) or the 4x400m relay (grades 5-8).

Have a very happy Easter! See you on the track,

carl
--
Carl Godkin
CTK/SC/SS Track & Field Coordinator
280-9748
Visit http://www.ctktrack.org/

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

CTK Track news for the week of 22 Mar 10...

Greetings Track Families,

I thought our athletes and our parent volunteers did themselves proud yesterday at our Meet with
the combined St. Isidore and St. Joan of Arc teams. They are used to hosting meets since they
also have a very big team and their coordinator was very complimentary of our efforts. Thanks
very much to all of the parents who worked so hard.

Sprints on Both Sides of the Track
As you may have noticed, we finished half an hour earlier despite having run two sets of relays
at the meet's end yesterday. Yes, we started 10 minutes earlier than last week, but the big
difference was, I think, running the short sprints on both sides of the track simultaneously.
I have to admit I was a skeptical of this practice, but now I'm a believer. And from the rave
reviews I heard from many parents, a lot of you are too. If we can save all the meet attendees
an hour each Saturday, I think we all win.

We are going to try to do it again next weekend at DVC since we have plenty of volunteers
signed up if we can come up with the extra equipment necessary to do so in time. (I am
working on it, rest assured.) The good news is that even if you are an unassigned volunteer at
this point for next week's meet, we'll find you something to do if only for the 50m and 100m
races.

Practices
We'll practice twice as usual this week, on Tuesday and Thursday from 5-6:30pm at College
Park.

Next Meet
Next week we'll host St. Bonaventure at DVC and we'll start at 8:30am. (We intended to do
so yesterday but unfortunately a lot of the SI/SJA families did not get the word. We compromised
and started about 8:50am.)

Results
Results from yesterday's meet are already posted on the Schedule page of the web site
They will be uploaded to athletic.net when I get a chance. I am hopeful we'll start handing
out "Personal Best" ribbons this week to athletes who improve in an event over the course
of this season. And of course we'll have StarBurst awards on Tuesday and regular ribbons
on Thursday as usual.

Lost & Found
The Lost & Found page has been updated with the haul from yesterday's meet. Please
check to see if you recognize anything. I can bring lost treasures to practice if you send
me an email.

See you on (both sides of) the track,
- Hide quoted text -

carl

--
Carl Godkin
CTK/SC/SS Track & Field Coordinator
280-9748
Visit http://www.ctktrack.org/

Sunday, March 14, 2010

MEET UPDATE: We're at DVC this week

Hi everyone,

Sorry to fill your mail boxes this week, but we'll be at Diablo Valley College tomorrow instead
of Ygnacio Valley High School.

The meet still starts at 9am. Please arrive at 8:30am if you are a first-shift volunteer, or 8am if
you are on the Setup Crew. Runners who plan to run the 1600m or 4x100m should arrive by 8:30am
as well.

The meet will finish by 1:30pm (earlier if we can manage it!) due to another group using DVC at 2pm.

We'll still have Ygnacio Valley HS student workers as planned.

Thanks for your patience with all the changes this week. See you on the track,

carl

--
Carl Godkin
CTK/SC/SS Track & Field Coordinator
280-9748
Visit http://www.ctktrack.org/

IMPORTANT -- Saturday's Meet Moved!

Greetings Track Families,

Due to a conflict with a soccer tournament, the meet scheduled for Ygnacio Valley HS will move
to a different venue. (This is obviously not my idea; it looks to me like a double-booking problem
from the school district.)

Stay tuned for an update later on today. I am sending this email early since I know many of you
get your track emails at work and I wanted to catch as many people as possible.

If you have arranged for an Ygnacio Valley HS track athlete to take your work assignment,
that arrangement is still on -- don't worry.

I will send another email when I have details or you can check the web site or follow "ctktrack"
on Twitter for news on this.

I'm really sorry about this! This season's insurance, lacrosse and soccer surprises are not
typical.

carl

--
Carl Godkin
CTK/SC/SS Track & Field Coordinator
280-9748
Visit http://www.ctktrack.org/

CTK Track news for the week of 8 Mar 10...

Greeting Track Parents,

We had beautiful weather for the 2010 Mini-Meet and I thought the meet ran very well. I hope your kids enjoyed themselves and are eager to compete again next week.

The Mini-Meet results will be posted this week. (Actually, results are starting to appear now on athletic.net) We don't award ribbons for the Mini-Meet this year, but we'll be awarding ribbons after all of the rest of our meets. We'll also be awarding personal best ribbons to recognize improved performances throughout the season. And for the old-timers, Starburst awards start Tuesday!

Two Practices This Week
This week practice will go from 5-6:15pm at College Park HS as usual. Next week we'll extend a little further -- to 6:30pm -- which is as late as we'll go for the balance of the season. (We're springing forward next weekend.)

Practices this week are
  • Tuesday, 3/10 from 5-6:15pm at College Park HS
  • Thursday, 3/12 from 5-6:15pm at College Park HS
First "Real" Meet Next Weekend
Next Saturday, March 13, is our first regular season meet and it will be very similar to the Mini-Meet except that we'll have more company. We'll be hosting the St. Perpetua, St. Monica, St. John Vianney, and St. Francis teams. The meet will be held at Ygnacio Valley High School in Concord.

The first gun is at 9am, but
  • All athletes and first shift volunteers should strive to be there by 8:30am
  • The setup crew should be there at 8am
  • Please tell your athlete's primary coach if your athlete will be absent or late to help in relay team planning
  • If you cannot make your work assignment for this (or any other meet), please find a replacement or contact our volunteer coordinator as a last resort.
Contact info for the primary coaches and volunteer coordinator is on the Staff page of the web site.

But If You Don't Want to Work...
Ygnacio Valley High School's track coach, George Francis, is a former CYO coach and has an offer for you: Sponsor a YV track athlete who will work your shift(s) this weekend.

Here's how it works. The YVHS track team is doing a fundraiser at all CYO meets held at their track this season. (We'll have at least two.) For a $40 donation, a YV athlete will work two shifts for you next Saturday. Or, for a $20 donation, a YV athlete will work one shift next Saturday. If you are interested, please let me know ASAP so I can contact George and tell him how many of his athletes we'll need.

(By the way, please don't do the math here with respect to your volunteer deposit. This is a fundraiser and donation!)

Event Variety & Late Relays
Please support the coaches as we encourage your kids to try different events at the first few meets. Each athlete will have his or her favorite events but we want them to try longer or shorter distances once or twice. If your child just does the 50m, 100m, and softball throw every week, they are missing out on the full track and field experience!

We normally run two relay races (Sprint Medley and 4x400m) at the end of our meets. If you are working the second shift anyway, please encourage your kids to run these events. We didn't run them at the Mini-Meet, but will do so the rest of the season. These relays are lots of fun since we seem to be left with the more dedicated kids from all of the teams present. And since many of the kids have left, ribbons are often easier to come by!

See you on the track,

carl