To our athletes and parents, we cannot express how excited we are to work with each of you this season! Something about the winter track training period is one of my favorite's of the year, because it's a time where we can really accomplish some serious work and truly level up. It helps having a fantastic coaching staff to work with, and amazing athletes who are talented and a lot of fun.
If at any time, should you have questions about the season, please do not hesitate to reach out to your event coach or one of the head coaches (Jacobson and Farrell). Speaking of the staff, I can honestly say we have a top staff in the state. The experience and skills that they bring are second to none. Each with a different background, coaches of several sports, NCAA experience, etc. Resumes aside, they are each also fantastic people with a desire to help each athlete improve and the team to succeed.
We had a great first week of practices, and are looking forward to many more. Our athletes showed up prepared and ready to work hard, which will serve you well in the ensuing weeks. This website is where we will post all of the information throughout the season, of things you need to know. Below are a few items of interest, starting with a review of our team philosophy that we shared from day one, the information about the parent meeting, and a few other miscellaneous items.
Team Mindset
One thing we emphasized the first day of practice, are the three pillars of our team's success.
First, a team mindset. Each individual is part of something bigger than themselves, and each athlete's goal is to help the team in any way possible. That includes running events that might be deemed unpleasant at times, and trying new things which can ultimately lead to greater team performance.
Second, optimism and positivity. Each day athletes should arrive ready and willing to get after the workout, and do it to the best of their ability. A positive mindset has been shown to reduce pain perception and increase performance, and ultimately just makes the team more fun. Stay hopeful, stay positive, and let's enjoy where we are while working to reach the next level. It's easier said than done, especially as fatigue builds up or challenges arise, but be determined to keep after it each day.
Finally, we have to be consistent. It's one thing to work hard once in a while, or show up occasionally, but without consistency then each individual moment loses it's benefit. Workouts are done daily, and are designed to work in harmony so that you reach new levels of adaptation, speed, endurance, etc. We will be practicing each day, on A days at 2:35, and B days at 1:15. Do what it takes to be there each day.
Parent Meeting
We will be holding our parent meeting on Monday 1/12 at 6 PM in the FHS choir room. Athletes and parents alike are encouraged to attend, so that you know the team expectations, necessary information, scheduling, etc. We hope to conclude before 6:45 to allow time for individual questions.
Other Items
First, each athlete needs to do registration on the aktivate website, previously known, and habitually referred to, as "register my athlete." I have created a walk through on how that is done, and it can be found at the top of this website, or here, if you were inclined to look at it now.
Outdoor Meet Schedule
You can find our outdoor season schedule here.
Indoor Meet Schedule
We have a few opportunities for indoor track meets as well.
If you haven't, please go onto MyDSD and review the athlete contract.
Team Communication/GroupMe
The most efficient method of communication for our team will be via the app GroupMe. Each event group has their own groupme, and the parents will have an announcement group. These apps are not for spamming, but rather announcements and pertinent information. We encourage the communication to be for necessity only, so that athletes don't mute the chat, and miss important and/or urgent information.
We encourage the athletes to join the GroupMe associated with their event(s), and parents to join the announcement group. Parents are also welcome in the event groups, but those get a little more traffic, so be warned on the notification front.
Review of the parent email
The following was sent last week via MyDSD, so if you read it already, feel free to disregard it. This is the final item of the update.
We are so excited for the season to start. We have some of the best athletes in the school, best kids in the school, and some of the funnest (not a word) kids in all the land. We have an outstanding coaching staff who is committed to helping our team and you as individuals be the best you can be. With your team mentality, positivity, and commitment, we can have a team that battles for a region and state championship. We truly do have an outstanding group of athletes and coaches that I am extremely fortunate to work with, and am so excited to get going.
Here are a few items to know in the short term:
This class is for those planning on being on the track team beginning officially the final week of February through the end of the school year. If you aren't on that team, you will need to drop the class.
We will meet in class each day at 1:15 (including Wednesdays), so that we can conclude practices prior to 3 PM, when we need to vacate the track so the soccer team can train.
During winter, we will practice each A day starting at 2:35 - those practices are not "mandatory" until the season officially begins, but we highly recommend you come to practices on those days, which will typically conclude prior to 4:30 PM. Athletes who opt not to do that during the winter will miss out on pivotal training gains.
Practices conclude at the end of practice, NOT the 2:20 bell. We will essentially never be done at 2:20. Students who would otherwise ride the bus should make other transportation arrangements, where possible.
We will practice outside each day we can, so plan accordingly with your clothing.
There is an athlete contract available on MyDSD that students guardians need to agree to.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out at bjacobson@dsdmail.net or Rfarrell@dsdmail.net
Coach Jacobson
Here are a few items to know in the short term:
This class is for those planning on being on the track team beginning officially the final week of February through the end of the school year. If you aren't on that team, you will need to drop the class.
We will meet in class each day at 1:15 (including Wednesdays), so that we can conclude practices prior to 3 PM, when we need to vacate the track so the soccer team can train.
During winter, we will practice each A day starting at 2:35 - those practices are not "mandatory" until the season officially begins, but we highly recommend you come to practices on those days, which will typically conclude prior to 4:30 PM. Athletes who opt not to do that during the winter will miss out on pivotal training gains.
Practices conclude at the end of practice, NOT the 2:20 bell. We will essentially never be done at 2:20. Students who would otherwise ride the bus should make other transportation arrangements, where possible.
We will practice outside each day we can, so plan accordingly with your clothing.
There is an athlete contract available on MyDSD that students guardians need to agree to.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out at bjacobson@dsdmail.net or Rfarrell@dsdmail.net
Coach Jacobson
