News for the Week of April 9th

Practice Meet #4 at College Park
...was a challenge and a success! Despite intermittent rain and rookies in some volunteer positions, we persevered and got through it. Although I've coached for quite a while, that was my first attempt at helping to run a meet and let me assure you, it is not as easy as it looks. Thanks to all the volunteers and especially Meet Director Mike Moore.

Easter Break
Normal practice tomorrow, Monday. There is no practice Thursday and no meet this weekend. Enjoy the holiday!

Marty Mart Scholarship
The Oakland Diocese awards a $500 scholarship to one 8th grade athlete each year. The application form and further information is posted here.

Looking ahead, the Relay meet is Saturday 4/22 at DVC. That meet is just what it sounds like--all relays. It's a lot of fun for the kids. We mix and match across gender, age group, and parishes to form teams as necessary (or as desired). The week after that is the Qualifying meet at YVHS. That is open to all athletes. At that meet and the Sectional meet, an athlete has to place in the top 3 (usually) to advance. All athletes are encouraged to continue coming to practice even if they have not advanced. The last meet is the Diocese meet on May 13th.

See you at the track.

News for the Week of April 2nd

Meet #4 April 8th at College Park
Our team is hosting this meet. Mike Moore is our Meet Director. We still need to fill some key volunteer positions to make this meet run smoothly: Head Timer, Finish Line Coordinator, Away side Head Timer, and Away Side Finish Line Coordinator. If you have any experience at the finish line or as a timer, please consider signing up for one of these positions!

Meet #4 is the last "regular season" meet. Remember that athletes must compete in two out of the four regular season meets to be eligible to advance past the Qualifying Meet. Everyone is allowed to compete in the Qualifying Meet, but to advance to the Sectional Meet, you must place in the top 3 of your age group at the Qualifying Meet and must have competed in at least 2 regular season meets. (For the 800m, 1600m, and field events, usually the top 4 advance.)

Seven-Up Club
Remember also that we award a handsome patch to every athlete who has competed in at least 7 different individual events over the course of the 4 practice meets and the Qualifying meet. This is to encourage kids to try new events, even ones they might not excel at.

Important: Relay Meet Location Changed
I have just learned that the Relay Meet on April 22nd has been moved to DVC instead of Freedom High in Brentwood. That's much more convenient for us as long as everyone gets the word!

Easter Break
There is no meet the weekend of April 15th and there is no practice on Thursday April 13th. Enjoy the holiday!

News for the week of March 21st

That's 2 practice meets down and only 2 to go! Be aware that to advance beyond the Qualifying meet, an athlete must have competed in at least 2 of the 4 practice meets. The Warpath meet and the Relay meet do not count.

Practice this week on Tuesday only (5:00-6:30 at PHMS). Enjoy the long Easter weekend. (And make your athletes do a little running!)

Our next meet is the Mary Chatterton Relays at YVHS on 4/2. You can hire a YVHS student to take your place volunteering at the meet for $50. If you'd like to take that option:

1. First sign up for a job on Sign-up Genius, then
2. Email Gina (volunteers@ctktrack.org) and me (info@ctktrack.org) of your desire to hire, and
3. Give me a check for $50 made out to "Ygnacio Valley High School Athletic Boosters" no later than practice on the Thursday before the meet.

You must get the check to me by Thursday at the latest: we have to get our numbers to YVH so they can find a helper to give up their Saturday for you. Emailing Friday night is too late.

Results and awards

The results from meet #1 are up at Athletic.net. I should be faster for meets 2-4 now that I've done it once. Ribbons from that meet will be handed out tomorrow at practice (and subsequent practices). Personal best ribbons will be a little delayed, but they're coming!

Please keep in mind that all the marks are hand-timed and hand-measured by you, our fabulous volunteers. The quality of the results lies literally in your hands. No pressure!

There are some rough spots as we all learn the mechanics of timely button-pushing, tape-reading, and popsicle-stick-dispensing. The key goal is fun for the athletes, not a drawer full of ribbons. Keep perspective, and enjoy the meets.

See you on the track!

Remember: no practice Thursday April 2

Everyone remember that there is no practice Thursday, April 2 for the Easter weekend.

Many families will be gone over spring break next week: you do not need to notify me or the coaches. We'll see you when you get back.

