Paperwork, parishes and shoes

Hello families --

A couple of quick items for you today:

Paperwork

* I have keyed in all the athlete and family information into our team database, and expect to go through all the supporting papers today (birth certificates, health forms.) I'll send an email to those missing one or another document -- you can get these to me at practice.

Parishes

* If you are new to our team, the "parish" assignment is based on three factors:

1. If the athlete attends one of the parishes' schools, or
2. If the athlete attends religious education at one of the parishes, or
3. The home address listed on the form

Since I don't have an RE roster, I made some determinations based on the address on the forms. I will publish a list later today. Please let me know if there are corrections to be made, so I can give the league an accurate count.

Parish affiliation matters only during the final meets of the season, when we are forced to keep our relay teams "parish pure." During the regular season and all practices, we are treated as one big team who happens to wear three different shirts.

I know there are some special circumstances and I spoke to those families at signups. If you have concerns after the list is published, let me know.

Shoes

Your biggest expense on the team -- other than your time! -- is a good pair of running shoes for your athlete. We are usually able to work a deal with local stores to get a discount. Sports Basement in Walnut Creek was quick this year, and gave us an "e-coupon" that you may print or bring in on your phone to show the cashier. The coupon is on our web site:

http://ctktrack.org/sb_2013.png

This gives you 10% off your whole purchase, not just shoes. I'm going to approach Fleet Feet in Pleasant Hill and Road Runner in Concord to see if they will do something similar: they have in the past. (Those are more full-service running stores.)

You do not need to purchase "track shoes" which have the small metal spikes on the bottom. Although they are permitted at meets, we don't need them for practices. I'll talk more about these at the parent meeting on February 11.