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Now at our 2nd season at Steele Canyon. SIGN-UPS Boys and Girls ages 4-17 are invited to come and sign up for San Diego Cheetahs Youth Track and Field: What: USATF Youth Track and Field Team Sign Ups Place: Steele Canyon High School Date: Monday January 14th, 2007 Time: 5:00-6:00pm

F.A.Q.s USATF AAU Photos Contacts

Family discount - A $50 discount will be applied to any additional children. 

Fees cover the cost of uniforms, warm-ups, track/event fees and Trophy.

Spikes/Shoes are NOT included and must be purchased by parents separately.

Scholarships are avalible.

Uniforms will be order January 21st.

PRINT OUT THE PAGES BELOW AND RETURN TO PRACTICE ONCE COMPLETED.

PACKET CHECK LIST

1)                 WELCOME LETTER

2)                2008 TRAINING AND PRACTICE STRATEGIES FOR PARENTS

3)                  STANDARDS OF CONDUCT & REGULATIONS

4)                  PARENTS AND ATHLETES ENROLLMENT FORM

5)                  PICTURE CONSENT

6)                 ATHLETE CHECK LIST

7)                  ATHLETE WORKOUT /COMPETITION GEAR & ACCESSORIES CHECK LIST

          WELCOME

Welcome parents and children to the 2008 San Diego Cheetahs Youth Track and Field Team.  As the head coach, I would like to personally thank each and every one of you who took time out of your busy schedules to sign-up your child/children to participate in track and field for this team.  Now in our 2^nd year here at Steele Canyon High School , we are committed to give the kids on this team 110% of our efforts.  Those of you who are new to track, you are in for a treat.  Some of the most exciting moments in sports happen in track and field.  For those of you who are new to this team, you will find that the parents on this team are the best.  I’ve been coaching youth sports for over 20 years, and this is by far the best group of parents I have ever been around.  They are very supportive, not only of their kids, but all the kids on the team.

          Before I close this letter, I would like to give you some additional resources that may be helpful to you.  Check out www.usatf.org. And also www.sdusatf.org.  Link over to the youth sections on these websites and you will find a wealth of news and information pertaining to youth track and field.  Again welcome to our team, we really appreciate it.

  Coach Marcus

 2008 SEASON TRAINING AND PRACTICE STRATEGIES.

(For parents)

  By Coach Marcus Sims

We will divide the season into 3 phases or periods commonly referred to as periodization.

The first phase will consist of introducing track and field concepts, technique, fundamentals, and general knowledge of track and field to the kids.  Practice will primarily be focused on strength and conditioning workouts with the emphasis on volume rather than intensity.   The coaching staff will need to be very economical with regards to practice space and time as we may not have a lot of daylight left in which to complete the desired workouts. Coaching assignments have not been finalized, but the Sub-bantams will be assigned to Coach Sherlonda, Bantams will have their own Coach, and I will combine Midget and Youth groups.  Coach Jim Black will have the Distance crew, Coach Dimartino will assist with the Bantams or Midget group.  I will split my time with all groups but will try to spend a lot of time with the Bantams, Midgets and Youth.

            The strengthening component of practice will take place within each group and will consist of things like pushup and sit-up sets.   Also work with the medicine ball will be a part of practice.  These will be done throughout practice for the first 8 weeks.  Strengthening will also be accomplished in the form of running, plyometrics, drills and such.  Again, it will be of utmost importance to quickly get the kids from one area to another as we may not have much daylight to work with in the beginning.

            Conditioning will be addressed by running intervals, repeats and completing timed runs with the emphasis being on volume with low intensity.  We must get kids to run relaxed with very little straining.  This is where we will stress having good bio-mechanics, running with the proper arm and leg positions, while maintaining a good running posture.

            During this period, the jumpers will work on their specialties only at the end of the first 3 week “micro cycle”.  After that, they will spend the better part of Thursday’s practice working of the jumps.  Throwers, those that are going to concentrate solely on just the throwing events will split their time between strengthening and conditioning workouts and will be allowed to throw during the 2^nd week of practice.  In addition to the sets of pushups and sit-ups, they will do a lot of medicine ball work and will be encouraged to lift weights on their own. 