If you're around, though, we will be having practices. Since College Park is on break, we'll give the dust bowl a pass and meet at the CP track on both days, for next week only.

• No practice Thursday April 2
• No meet over Easter weekend
• Practice on Tuesday April 7, at College Park
• Practice on Thursday April 9 also at College Park
• Relay meet Saturday April 11 at DVC

Practice groups are historically pretty small this week: it's likely we'll do things a little differently. Meet in the usual place and listen for announcements.

There's probably going to be another sport practicing on the field next week, so the facility and main lot should be open. If the large lot is closed, you can park in the loop in front of the school for drop-off/pick-up. Drive carefully if you're using that lot.

If we see you next week, then we'll see you next week, otherwise have a good Easter vacation.

Track news for the week of March 29

Meet #3 recap

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I hope everyone enjoyed our meet at YVH, and the chance to run against some different teams. Another nice day, and we were done quickly.

There are only two events left before the start of championships. Athletes need to have participated in at least two of the practice meets to be eligible for Qualifying on April 25th. If you've only made it to one of the CYO meets so far, please be present on April 18th for the final practice meet.

Lost and Found

It runneth over! The full list is online:

http://ctktrack.org/lost.html

I picked up about five or six more things yesterday that I need to document, too. Please email me to claim something, and I'll bring it to practice.

Meet #1 and #2 results online

Every athlete should have a page on Athletic.net now. Find and click their name on the team's "Season Records" page:

http://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/AthleteRecords.aspx?SchoolID=28336

If you notice a missing result, please let me know and I'll try to locate it in the league's master list:

http://ctktrack.org/dvcl/results.shtml

Athletes get mismatched in the results if their sticker number is hard to read. If you're working an event, please make sure to print neatly on the sheets.

Some of our athletes from the first meet magically floated into other parishes because of sticker number typos. I can update them and deal with any missed ribbons if you alert me to the problem. I found a few from meet #1 and am getting the corrections ready to print.

Practice this week: Tuesday March 31 only

We'll practice at Pleasant Hill Middle school again this Tuesday, 5:00-6:30pm.

On Thursday, however, we get the day off. Easter break starts Thursday, April 2, and all CYO activities halt for the weekend.

No matter how your family celebrates spring, please enjoy your long weekend break from track, and save the black jellybeans for me.

Meets after Easter

Our post-Easter schedule is now up on the team site:

http://ctktrack.org/schedule.html

Short version: we're at DVC on Saturdays. That's good news. DVC is a beautiful facility, and right across the street from College Park. The relay meet, practice meet #4, and our Qualifying meet will be held there on Saturdays starting April 11.

Because it's DVC, we can also set up a bit sooner and run while it's a bit cooler outside. I've noted the times on the team schedule for your planning.

However, since we are at DVC, we do not have Ygnacio Valley students available for hire at our remaining meets. They will certainly be helping out at the meets held at YVH.

Thanks for your patience this season waiting for the schedules to come out. I know it's disruptive.

Volunteer shifts moving to Signup Genius

Now that we have the final season schedule, we're putting all future meets into Signup Genius to manage our super-complex shift signups.

http://signupgenius.com

The relay meet will be our first event to go online, with the remainder to follow just as soon as Gina and I can get them in place. Watch for email when we have the schedule set up and ready for registration.

Reminder to meet your minimum volunteer shifts

Your family has just three meets left to complete your volunteer requirements. Families that go above-and-beyond are automatically entered into our end-of-season raffle at the picnic for Fabulous Prizes. Families that fall short lose their volunteer deposit and their athlete's eligibility to go past the Qualifying meet. I'd rather be the good guy giving raffle prizes than the bad guy cashing checks.

Families of athletes who make it past the Qualifying meet should anticipate helping at the Saturday meets on May 2 and May 9. It's the price of success!

Save the date: Team Picnic May 31

One final thing to note: our end-of-season team picnic awards get-together is scheduled for Sunday May 31 at Pleasant Hill Park. I was able to secure our usual shady shelter (but alas, not for Saturday.)

http://ctktrack.org/picnic_site.png

This is a super-casual potluck affair. We all eat too much, recognize outstanding athletes, say farewell to the eighth graders, reward the super-helpful families, and dig through the final Lost and Found pile in all its glory.

