Santa Clarita Track Club
Newsletter for March 23, 2009
 
In this Issue
This Weeks Practices
Lap-a-thon
Track Meet
Meet Event Schedule
Facilities Rules
 
Quick Links...
 
 
Join Our Mailing List
   
 
Our lap-a-thon is on Monday, you will want to download the pledge form and start soliciting donations from friends, neighbors and family, Monday during practice the kids will run to music, they really love this event, and it shows how strong they have got in such a short time. The funds are collected at a later date. If you want to opt out, you can bring a completed form along with a check for $40.00 and turn that in.  
 
 expect another short news brief later in the week about uniforms.
 
This weeks Practices 
Practices are held Monday, Wednesday, & Thursday at Valencia High School on the track starting at 6:00 pm Pick up will be around 7:45 this week.
  
Thursday there will be a high school meet that starts at 3:00 pm, our practice will start when that meet is over (around 6:30). Practice will run late on Thursday, to about 8:15 or so.
 
Lap-a-thon
We are excited about each and every athlete participating in the lap-a-thon. Next Monday March 23 during practice, athletes will run laps on the track for one hour. This is a very fun event for the kids and an important fundraiser for our team. Money from this event keeps our registration fee low and helps us provide equipment for our training and meets. This is a music-motivated event; singing along, running to the tempo! Oh WAIT! YOU'RE NOT A DISTANCE RUNNER!? NOT important! This is a fundraiser not a race ~ run or walk/dance, create an hour-long relay team! Challenge yourself! Just recruit your donations accordingly! The more per athlete sponsors you get the more donations! There are 2 ways for sponsors to support our athletes, one is a per lap donation such as $3.00 per lap for you distance runners; the other is simply a flat donation of any amount, for example $25.00.

Our team will acknowledge those who raises the most funds and all participants in this event.  The Grand Prize will be 4 Park Hopper tickets to Disneyland/California Adventure to the top athlete who raise the most funds for the club.

If for some reason you are unable to participate the night of the event, families are encouraged to OPT OUT by giving a tax-deductible donation of $40.00 payable to the SCTC. This is our major team fundraiser and requires everybody's support. Your effort will be recognized and appreciated. Participants (athletes collecting donations from their sponsors for $40 or more) will receive a Storm Lap-a-thon tee shirt.

When turning in money, we ask that only ONE CHECK PER FAMILY payable to SCTC, be written for the entire amount the athlete has raised. (Checks from Sponsors written directly to the club by non-members may not be credited to your child.)

You can download the pledge form by clicking here or by visiting our website, or asking Michele at the Info-Table. The due date to turn in the funds is April 16, 2009. Flat donations can be turned in immediately. Prizes will be awarded based on the most funds raised and turned in by April 16, 2009. Funds will still be accepted after that date but won't count towards the grand prizes, will go towards the Storm T-shirt.
 
If you have any questions about this fund raiser please talk to Michele or Alan.
 
Track Meet
Saturday begins our competition season, with our first meet being held at Canyon High School against the Santa Clarita East Running Warriors. You should plan on arriving at 8:00 am. I have put a schedule of events below and some things to do at a track meet. 
 
Event Schedule
08:15 so you can do your warm-ups. Track events will begin at 08:45 am .  The normal order of competition will be Gremlin Girls, Gremlin Boys, Bantam Girls, Bantam Boys, Midget Girls, etc., through to Intermediate Boys.  Deviations in this order are shown in the order of the events which follow:
 
3000 Meter Run MG, MB, YG, YB, IG, IB
(All age groups may run together. In this event)
80-Meter Low Hurdles  MG, MB
100-Meter Low Hurdles  YB, IG*, IB*
100-Meter Low Hurdles YG
4x100 Meter Relay  GG, GB, BG, BB, MG, MB, YG, YB, IG*, IB*
1500 Meter Run GG, GB, BG, BB, MG, MB, YG, YB, IG*, IB*
400-Meter Dash GG, GB, BG, BB, MG, MB, YG, YB, IG*, IB*
100-Meter Dash GG, GB, BG, BB, MG, MB, YG, YB, IG*, IB*
800-Meter Run GG, GB, BG, BB, MG, MB, YG, YB, IG*, IB*
200-Meter Dash GG, GB, BG, BB, MG, MB, YG, YB, IG*, IB*
4x400 Meter Relay BG, BB, MG, MB, YG, YB, IG*, IB*
 
* Most intermediate age groups will be combined with the youth age group. 
 
Field events will begin at 08:30 and run concurrently unless combined
 
 
Running events take precedence over field events, athletes should check out of their field event on the third call for their  running event, athletes need to return to their field event with-in 5 minutes of finishing their running event. High Jump takes precedence over other field events.
 
High Jump BG, BB, MG, MB, YG, YB, IG, IB
Long Jump GG, GB, IB, IG, MG, MB, YG, YB, BG, BB
Shot Put YB, YG, IG, IB, BG, BB, MG, MB

Gremlins can compete in 3 events. Athletes who are Bantam and older may add one extra event, IF THE 4th EVENT IS A RELAY. Athletes who compete in more than the maximum number of events will have ALL marks for the day disqualified, and would cause their relay team to be disqualified. Please address any questions to your coach to avoid any possibility of exceeding the maximum allowable number of events.
Running vs Field Events
 
Running events take precedence over field events. First check in at your field event. After the 2nd call for a running event, check out with the field event judge and proceed to the staging area to check in for your running event. Return to the field event within 5 minutes of completing your race or you will not be allowed to complete the event.
 
THINGS TO BRING TO A TRACK MEET
Water (lots of it)
Snacks (healthy ones) fruits, veggies, sandwiches, power bars, health bars, etc.
Sunscreen
Umbrella/canopy
Complete uniform
Games
Sweats/warm-up outfit
PowerAde/Gatorade (if desired)
Running Shoes/Spikes
 
THINGS TO DO AT A TRACK MEET
The first thing on arrival is to have your child find his or her age group coach. Check in with them to get the event tags they will be doing at that meet. Make sure they have their sweats on, it will be cool when they arrive.
 
Your child will need to be aware, at all times, of where his or her coaches are. Keep track of what event is being called ("First call, all Gremlin Girls 200 meters, Last call, all Midget Boys 1500 meters", etc). It is impossible for the coaches to know where thirty or forty athletes are.
 
Athletes must warm up before each event. Have them check with their coach on when they should report in for warm ups with their group.
 
As the day warms up, keep your athlete OUT OF THE SUN. Use lots of sunscreen, and have them drink plenty of water and drinks like Gatorade/Powerade. NO SODA!!. Soda depletes the body of fluids. Keep them relaxed and from running around. This is a good time to have them play cards or board games with a friend.
 
Facilities Rules
This is a quick reminder that the only thing allowed into the track  area is water in plastic bottles, no glass or soft drinks or sports drinks or food are allowed into the track area. Also pets such as Dogs are not allowed on Campus grounds Thank you.
 
Sincerely,
 

Alan Bingham
Santa Clarita Track Club