Youth Track Program

OVERVIEW

Introduce your younger child to Track & Field and/or help your older child improve his/her event specific skills.  This low-key, fun program includes sprinting and distance running, jumping, and more.  Athletes will learn a routine of proper warmup, drills, and stretching, and be exposed to some of the more specific, technical aspects of certain events (starts, form, etc.)

The 8-week program is offered in the Spring, Summer, and Fall.  It is appropriate for youth from grades K-8 (ages 5-14) as well as high school athletes seeking additional help in the off-season/over the summer. It includes an inter-squad "meet", planned for Week 7 or Week 8, to allow participants the opportunity to experience a low key competition, and various "time trials"/mini meets will be part of the weekly program.  The spring session will be held entirely at one time, and be subdivided based on age/experience. We may offer two time slots for the summer session as we did in 2011, though details are not yet final.

PROGRAM DETAILS

The program meets SUNDAYS at South Lakes High School in Reston.  In the future we may add locations, but the coaching/volunteer demands for a youth program are such that we are limited to Reston for the moment.

Participants are encouraged to attend weekly, but we understand that school events, vacations, other sports, and family commitments may mean participants cannot always attend every session.  The program is designed with this fact in mind -- your child's experience will NOT be compromised if you cannot attend every week. Older participants can also ask coaches for guidance on what to do on their own during the week.

The intersquad competition provides an opportunity for athletes to measure their progress, and or new/younger participant to experience a "meet".  Coaches may suggest further competitive opportunities for more experienced athletes and/or those seeking a more official timed competition.

The $65 program cost includes a program t-shirt and 8 weeks (or as many as you can attend) of coached sessions.  Active participants also receive a 10% discount on all purchases at Potomac River Running Store.

REGISTRATION

In 2012, we will offer three program sessions:

• Spring Session:  March 25 - May 22 (no session on Easter (4/8).  Meets SUNDAYS at 4:00 PM for ALL participants
• Summer Session: July 1 - August 19.  Meets SUNDAYS at 5:00 PM. Second session for experienced/competitive participants MAY follow at 6:00 PM. Details will be announced in June.
• Fall Session: September 9 - October 28. Meets SUNDAYS from 4:30-5:30 PM for ALL participants. (Note, time may change)

While we plan to engage as many coaches and volunteers as necessary to accomodate interest, the program MAY fill, so early registration is encouraged.  Assuming the program is not full, we WILL continue to accept participants throughout the program's duration and welcome late joiners -- but, there is no pro-rating of the $65 fee (which has already been subsidized due to the youth focus of this program.)

Registration for the spring 2012 session will open in January 2012. At that time, to register, click Join Us, and you will be launched into the standard questionnaire (many questions on training history may not apply due to the nature of this program -- skip them as appropriate). Please create the user with the child's name and DOB, but use all parental contact info.  Note that to register multiple children, you must create each child as a "user" -- one parent user cannot register multiple children under the same ID info.  A parent must digitally "sign" the form for each child. (After registration, you will receive an automatic email confirmation, which includes payment information.) Having trouble with the Online Registration?   Be sure to enter info in all the boxes in the format the form expects (review your form to see!) -- still having problems?  Contact us and we'll try to help!