Parents and Athletes,
Last night we held our parent meeting, and we went over a few things that I will summarize at the end of this, and hopefully answer a few questions that I didn't address last night.
First I wanted to say thank you to everyone who came out last night. Consider me impressed and grateful that so many of you are supportive of your kids' endeavors to participate in track and field, and of our team. I'm also grateful to everyone who has already begun signing up to help in various capacities. More on that later.
If you haven't yet, please fill out this form so that you can get on our email list.
Track Class
One thing I didn't address at the meeting was the track class. If your child is in the class, you can pretty much skip to the next section.
The track class is offered during 8th period. It is not too late to join, but for those wanting to join you may have to wait until 4th term, but you should talk to your counselor as soon as possible.
The advantage of the track class is that the hour and a half during class is really the only time that we will have the stadium to ourselves. The other days are usually shared with soccer/lacrosse practices or games, so some of the after school practices are cut short, or moved out of the stadium. It's quite inconvenient but it is the cost of doing business with some many spring sports and so few functional fields for these teams to use.
Being in the class is not mandatory but it is recommended. If you aren't able to get in the class, you aren't alone, and on B-Days you will simply come out as quickly as you can after school and get started with the warm up with your teammates who also come after school.
First week of practice
Our first practice will be TODAY at 2:40. The location is TBD, and will be determined closer to the end of school, depending on the weather and snow accumulation on the track. Any location changes or last second announcements will be made via GroupMe, so it is necessary for each person to be in their respective groupme. Each event group will have their own groupme. The links to join those groups can be found here.
On Wednesday we will practice during class, for those in it, and after school those not in the class will come out to join us. For those in class, please note that practice does not conclude when school is dismissed, it ends when the workout and cooldown are completed.
On Friday we will be practicing as usual.
ACT Prep Class
Many of you have mentioned to me that you are in the ACT prep class this week, which is after school each day through Thursday. If you are in that boat, just start coming when the class concludes, and we encourage you to do the workouts after the class. Talk to your teammates or event coach about what those are each day.
Eligibility
Student athletes must maintain a GPA of greater than 2.0, have no more than 1 failing grade, and no "U"s in order to compete. Any competition held during 3rd term will use 2nd term grades, meets held during 4th term will use 3rd term grades.
Physicals
If you need a physical you have the option to come to the school. Per the AD:
"The spring physical night will be March 7th at 6:00 PM at the high school. ALL money goes back in to the training room for supplies and new things. The cost is $25 and they can pay cash, check, or CC."
If you would prefer to go through your own doctor, please make sure you can get an appointment in time to complete the registration before the first meet. More on that below, under "athlete registration".
Parent Meeting Recap
I won't be able to talk about everything the same way that we did at the meeting but here are some of the key points.
Team Expectations
The first thing that we want kids to understand is that Track & Field at Farmington High is not an individual sport. While you compete individually (excluding relays), everything we do is for the betterment of the entire team. Our goals at meets are for each individual to showcase their hard work, but we also hope to perform as best we can as a team.
We want everyone to be part of something bigger than the individual, and this will be demonstrated by their commitment to the team, and what is best for it. Our focus is the team.
The second focus is related to the first, and that is to be a good teammate. That can be defined in many ways, but a few examples of being a good teammate are finding joy in others' success, supporting and encouraging others, being dependable to be at practice and to give your best everyday - which in turn encourages others to do the same.
I would describe most of you on the team as doing those things, however, every single one of us, myself included, could do better. I encourage you to find ways you can be a better teammate.
Parents, we ask you to support and encourage your kids to be a dependable teammate, and to help them be part of something bigger than themselves.
Health and Fitness
Coach Farrell did an excellent job describing how we want all of our athletes to be healthy for the short and long term. The track team is not a weight-loss or diet program. On the contrary, we encourage our athletes to eat a lot, and to add in nutritious foods. With the hard work that the athletes will be doing, they will need plenty of food, aka fuel, to give them the necessary energy to perform the tasks, and they will need the calories in order to recovery from strenuous activity. Therefore it is essential that athletes eat. Our philosophy is don't cut what you are already typically eating, but rather add in more food, namely nutritious foods.
It is also too-common problem that many female athletes experience menstrual dysfunction during intense athletic seasons. In athletes, this is usually caused by under-fueling (not eating enough), over-training (not recovering enough), and stress. This is something that we want to avoid for the long term and short term health of our athletes. The best way to avoid this is to make sure you are eating enough.
Parents, we ask you to encourage your athletes to eat enough, and to also include nutritious foods.
Volunteers
Track and Field has a lot of moving parts, a lot of kids participating, and many events. It takes a lot to help the kids have a good experience. Many of you have requested opportunities to help, for which I cannot thank you enough. If you would like to volunteer to help in some capacity, please view this page, and sign up for anything that would interest you. If you have have any questions about things, please let me know.
Fundraising
If like Coach Halls, volunteering isn't really your thing (he humorously mentioned that at his age he prefers to help pay for movers than to go help people move), and you prefer to donate to the program, that option is available. Managing a team like this comes with a lot of expenses for equipment like hurdles, blocks, throwing implements, pole vault poles, etc., and paying assistant coaches who are invaluable.
I often have people ask how they can donate, which again, I'm very grateful for, and the district has made that easy with a website dedicated to donations. On this page you can select a custom amount to donate if you wish. No pressure, of course, but the option is there for you.
Athlete Registration
Each athlete needs to register for track and field, which includes some information from the parents, and a physical for the athlete. Please note that the physical needs to be uploaded on that website (ALL PAGES), or brought the the AD, Kasey Walkenhurst, or brought to Coach Farrell.
If you are unsure how the registration works on "registermyathlete" please go to this page to view a step by step process on how to complete it.
Outdoor Track Schedule
If you are wondering when all the meets are, you can view the schedule at the link at the top of the page, or here.
Parents, thank you again for your support. Athletes, thank you for your dedication. Can't wait to get the season started!
If you have any questions you can reach me at bjacobson@dsdmail.net
Coach Jacobson
