Track News for the week of February 10

Hello again everyone, here's your team news of the week.

• Family meeting Feb 11, 6:45pm, CTK parish hall

If you're new to track, you're especially encouraged to come to the family meeting at Christ the King on Monday evening. We'll come to order around 6:45 and try to be out in an hour. It's optional, but a great chance to corner me or the coaches and ask questions.

If you have signup paperwork, payments for uniforms, or need to round out your volunteer shifts, you may bring that with you and drop it off.

We're also taking late signups, if you have friends or relations with eligible athletes -- grades 2-8, living in our team areas or attending school/RE in our parishes.

• College Park

College Park has a new head track coach -- a former CYO coordinator and our current data-entry wizard for all our meet results, Gil Llacuna, Jr.. You'll notice  high school athletes practicing on the track soon: please be courteous and stay off the track and wait in the middle of the stands, away from the high schoolers' gear.

One of Gil's first tasks is cleaning up the shot put ring. If we have any team families with strong backs who can donate time to pulling weeds and shoveling new dirt into the ring, please get in touch. I'll count it as bonus volunteer time for the team, and it will help forge good CP/CYO relations.

Gil's also looking to round out his coaching staff, if you happen to know of anyone who would like a paid position working with high school athletes. Send me an email and I'll put you in touch with Gil.

• Practices

We'll continue to chase the sun (and duck the rain) for practice. Check Twitter or the web site for weather-related cancellations, and to get the end time for the day's practice.

Remember that athletes are supposed to be under adult supervision all the way down to the track -- sometimes they forget to stay on the paved path and go wandering over the hillsides like the Billy Goats Gruff. Please take a few minutes to herd your goats down from the parking lot to practice.

Also, always go around the outside of the track to get to/from practice. I know the large gate is tempting to cut through -- or hop over -- but don't do it. All sorts of other teams are using the facility, and we need to be courteous and safe. Absolutely no CYO athlete should be on the track or field when the high school is practicing, and should never try to jump the hurdles.

At the end of practice, adults need to come down to the track to pick up your darlings. We can't let them wander off unsupervised. The stands and the area outside the track fence are plenty roomy for everyone, and you might just spot a dropped jacket or water bottle...

• Lost and Found

As soon as practice starts, things get left behind. Please make sure your athletes have their names on their water bottles and every piece of clothing that comes with them to the track. We already have our first item in the team lost and found, and I know it won't be the last:

http://ctktrack.org/lost.shtml

I try to bring Lost & Found with me to practices until the pile gets out of hand, then the unclaimed items live on my porch until the picnic, where they either get reunited with their owners, find new homes, or become part of our annual team donation to Goodwill.