Awards and summertime

I promise this is your last update for a while...

I've notified all the families with leftover ribbons and awards in my possession: if you think you're missing something and I didn't send you a note, please let me know.

We do have one APB: someone offered to take Jakob Stanton's awards to him at the picnic... and I don't remember who that was. If it was you, please get in touch!

I hope everyone has a good summer. If you're in Pleasant Hill for the 4th of July, expect to see some familiar faces running the 5K (though not me: I'm a Professional Spectator.) Cross country signups should be in August, and we'll start gearing up for track around January 2014.

Thanks again for all the kind words, for the volunteer hours, and for helping keep CYO fun for all.

2013 Season is Complete!

That's it everyone -- our 2013 season is done. Thanks to all who braved the heat and juggled busy schedules to come out to the park on Saturday.

I still have a number of awards which I'd like to get out of my living room and into the hands of the athletes. There's a handful of medals, plus ribbons from the season, and probably some ribbons from the championship meets, too.

I'll be sorting everything out into bundles, and then will have them available on my front porch for pickup for the next few weeks. If you find yourself in the Pleasant Hill area, I live close to College Park high and Sunvalley mall, and can give you driving directions in an email.

A full list of the athlete awards is now on our web site:

http://ctktrack.org/awards.shtml

I'll send one last message around when the awards are ready for collection. If you're able to pick up for a teammate, I'm sure they'd be grateful.

Thank again for a great (and rain-free) season everyone. You'll hear from me again around late summer as cross-country season approaches, and I hope we'll see you again next January at signups.

Reminder: team picnic and awards Saturday June 1, Pleasant Hill Park @ 11:30

Hi all -- a last-minute reminder to come on out to Pleasant Hill park at Gregory & Cleaveland tomorrow for our end-of-season potluck picnic and awards.

This is very casual and fun for all. We'll reunite your athletes with leftover or unclaimed ribbons, marvel at the accumulated lost & found pile, and thank coaches and families for all their volunteer service, too.

If you're not able to make it, I'll post the full awards list on the team site afterward. If your athlete -- or you! -- won something, we'll arrange a pickup after that. If you are present and are able to pass an award on to an absent teammate, I'm happy to delegate the task.

Hope we'll see you tomorrow.

Track reminder: picnic this Saturday, June 1 at 11:30

Hello everyone, I hope you've been enjoying your down-time from track. I know I have!

Our final event of the season is the annual potluck picnic and awards ceremony this Saturday, June 1 at Pleasant Hill Park at the corner of Gregory Lane and Cleaveland Road.

We're at picnic area #3, next to the new teen center and right off the main parking lot.

http://ctktrack.org/picnic_site.png

We'll be setting up at about 11:00, and will try to have the grills hot and ready for cooking around 11:30-12:00. The team will provide cold drinks of the sodas-and-water variety. You should bring something for your family to eat, as well as a dish to share. Don't leave your utensils and bowls behind! I really don't want them.

At 1:00, athletes will break into groups with their coaches for parting words of wisdom and to collect any leftover ribbons that we have from the season. Around 1:30 we'll start presenting awards from the team.

We'll also have the prize drawing for the extra helpful families who exceeded the volunteer requirements. I have already emailed the families who forfeit their deposit this season, and have cashed their checks. If you did not hear from me, you may credit your deposit back into your account with my thanks.

Finally, the mighty Lost & Found collection will be out on the park lawn for your rummaging pleasure. Who knows? We might even have things you didn't know you were missing. Everything left unclaimed at the end of the picnic goes to Goodwill, another fine team tradition.

Thanks again for a great season, and I hope to see you on Saturday.

Diocese meet results are up

The results from the Diocese meet just came in, and I've got them linked from the front page of our team site:

http://ctktrack.org/index.shtml

I've found at least one typo so far, and it looks like one of the events is under review at the moment. I'll work on massaging these to get them posted on Athletic.net for your data-crunching pleasure.