Picnic will run about 11:30-3:30ish, with awards starting when everyone is nice and sleepy from lunch. Don't miss it!

Track news for the week of April 20

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone is enjoying the break from track. Now our season starts drawing to a close.

Practice this week, Tuesday and Thursday

MDUSD is on break this week, which means that we should have the College Park track and field largely to ourselves. The main parking lot will be gated shut, so please use the loop in front of the high school for dropoff and pickup, or to park if you're staying.  

Drive slowly as athletes and adults adjust to the temporary change.

• Tuesday meet in the bleachers at the track
• Thursday meet in the bleachers at the track

Qualifying meet Saturday, April 26 at Ygnacio Valley High

The start of the championships begins this Saturday. Due to an afternoon soccer game scheduled at YVH, we are going to have to run a super-efficient meet. I'll need everyone's cooperation to get us done on time.

Please arrive at YVH no later than 8:30 on the 26th. We are trying for a 9:15am start time.

Although we cannot take the track before 9:00am, we can still use the blacktop, the quad area by the gym, and the grassy field for warmups. Have your athletes check in with the coaches when you arrive so they can get their stickers and start stretching.

We're going to try to get all first-shift volunteers to sign in outside the track, while we are setting up. I'm going to try to get all the mile runners from all parishes registered in advance, too.

Once the gates open, we will have very little time to get going. All volunteers need to get into position quickly, and everyone else must head into the stands. There's no camping out on the field at this meet.

If you're able to pitch in and work, especially in a job you're experienced with, please let us know. Even registering in advance as a "fill in" for a specific position will help, and veteran clerks, timers, and judges will keep us on track.

The volunteer list will come out as soon as possible. Watch for a notice on Twitter and the web site.

All official diocese events need to get done in the time allotted. This may force us to run the final relays out of order, to ensure the fastest 4x400 teams will compete. Please listen for the calls. As time allows, we'll run the Medley and 4x400s in the elementary grades.

Qualifying results: be careful!

As you are working this weekend, take extra care to print neatly, to record accurately, and to ask questions if you don't understand how to do something. All stations have a two-way radio: don't be afraid to use it! I love to come visit.

A small snag in record-keeping this weekend may cause an athlete to be penalized because we can't read a distance, or a time was copied down incorrectly. All the coordinators will gather together for a seeding meeting to sort out who will be in the Sectional championships next week. Confusing or illegible results cause untold drama.

Results will be posted after the seeding meeting, and will take a few days for final corrections and cancellations to trickle in. We'll be working hard behind the scenes to get our final list of qualifiers settled.

Missing a meet?

Starting with Qualifying, missing a meet means your Saturdays just freed up for the rest of season. (I'll let you decide if this is a good or bad thing.) We'll hope to see your athlete at practice, but missing the Qualifying for any reason ends their participation in the championship meets.

If your athlete runs on a winning relay team but will miss a later meet, let their coaches know at once so they can find an alternate for the team. Coach contact details are on the team web site:

http://ctktrack.org/coaches.shtml

Meets after qualifying

The Sectional championship meet is May 2nd and 3rd, and the Oakland Diocese championship meet is May 9th and 10th. Athletes need to place highly in their events to compete in these meets.

Distance events are run on Friday night for both of these meets. If you have a distance runner making championship plans, make sure you set aside Friday evenings.

Team picnic: something's missing...

We have the site, we have the date, we have lots of lost and found to give back, but what we're missing is YOU. Please plan to bring your family to the end-of-season potluck picnic and awards extravaganza.

• What: CTK/SC/SS track team picnic
• Where: Pleasant Hill Park, site #3 (next to the teen center): see map
• When: Saturday May 31, 11:30-3:30ish

Bring something to grill for your family and a dish to share with everyone. The team provides ice-cold drinks and hot charcoal grills for cooking.

Coaches will have a chance to offer some parting words of advise to their groups and pass out any leftover ribbons from the season. We'll gather for special team awards and recognition, including the Super-Helpful Volunteer Families Prize Drawing. Lost and found will make an appearance in its entirety before I make our annual donation to Goodwill.

Lots of food, lots of fun -- please come share it with us.

