1. Please note: If you don’t click slide show and view from beginning or current slide, you will not be able to click on the hyperlinks provided.

2. About this presentation
This takes the place of a parent meeting. We are all busy and it is impossible to find a time that works for everyone. Doing it this way ensures that everyone receives all the info.

3. Coaches Mike Caton: catonmike@msn.com
Head Coach: Sprints and Hurdles
Anderson Miller:
Jumps
Kurt Skinner:
Distance

4. Team Communication-Email
We send out a weekly update by .
Karen Risenhoover all addresses that your family would like to receive s.

5. Team Communication- Text
During the week, partly due to weather and other unforeseen circumstances, and because our athletes don’t read , we use texting. To get on the list:
Text Coach Caton at
Include your name
Parents and athletes can both be included in this group text. FYI: parents often request this, and then regret it due the frequency of texts 

6. Schedules
Disclaimer: The upcoming pages detail our schedule, but it most likely will not happen this way. It never does! Spring weather in Colorado makes track the most challenging, difficult, and frustrating activity imaginable. Because it is impossible to predict, please give us LOTS of patience when we are forced to make adjustments.

7. Practice schedule
M-W-F are generally big training days at the Grace Center – St. Mary’s track:
3:30-5ish (hurdlers meet at 3:00 if possible)
T-Th are generally recovery run/weightlifting days and team meetings/classes at CSCS
Tuesday/Thursday schedule
3:00-4:15: Team meeting, recovery run for mid/long distance/Weight room for sprinters.

8. We are coordinating with 24 Hour Fitness on 7720 N Academy to use their facility on bad weather days. We’ll let you know when we have details.

9. Grace Center-St. Mary’s Track
From CSCS: S. on Mallow- then Left on Mt. View- then R on Acacia- then R on Pirate Hts- park in lower parking lot
CSCS
Grace Ctr.
From southbound Union:
Turn right on Acacia, and then left on Pirate Hgts.- park in lower parking lot

10. Meet Calendar
The next two slides detail the meet calendar. Four things to know:
Weather will most likely modify this. Varsity meets are generally rescheduled, weekday meets are generally not.
Your place on either team can change from meet to meet depending on several factors. We announce the rosters as early as possible for your planning.
Because there are fewer JV meets this year, I have combined the schedules. 3/14, 4/4 and 4/29 are primarily JV meets. I will do my best to get athletes into as many other meets as possible.
Varsity athletes may not compete at all meets – there are so many factors that influence these decisions, just trust we know what we are doing.  Contact us if you have any questions.

11. Your Place on the Team
For those new to CSCS track, there are no tryouts. As long as you are willing to work hard and contribute to the team, we will find a place for you.
The Varsity team has no class restrictions, but rather is limited to those athletes who:
Are potentially top three on our team in any event
Are physically and mentally prepared to compete at a competitive level in a varsity race
Demonstrate the level of discipline and work ethic expected of varsity athletes
All other athletes will be placed on our JV team and compete in JV meets.

12. Meet Calendar Date Name Location Time 3/11 Banana Belt Classic
Pueblo-Dutch Clark Stadium
All day
3/14
Small School Meet
Grace Center
3:30
3/18
Harrison Panther Invite
Harrison HS
4/4
4/8
D”Evelyn Invite
Jeffco Stadium - Lakewood
4/14,15
Pomona Invitational
2:00/all day
4/21
Thunder Invite
4/29
EP County Small Schools Championships
St. Mary’s Grace Center
5/6
Spartan Invitational
Gary Berry
All Day
5/13
Tri Peaks League Championships
Lamar HS
5/18-20
State Championships
All Days

13. How do athletes get to meets?
If the meet is in town, athletes are expected to arrange their own transportation.
We provide transportation to out of town meets. However, there are other spring sports and sometimes we have to ask parents to help us out if there are no vans or busses available.