Congratulations to all competitors! Be sure to come to the picnic so we can mildly embarrass you by applauding your efforts.

Track news for the week of May 12

• Diocese meet complete

Another successful CYO season is on the books. Congratulations to the athletes who made it all the way to competition on Friday or Saturday. Just getting that far is a big accomplishment. If you happened to place well in your event, so much the better. No matter what, I hope you'll remember the time spent with your friends more than your finish in an event.

I hear that the races on Friday went very well, and Saturday's events were exciting, despite the heat and being buzzed by the Goodyear blimp (no, really.) It's the best of the best at Diocese, and every mark is earned with a lot of effort. I'm looking forward to checking for personal bests.

I should have all the unclaimed awards from Saturday's field events, and we'll try to reunite them with the athletes at the picnic.

Results will come in whenever the results come in, and I'll post them on the web site as soon as they do. Keep your eye on the web site front page or on Twitter.

• Team picnic, Saturday June 1, 11:30 at Pleasant Hill Park

The really, truly final team activity this season is our annual potluck picnic and awards ceremony. We'd love to have your athletes and your whole family there, no matter how your season worked out. Bring something to share and something to grill for yourself. The team provides drinks and we will have the charcoal grills going.

We're back at Pleasant Hill park on Gregory Lane, picnic area #3, next to the new teen center:

http://ctktrack.org/picnic_site.png

Setup is around 11am if you want to help. Athletes will break into groups around 1:00pm and we'll start the awards around 1:30.

• Other end-of-season business

Volunteer deposits

Families who worked less than the minimum number of jobs this season should expect an email soon alerting you about your deposit check. We asked for five shifts plus the mini-meet at signups, though the actual required number worked out a bit lower. I never know the exact figure until the season is complete. Everyone else's checks will go into a large industrial shredder and turned into a fine, colorful confetti.

Coach gifts

A few people have asked about thank-you gifts for the coaches. You're welcome to contribute to the common fund if you like. The easiest thing to do is pay me at the picnic: checks should be made out to "CTK CYO Track" and I'll add it into the team account. This is not mandatory.

Photos

Thanks to the steady hand and fast reflexes of Paul Nuti, photos from this season are available on Shutterfly.com. All the email addresses that this newsletter goes to should have access to our team's albums:

http://ctktrackandfield.shutterfly.com/pictures

You might need to register fully on the site for access. It's free, and you're under no obligation to purchase anything. Due to the logistics of having a large team, we don't do any official photo day, so we don't make you buy a fridge magnet just to get a 5x7 for the family room.

If you have an email address you'd like us to add, let me know and we'll get it configured.

• Other upcoming events

CTK Parish Festival, May 17-19 (this coming weekend)

Fun, food, games, prizes, and the most holy of all sacraments: BINGO. Christ the King throws a big festival every year, with carnival games, carnival food, and a carnival atmosphere. All are welcome, regardless of affiliation. You'll see a lot of familiar faces there.

Parking is tight, so arrive early if you can, or find street parking that doesn't block a driveway.

Festival times are: Friday May 17, 6-10pm; Saturday May 18, 2-10pm; Sunday May 19, 10am-2pm

De La Salle summer track & field camp, June 10-13

Last time I looked, there were still a few openings for the day camp at De La Salle high school in Concord from June 10-13. It's available to next year's 4th-9th graders.

http://www.dlshs.org/athletics/summer/index.aspx

In years past, the kids have gotten to try some events that we don't have in CYO like pole vault and discus and (very low) hurdles. Cool!

Pleasant Hill Firecracker 5K Fun Run, July 4th

Have any plans for July 4th? Come on down to the 5K fun run held first thing in the morning. The course is a three lap walk/run around the downtown area. You'll see more than a few CYO athletes and coaches out that day.

http://www.phjuly4.com/5k-run/

Proceeds raised go to help local schools, and the parade starts right after the race concludes.

