Sunday, February 26, 2017

News for the Week of February 26th

Practices this week will be 5:00 pm to about 6:10 pm.

I have updated the meet schedule on the website to include locations and start times.

Volunteering
We got our meet assignments from the league and will be posting positions on Signup Genius soon. We still have 3 weeks until our first meet that needs parent staffing, so no need to panic. On the other hand, I'm sorry to say I underestimated the number of volunteer hours we would be assigned and we won't make it without boosting the family commitments a little. Therefore we are requesting that each family help out as follows: Assuming that working a full meet counts as 2 "shifts", we need a family with one athlete to work 5 shifts; a family with 2 athletes to work 6 shifts, and a family with 3 or more athletes to work  7 shifts. I apologize for the bait and switch, it was not intentional.

Meet Coordinator Needed
We have been assigned to host 2 of our 4 regular season meets, because we have one of the larger teams. I really need someone to take on this role so that I can concentrate on coaching. If you're willing to do both meets, that would be worth 7 shifts and satisfy your commitment for the year! I can of course get you the information and support you need to do the job. Please let me know if you'd be willing.

More about the upcoming Warpath Invitational meet in next week's post.

Sunday, February 19, 2017

News for the Week of Feb 19th

Hello families, it's time again for this week's news...

Practice this week, 5:00-6:00pm

Safety at College Park

There are lots of other sports going on inside and outside of the track stadium. Remind your athletes to walk around the outside of the track fence to get to the stands. Don't cut across the field during games or other teams' practices. And look both ways before stepping onto the track--a good rule for volunteers and spectators as well as athletes.

During lacrosse practice, we get to add dodge ball to our list of skills. Please make sure your athletes keep their eyes open for the occasional missed pass.

Uniforms

...have been ordered. We'll let you know when they come in and are ready to be picked up.

Track not working out?

Hopefully things are starting to get a little smoother for your athletes. The first few practices can be chaotic until the groups settle in.

Sometimes track isn't a good fit, though, and that's OK. You may drop from the program with a full refund if you notify me via email by February 28. Your deposit check will be shredded, and we'll remove you from the volunteer sheets.

Starting March 1, the fees refund drops to 50%, with the deposit check shredded.

Dropping on or after our first (real) meet on March 18 means a forfeit of both your fees and deposit.

Uniform costs are refunded at 100% or 50% as above, provided you haven't picked them up yet. Once handed to you, the uniforms and sweatshirts are yours to keep.

Don't just vanish. Let me know if you need to withdraw an athlete from the team so we can update our records and handle any refunds you're entitled to.

Upcoming Event: "War Path" Invitational, March 11

Ygnacio Valley High School holds a special all-comers track meet each year to help raise funds for their track team and for new equipment. Provided we have good weather, we'll attend this meet as a team again this year. The team will pay the admission fee for our registered athletes and coaches.

I highly encourage everyone to come out if they can. It's a very low-key event, with no volunteer requirements. It gives everyone a chance to see how meets work. Think of it like a special Saturday practice.

We don't need our uniforms for this meet since it's not a CYO function. Regular running clothes are fine.

Volunteer News

We hope to have the volunteer schedule posted in the first week of March. We're still waiting for final meet information from the League. We'll let you know when you can start signing up. If you have questions in the meantime, you can email volunteers@ctktrack.org.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

News for the Week of Feb 12th

Practices continue Mondays and Thursdays, 5:00 until dusk (~5:50).
We will have practice on President's Day, but it's not a big deal if an athlete can't make it.

Fee checks will be deposited on 2/21, or shortly thereafter. (We had a few requests for forewarning.) This does not apply to volunteer checks, which are held until the end of the season.

Weather Watch

If the forecast calls for rain, I will post any cancellation of practice by 3:00pm on the team Twitter account (@ctktrack). Those tweets appear on the front page of our web site, too. If there is no tweet, practice is on!

Late Signups Still Accepted

We're still taking signups at practice and we're still collecting missing birth certificates, concussion forms, payments, and deposits. If you haven't received an email reminder, then you probably aren't missing anything.

See you on the track!