            Parents, I hope that this helps you, and lets you know what’s going on with the kids.Track and field workouts do bring with it, a lot of new concerns and worries.  Kids who are not used to working out on a track will be under pressure to run correctly, they may experience frustration, fatigue and nagging little pains that they are not accustomed to.  With regards to stretching, there are 2 schools of thought on this subject.   Parents, you who have watched their kids in sports before are probably used to seeing your kids do static stretching.  That is where the kid sits motionless and stretches individual muscle groups.  This is the most common form of stretching and is used by coaches in football, soccer, baseball, and even some track coaches still use this method.  However the method that I will use before most workouts is dynamic stretching.  Dynamic stretching is now used by a lot of track coaches.  It not only gets the athletes muscles ready to ‘fire’, but it can also reduce injuries by incorporating the same motions and degree of flexibility that comes with actual running and jumping.  So our warm-ups will consist of jogging, drills, and dynamic stretching of the major muscle groups.  Static stretching will be used during the ‘cool down’ phase of practice.  While we are on this topic, there is something that comes up every season with regards to injuries.  When an athlete twist’ their ankle or has shin splints, “feels” something tight, or has a general complaint of pain, some parents feel that the thing to do is go to their family physician and check it out.  What winds up happening is that no matter how small or insignificant the injury really is, the parents are told to keep their athlete away from practice from anywhere to 2-6 weeks.  I can tell you this, that is the standard medical advice coming from doctors who are more used to diagnosing colds, performing physicals, and such.  What I am encouraging parents to do is, if you feel that the injury requires more than just ice and 1-2 days rest, then take your child to a sports physician.  There are so many in the San Diego area.  Think about it, when your child breaks a bone you take them to an orthopedist.  Problems with skin, you take them to a dermatologist. Sports medicine physicians and not your family physician are the experts on sports related injuries.

            Phase 2 will begin after week 6.  This is where we take the athlete to another level of conditioning.  This is accomplished by picking up the intensity and pace of practice.  We will cut back slightly on volume, but each workout will be goal oriented.  The emphasis will be on near max effort followed by shortened recovery, with the goal of reduced times for select distances.  If this phase is done correctly, what you should see is kids running and performing at a higher level than before, with some of them setting PR’s, or personal records.  This is where we start building kids up to a peak.  Week by week the workouts will grow in their intensity, with the goal of having them put on their best performances at the end of the season.

            Phase 3 will start around week13 and is commonly referred to as ‘speed workouts’.  This is where the kids will be put through full speed workouts with very little volume and lots of recovery.  Close monitoring of the kids workouts is needed at this point.  We will pay close attention to athlete’s mechanics and performance.  Any adjustments or corrections must be made quickly.  This will be especially important for members of relay teams, throwers and jumpers.

            End of season workouts will be shorter with the emphasis on strategies and technique.  We will at this point be very familiar with the athlete’s strengths and weaknesses.  We will attempt to provide them whatever we feel is needed to get them to perform at their highest level. We may even practice with other teams as a way of providing a more competitive practice environment.  It will be all in good fun however.

            I encourage you all to ask questions if you don’t understand something.  Feel free to bring anything to my attention, no matter how small you think it is. 

STANDARDS OF CONDUCT & REGULATIONS

1)      Cursing and/or other forms of abusive language including; references to color ethnicity, religion or gender will not be tolerated

2)      Fighting, and/or arguing with staff, teammates, family members or members of an opposing team will not be permitted.

3)      Taking of others property without permission is not allowed.

4)      Leaving early from practice or track meets will not be permitted without first notifying coaches.

5)      We, as a team are responsible for cleaning our practice area, as well as our area in the stands at track meets.

6)      Consistently arriving to practice or track meets late without notifying Coach Marcus will not be permitted.

7)      Parents are not allowed on the track at practice or the infield at track meets unless authorized by coaching staff.

8)      Parents, any concerns, problems with staff, or any other issues should be brought to the attention of Coach Marcus.

Any and all issues will be handled confidentially and in a timely manner.

9)      Athletes need to come prepared to practice and track meets with proper attire, (spikes, running shoes, workout gear...etc

10)  Win, lose or draw, we, as a team will always show good sportsmanship.

11)  To be a member of this team, you must compete in track meets.  Just coming to practice and not competing will not be allowed.