14. How Do Athletes Qualify for the State Championships?
Rankings are kept throughout the season (from qualifying meets). The state’s top 18 athletes at season’s end qualify for the state championships.
Note: This means we overschedule meets so that we don’t miss an opportunity to be ranked.

15. Pasta Parties
One of the highlights of the track season is pasta parties. A pasta party is a team social the day before a meet that includes eating pasta-duh. Athletes are responsible for covering the cost for these parties. Rather than hassling with money collections at each party, athletes each pay $15 at the beginning of the season to share the cost for all parties. The money is then disbursed to the party hosts to buy food. Cash only, please. (Otherwise, we have an accounting hassle we have to go through with CSCS.)

16. How to Get Track Gear Get an order form-will be release soon!
Turn in order form at practice (make checks out to: Bravo Screenprinting)
Sale ends Friday, March 3rd
For athletes and families
These items are optional
Undergarments will be included

17. Track Undergarments
These will be included on the apparel order, but If you purchase them on your own (tights, tops, and compression shorts) to race in, they must be NAVY.
Relays will be wearing NAVY undergarments.

18. Shoes
We will not have a formal “shoe night” at a running store, but. the next slide will detail what I would like you to ask for at the store you choose.
Note: Colorado Running Co., Boulder Running Co. or Runner’s Roost all do a good job and will be able to outfit you with what the shoe type I’m Suggesting.
Any of these locations will give you15-20% off if you tell them you run for a high school.

19. Shoes For track, you need two pairs of shoes” Training shoes
If you haven’t already purchased these, I strongly recommend shoes that are designed for striking on the mid to front of the foot. I’d rather you not get the traditional shoe that is built up on the heel. That forces the runner to land on the heels which just teaches bad form.
Racing spikes-next slide

20. Racing spikes Sprinters-these have a hard heel
The type you need depends on your events. If you don’t know yet, I’d suggest holding off on getting these. I’ll do an assessment at the beginning of the season to help answer this questions. If you already know your events:
Sprinters-these have a hard heel
Mid Distance-these have a little cushion on the heel, but not on the arch
Distance-have a small cushion along the bottom of the heel and arch.

21. Expectations
The next few slides deal with expectations we have for all athletes in our program. These expectations have been crafted through trial and error over ten years of leading this program. While some may seem strict, we have found them to be important and will be enforced.

22. Expectations Athletes are responsible to get to practices on time.
We don’t have the luxury of our own track on campus, but we do have access to St. Mary’s Grace Center.
Due to logistics, it is generally necessary for upper classmen to drive underclassmen to practice.
Fortunately, it is within 5 minutes of CSCS through 25 mph neighborhood streets.
Please park in the lot below the track (west of the track).

23. Expectations We are guests on the Grace Center track.
Be respectful of the property and equipment.
Drive safely on their road and in their parking lot.
We are sharing the track with other teams.
Pay attention when crossing the track or field.

24. Expectations
Tardiness: We will start practice promptly. Two tardies in one week without coach’s permission equal one skipped practice.
Attendance at Practice: Be at every practice unless prior arrangement with any coach. Athletes missing practice without coach’s permission will not participate in next meet.

25. Expectations
Submit calendar of absences at beginning of season or every Monday.
If you need to miss practice or a meet, please us at the beginning of the week. We ask that you not inform us at practice as this can lead to a mass-exodus due to a false impression of lax attendance requirements.
Athletes can also text coaches if something comes up last minute. Please include your name so coaches know who the text is from. (No, you are not all in our contacts .)
Coach Caton:

26. Expectations Meet Attendance
Athletes are welcome but only expected to attend meets in which they are competing.
Weekday meets – athletes are encouraged to stay but may leave when done competing. Must check out with a coach.
Weekend meets (Fridays included)– athletes arrive and leave with team to encourage teammates unless prior arrangement made with any coach. Exceptions may be made for out of town meets. If this is a problem, you may want to consider if Varsity is right for you.
Yes, we take this seriously.