• CYO cross country

CYO has a cross-country program starting in August, and runs through early autumn. I'll mention this again at the picnic, and send email as the season approaches.

If your athletes enjoy distance running, and would running with a mixed group in a low-key setting, consider joining cross-country this fall. Practices are at a local park, and meets are on Friday evenings at parks around the East Bay.

• Next season

Track and field has lower visibility than other springtime sports, so good word-of-mouth can go a long way. Feel free to talk up the program to friends and classmates and direct them towards the web site or send me an email. I'll be in coordinator-withdrawal for a while and need to get my fix.

info@ctktrack.org

We'll get a preview of the 2014 schedule soon, but expect more of the same: signups in late January, practices start in February, meets start in March, with the Diocese meet around Mother's Day.

Team placement depends on parish school or RE program, or the athlete's home address.

I'm on the lookout for volunteers for next year, too, as we're losing many of our behind-the-scenes people as their kids go to high school. Returning families with complicated schedules get first priority for jobs like volunteer reminders, uniform organizing and distribution, ribbon assembly and sorting, and personal best ribbons.

Expect overlong emails as we get closer to signups for next season.

• Thank you!

I'll end on a note of gratitude:

Thank you to all the volunteers who gave their time to help the meets: we simply could not hold them without all 150+ jobs filled each weekend.

Thank you to all the behind-the-scenes volunteers who ensured we had uniforms and ribbons and who reminded everybody else where and when to show up.

Thank you to the coaches who put in so much work and time to guide each of the kids on our team to reach their own personal bests.

Thank you to the athletes, for trying hard, running fast, jumping far, and throwing well. You're the reason the coaches and I do all this, and we've had a lot of fun working with you this season. I hope you'll take away some good memories and will come back to us or join your high school track program next spring.

That's it, everyone -- see you at the picnic!

Diocese meet reminders

Just a few of quick reminders for the final meet this weekend:

• 800m and 1600m, Friday evening, May 10

Both distance events are Friday evening at James Logan High School in Union City. According to the meet schedule, the 1600m will run first at 6:30, followed by the 800m. The schedule is on page 2 of this document:

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

Fourth place is considered "alternate" at this meet, and there's never a guarantee that alternates will be placed in a race.

I won't be at these races, but a couple of our coaches should be present.

• All other events, Saturday, May 11

All other events are held on Saturday at Granada High in Livermore, just like Sectionals were last week.

Athletes do not need stickers at this meet. Please find me or a coach when you arrive so we know you're present. Once the events begin, I'll be camped out next to the away-side stands in a blue tent, near the light pole. Coaches will likely be peppered among the stands, near our team banner.

Volunteers: I'll be at the snack shack around 8:00am and 11:30am to sign you in if you're working for the team. If your athlete is flying solo, let us know so we can help them listen for their event and get them to the right place.

The order of events is different yet again -- pay attention to the grade order:

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

Like Sectionals, parents may not go into "working" areas of the meet unless they are signed-in volunteers. In the interest of fairness, coaches and coordinators aren't allowed to work at all.

You may escort your athlete over to the clerk area to sign in, but you may not pass through the gate. Don't risk a disqualification, please.

• Parade at 8:30am on Saturday

All athletes on the team are welcome to walk with us in the parade, regardless of qualifying status. The more the merrier! The parade usually sets up in the softball field behind the away stands and then flows on to the track, past the home stands like a very slow 200m event. Before we get to the finish line, we'll turn onto the infield for the opening ceremonies.

• Early is the word!

You can't go wrong if you plan to arrive early. There will be traffic to get to Union City, and Granada is always full until at least the 50m/100m events.

If you're a real early bird on Saturday, we're setting up at 6:30am, and would gladly appreciate help setting up the events for the day. We need lifters and luggers and people handy with pop-up tents. You'll get credit for the team if you catch me at setup and sign in -- yes, I'll be there, nice and early!