Meet #1, Saturday March 16

Just a quick email to remind everyone that our first league meet is this Saturday, March 16 at Ygnacio Valley High in Concord.

- Setup shift and volunteer sign-in should be at YVH and ready to work at 8:30

- Athletes and first-shift volunteers may come onto the field at 9:00

This week we are running with the teams from St. Francis, St. John Vianney, and St. Mary.

• When you arrive

On arrival, athletes should find their coach and check in. First-shift volunteers should come to the tents near the finish line and check in for their jobs and get their mandatory sticker that allows them on the field.

Meet jobs for this week are on the website on the "Volunteers" page and also linked from the "Schedule" page:

http://ctktrack.org/2013_meet1.pdf

If you've hired a YVH student to cover your shift, then enjoy the meet from the comfort of the stands. We have more meets at YVH scheduled this season, so you'll have other chances to enlist child labor in your name.

• Events

 It's the full slate this week. In order, the running events are:

1600m (a.k.a. "the mile")
4x100m relay
400m
50m (grades 2-5 only)
100m
800m
200m
Sprint Medley relay (100m, 100m, 200m, 400m)
4x400m relay

Field events are:

Softball throw
Long Jump
Shot put (grades 5-8 only)
High jump (grades 5-8 only)

Here's a printable cheat sheet with the same information:

http://ctktrack.org/2012_event_card.pdf

All running events will check in at the end zone behind the first aid tent this year, to keep athletes from wandering over the sidelines. Athletes check-in by the giant signs corresponding to their grade on the field: there's someone there with a clipboard ready to help.

With the exception of the 1600m, running events are called the same way: girls run first lowest grade to highest grade, then boys follow from the lowest grade to the highest. Listen to the announcements! They will get you through.

This week, the boys will run their 50m and 100m along the away side of the track at the same time that the girls run their races down the home side. (At the next meet we'll reverse that and let the boys run for the big audience.) Again, listen for the announcements.

Field events check in at the event itself. Take a few moments to orient yourself when you arrive, and be sure to ask experienced families where everything is. Shot put at YVH is tucked off by a building on the away-side of the track -- it's out there, honest.

• Survival

Whether you are working or watching or running, everyone should bring water, sun protection, dress in layers, and (for the stands) bring something comfy to sit on. Healthy, light snacks are a good idea for athletes -- orange wedges, grapes, carrot sticks, pretzels or popcorn. Save the jumbo hot dogs and pizza for after the meet. Running hard on a full stomach never ends well.

Eat all food and drinks in the stands -- water only on the track and turf. And no alcohol or smoking at all is permitted on the school grounds.

• Results, ribbons, and philosophy

This is the first meet when athletes will have a chance to earn ribbons for placing in the top three positions in their heat or within their grade at their field event. All the result sheets will be sent off for data entry after the meet, and I'll get results back in a few days, and will post them on our team page on Athletic.net after that.

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

Remember that our goal with any athlete is improvement during their CYO career. To that end, our team recognizes when athletes set a personal best time or distance in an event with a special gold ribbon handed out at practice. I'm always happy to see our athletes place in their events, but I'm happier still to see them grow week to week and season to season.

Returning athletes on our team have the advantage here as they'll be able to earn personal best ribbons based on their results from prior seasons. New athletes will have their chance after they participate in a second meet. We don't hand out personal bests for relays -- only for individual events. I have a huge box full of these at my house, and nothing would make me happier than to use them all up.

=====

That's it. First-timers, don't panic! It all comes together in the end. 

See you on Saturday,
// Mike