Hello again everyone,
We kicked off our season in style with our first practice on Thursday. If you signed up late, please make sure to get in touch with me about signing up for volunteer shifts. We'll be publishing the signup schedules soon. We need about 100 volunteers to run each track meet, and I can honestly say that working a shift or two will make your day go faster. It's a lot of fun, too.
Experienced families: there are a lot of gaps in our signups around the key jobs like head clerk, head high jump, head shot put, starter, and finish line coordinator. You know how important these jobs are, and if we don't get volunteers, I have authorized our volunteer coordinator to give you a battle promotion and move you upwards.
Please review the "meet jobs" page on the web site to reacquaint yourself with the fundamentals:
http://ctktrack.org/meet_jobs.shtml
Remember that in track, "experienced" means "have been to a couple of meets." You can do this!
Practices
Practice always starts at 5:00pm at College Park High School track. Initially, we end at 5:45pm because of darkness, but we extend that over the season as the days get longer and the athletes get stronger. Always check the schedule page on the team web site to see the end times for practice.
http://ctktrack.org/schedule.shtml
If you happen to show up early, feel free to come down and wait in the stands. As you may have noticed on Thursday, we are sharing the field with other groups: the high school soccer teams are finishing their season now, and the high school track team will be starting up soon. Make sure you're going around the outside of the fence to get to practice: it's safer for everyone.
You may have also noticed that it gets cold down at the track. Wear layers and long pants! You can always peel off a pair of sweats if you're wearing shorts underneath, but if you're only wearing shorts, you'll freeze. Hydrate before and after practice, and lightly during practice.
Weather
The forecast says we might get rain on Tuesday: if it's coming down, I will cancel practice by posting a note to the team Twitter feed by 4:00pm. Check @ctktrack from your nearest electronic gadget. Updates magically appear on the front page of the team web site as well.
Shoes
Remember to wear good running shoes to practice -- not spikes, cross-trainers, basketball or skate shoes. This is the most expensive piece of equipment you need, but they are very important. See the last newsletter for discounts from local shoe stores. You don't need spikes at practice; leave them at home.
Pick-Ups
We love your kids, and we're sure that you love them, too. Please make sure to come to pick-ups on time to retrieve your loved ones, otherwise another coach and I have to stay until the bitter end. Expect to find your kids in the large parking lot, typically at the gate at the top of the stairs leading down to the baseball field.
Parent Meeting
All parents -- especially new ones -- are encouraged to attend, Monday, February 6 starting at 6:45pm in the Christ the King Parish Hall (next to the main parking lot.) I'll have all the signup paraphernalia with me if you need to complete anything or if you have an athlete you want to add to the program. We'll be done by 8:00pm. Bring your trickiest questions.
Shirts and Sweatshirts
I'm going to put together an order for shirts and sweats after I handle any paperwork from the parent meeting. We'll send the order off to the printer, and then to our superb shirt-disbursement-persons. Expect to see them at practices by early March. Shirts are only required to be worn at meets. If you are having second thoughts about sizes, let me know right away. We have a couple extra shirts from CTK and Saint Catherine around, but the St. Stephen order is usually exact without any spares.
Looking at my extra shirt collection, the youth sizes are:
YS: 6-8
YM: 10-12
YL: 14-16
Adds/Drops
I took a handful of late signups at the track on Thursday, and we'll do it again at the parent meeting. I'll take signups through February 29. You can add siblings as long as they are within the age range (grade 2-8) without adding additional volunteer time.
If your child decides that track simply isn't for them after a few practices, you may drop from the team. Please make sure you contact me if you're planning on dropping so I can process your refund. Don't just vanish! I'll do full refunds through February. If you drop before we pass out the shirts/sweats, you'll get a full refund and I'll shred your deposit check. If you drop after the shirts are handed out, I'll deduct their costs from your total and shred your deposit.
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