27. Expectations Dress Code at Meets CSCS track apparel preferred
Athletes will be issued uniforms and warm ups. We recognize that most prefer to not wear our warm ups, but rather, opt for their own. We are OK with this under these conditions:
CSCS track apparel preferred
Any CSCS sports apparel acceptable
Solid CSCS colors (navy, gold, white, gray)
No other colors, patterns, etc. are allowed
Yes, we take this seriously as well.

28. Expectations
Covered skin recommended for temperatures below 500, required for temperatures below 450
If you come to practice without warmups or tights under these conditions, you will be sent home. Seriously. It’s for your own good.
Colorado’s weather changes dramatically throughout the day and Grace Center is always colder because of its location. Plan for cold temps all the way until the end of the season!

29. Expectations
Runners should have a sports watch. Nothing fancy, just needs to have a stop watch function, in order to time intervals and breaks.

30. Nutrition and Recovery
Proper improvement from training can only come when the body gets what it needs to recover.
Water-we recommend half your body weight in ounces of water each day. You will most likely have to carry a water bottle with you during the day at school.

31. Nutrition and Recovery
Eat Healthy: limit junk food
Protein: athletes need at least 50% of their body weight in grams of protein each day in order to recover and build strength (it’s actually more, but we don’t want to freak parents out). You should get some whey protein and supplement daily.

32. Post Workout Recovery
On hard training days especially, it is recommended that you consume carbohydrates and protein in a 4:1 ratio within one hour after working out. Your options are to purchase:
Endurox, or any similar product with the 4:1 ratio
Chocolate milk-It’s true! Coach Caton has observed the AFA track team being handed chocolate milk containers and Cliff bars after a workout.

33. Nutrition and Recovery
Rest-Get to sleep as early as possible

34. What to Have in Your Track Bag
Water
Hat / beanie
Gloves
Layers of clothes IE. long-sleeve shirts, hoodies, tights or sweat bottoms
Extra socks
Any necessary medication (inhaler, ibuprofen…)
Athletic tape
Sprinters should always have their spikes

35. Misc. Team Stuff

36. How Do I Get a Varsity Letter?
The requirements are as follows:
Score at least 7 points throughout the season at Varsity meets, OR
Qualify for the state team, OR
Participation on the track team for four years

37. Needs Underwriters Team “parents”
As with all CSCS teams, we are required to raise our own funds for extra things like uniforms, awards, etc. We do our share of fund raising, but also rely on generous parents who want to support their athlete’s team. If you are one of those people, please contact any of the coaches .
Team “parents”
We can always use super parents to help with a variety of team things that come up throughout the season, like helping at meets, organizing team events, and helping St. Mary’s out when they ask because they are so generous with the use of their track.

38. Injuries
We have made amazing strides in reducing injuries on our team. In fact, we have less injuries than any school we know about. We believe the reasons are as follows:
Our training plan allows for recovery
We don’t over-stretch
When we first hear about an injury starting, we refer athletes to
Deb Hellman (Muscle Activation)
Dr. Mark Rocco, D.C Flintridge Dr. Ste #

39. Housekeeping Sign in every day for attendance
5 practices required to compete unless coming from another school sport
Sports packets and physicals due in office by before first practice.
1st practice 2/27 at St. Mary’s track 3:30-5
Sign up for text messages NOW in case changes have to be made.

40. Milesplit
Milesplit is the website for everything track and field in CO. Go here for meet calendar, results, rankings, articles, photos, etc.

41. Confirmation
Just so we know that you viewed this presentation, IF YOU DID NOT ALREADY or TEXT, please do so now so we can confirm that you are up-to-date on this information.
Coach Caton for texts
Karen Risenhoover for

42. Closing Thanks for reading our team information!
We hope this makes the season “run” smoothly for everyone.
We’re looking forward to working with all the athletes and helping them achieve their personal bests!