Track news for the week of April 13

Meet #4: the end of the practice meets

Saturday was the last of our "practice" meets this season. It was a big meet, with the usual assortment of big-meet issues, but we had glorious weather and a lot of happy kids.

Now we're coming up on the close of the season, but first...

Easter break

All CYO activities stop this coming weekend starting on Holy Thursday and continuing through Easter Sunday. No matter how you celebrate spring, please enjoy yourselves, and enjoy having your Saturday morning back. I'm planning some extreme sleeping-in, followed by too many jellybeans.

Practice this week: Tuesday only

We have just one practice this week, on Tuesday:

• Tuesday, April 15: meet on the blacktop at 5pm: watch out for foul balls!
• Thursday, April 17: no practice
• Saturday, April 19: no meet

Practice resumes at the track on Tuesday the 22nd. If you're in town, come join us. College Park will be on break, so you will need to use the loop in front of the school for dropoff/pickup.

Qualifying Meet, April 26 at Ygnacio Valley High

After Easter, we'll start preparing for the qualifying meet on the 26th. There are a number of differences at this meet from the ones we've held so far. In fact, there's so many of them that I've written them up online. Lucky you!

http://ctktrack.blogspot.com/2014/04/qualifying-meet-rules.html

Please read through them when you have some time to spare, especially concerning how we place the top athletes. I know it's a lot to read, and I'm happy to answer questions.

Volunteer Schedule for Qualifying

We'll be able to get the volunteer schedule out as soon as we know where all the parish teams will be running that weekend.

An afternoon soccer game is scheduled at YVH on the 26th, so we may need to take some shortcuts to make sure the meet completes on time. This will be a challenge, but I think we're up to it.

Life After Qualifying

Sectionals and Diocese

Athletes that place will move on to the Sectional meet, starting with the 1600m event on Friday night, May 2 at DVC. The rest of the events will be on Saturday at Granada High in Livermore.

Athletes that place at Sectionals go on to compete at the Diocese championships the weekend after. It's another Friday/Saturday meet, and details for both weekends are on the schedule page:

http://ctktrack.org/schedule.shtml

The Diocese meet is usually live-streamed on the Internet, so it's a great way for out-of-town relations to see the meet.

Last practice May 8

No matter how your athletes perform at the next meets, Tuesday/Thursday practice will continue at College Park until the final meet. Practice is always open to everyone on the team, regardless of qualifying status.

Team picnic May 31

Our final event of the season is the team potluck picnic. It's Saturday, May 31 at Pleasant Hill Park, next to the new teen center. Fun and food for all, lost-and-found reunions, and some special end-of-season awards from the coaches, too. Please plan to attend!

CYO cross country

CYO has a cross-country program, starting in August and running through early fall. Coach Matt Milton heads this program up. If you're looking for a break from AYSO soccer, why not check out cross country? Practices and meets are held in area parks, and it's a very low-key program. It's also one of CYO's fastest-growing sports.

Call for coaches

A number of our senior coaches are making a well-earned exit from CYO as their own children age out of the program and head on to high school. I know I've approached a few of you this season about joining up next year in a coaching role. If you ran track Back In the Day or are a runner now, the team would be grateful for your time, your expertise, and your commanding Mom and Dad Voices. It's a great way to be involved with your kids, and to share something that you love to do with them. 

Athlete trivia quiz time: Two of our coaches ran for an area CYO team. Can you name the coaches and the team they ran for?

Keep perspective!

Now and in the weeks to come, please remember my CYO mantra: keep perspective.

The championship meets can be exiting or even stressful, but in the end, we're trying to provide a fun, fair chance for athletes to show off their skills. They've had a nice long practice season in all sorts of weather, and are prepared.

You can be prepared, too. Applaud for everyone. Console the athletes that fell short of their goals. Be kind to families from our team and from other parishes. Be especially kind and cooperative with the coaches, coordinators, and other volunteers. We're all working for the same goal.

Bring snacks to enjoy in the stands, find shade, be comfortable, and enjoy your day out.

Every child you see is the most important person on the track to someone in the stadium. Athletes will be nervous, boisterous, scared, rowdy, and excited... probably all at once. Keep perspective! They're just kids. Help them have fun by having fun ourselves.