Track - Bantam

Bantams First Meet Information...

Hello parents, it's an exciting week. While it has been an interesting start to the season (No track, Rain in Southern California!!!), we are off to the races tomorrow.

I just wanted to share some notes for our first meet. I apologize for the long note. It is a lot of information, and may be confusing to follow if this is your first meet, but it will quickly make sense as the season progresses.

ARRIVAL TIME

The meets will normally start at 8:30am. Please consult the Order of Events and Schedule of Events for a rough idea of when your Bantam will be racing. For Bantams participating in High Jump, 4x100 relay, 1600, or Long Jump, I highly recommend you arrive between 8:00-8:15 to have plenty of time to get ready.

LIVE MEET INFORMATION:

Coaches will be using the Crossbar app for live meet information. For example, we will send out notes to let you know when to send your kids out to warm up for a particular race, ask for relay additions, inform you about a lost child, etc...This is mostly an outgoing service. Personal questions to the coaches in the app during the meet are difficult to keep track of with everything going on. We will do our best to respond to questions when possible.

FIELD RULES:

If your athlete is not participating in an active event, warming up for an upcoming event that has been called, they need to be outside of the infield. There is plenty of space outside the infield for the kids to gather and socialize. If you are a spectator, and not coaching or volunteering, you are not allowed on the infield. Coaches will do their best to help your athletes find their way once on the field. Just ensure you communicate with them to help them understand where to find you after their events.

Also just a reminder that only water is allowed on infield. No food or other beverages are allowed.

MEET STICKERS

Each athlete needs a participant sticker. This will have their name and a barcode/athlete number to allow them to check in and be tracked for each event they participate in. Coaches will have these first thing in the morning. This is the easiest time to get your sticker. For those of you arriving later in the day, please check the app to find out which coach has the remaining stickers that have not been handed out. Please do not have your athlete remove the sticker until they are done with all events for the day.

PA/RACE ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Parents are responsible for listening for events, or monitoring the apps. The coaches on the field will do everything possible to shuttle your kids to their events when possible. Where this is most challenging is when they call the field events (Shot Put, High Jump, Long Jump). So please pay extra attention to those events.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

A schedule of events has been shared. This is VERY approximate. The meet will run as fast as they can run it. Please plan accordingly and arrive much earlier than the scheduled times. Take into account parking (which is often a nightmare), getting acquainted with the venue, getting situated so your athlete knows where to find you, finding a coach to get your race sticker, and getting warmed up and into staging in time. Also keep in mind that every meet is different. Some run very fast. Some run very slow.

Once a race has been staged (i.e. the athletes have been scanned into the system), even if you are walking up and the race hasn’t started yet, you have missed your chance to do that event. We understand this can be frustrating, but it is out of our control.

PROPER ATTIRE & NUTRITION

Please consider the weather, location, and events your child is running when planning your day and attire!

Bring plenty of healthy food, snacks, and water to keep them ready for the potentially long day. Each event tends to sell food, snacks, and beverages. Water will be supplied for all athletes on the infield.

RELAYS

If you are placed on a relay team, or hope to be placed on one at the last minute, please arrive no later than 8:15 AM. This allows us to ensure we have full relay teams. The Bantam relays come up very quickly usually, so we need to assess who is available first thing in the morning, and get them warmed up and ready.

If you signed up for a team, and cannot make it, please let us know as early as possible. This allows us to work with alternates.

If you signed up for a team, and are consistently a no-show without notification, we unfortunately will have to lower your priority in future events to ensure no last minute scrambling to field a team.

If you signed up for a team, and don’t get on a team this week, we will prioritize your athlete to get on a team next week.

Early in the season, we are not trying to field the “fastest” relay team. We are trying to get everyone an opportunity to come out, experience the race, and learn about how they each respond to various roles. As the season progresses, we will start putting more and more competitive teams together. This will start preparing us for our post-season relays. Please encourage your athletes to support all their teammates. They cannot always race with friends, or race with the most competitive teammates unfortunately. We understand the excitement for both, but again, early in the season, we try to help them learn as much as possible before focusing on more competitive teams.

Finally, If your athlete hopes to run on a competitive post-season relay team, they MUST have a recorded 100 (4x100) or 400 (4x400) time at some point during the season. Unfortunately we do not use the “eyeball test” to assess their potential. While overall speed is a primary factor in making it onto our most competitive teams, it is not the only factor. Availability for relay practice later in the season, and consistency running the event throughout the year also play a large part. Please do not wait until the last meet of the year to record an official 100 or 400 time. By then, we have likely started to finalize our post-season teams.

RESTROOM

Please have your child use the restroom before coming out for their events.

SAFETY

As coaches, we do our best to round up the kids before and after races, but it is important you have a plan with your child for where to find you. Their safety and wellbeing is extremely important to us, but unfortunately the events are busy, there is a lot of noise, a lot of kids of all ages, so it is not possible for the coaches to track them all individually. We just recommend having a consistent plan of where to drop them off before a race, where to pick them up after a race, and where to find you if they come looking for you. Worst case scenario, let them know they can always find a coach and let the coach know they need help. We will keep them with us, and try to contact you through the app.

OVER-EVENTING

The race sign-up sheet tries to help you pick your races, and help you understand if you might over-event. Just a reminder, your athlete can participate in 4 events total. This can be 3 running events and 1 field event, or 2 running events and 2 field events. The 4x100 counts towards the total running events. The 4x400 is a “free” event. It will not count towards the total. Some examples:

Athlete 1: 4x100,200,400,800 (Too many running events, all times will be Disqualified)

Athlete 2: 100, Long Jump, High Jump, Shot Put (Too many field events, all times and measurements will be Disqualified)

Athlete 3: 200, 400 (Perfect! No issues)

Athlete 4: 100, 200, 400, Long Jump (Perfect! No Issues)

Athlete 5: 1600, 800, Shot Put, High Jump (Perfect! No Issues)

Athlete 6: 4x100, 400, 800, High Jump, 4x400 (Perfect! The 4x400 is not counted towards the total)

If your child becomes disqualified for over-eventing, all their times will not count towards post-season qualification rules. Furthermore, if they over-event and were part of a relay team, then they will disqualify their entire relay team for the relay race. So if their relay race finished first, but someone is later disqualified, they will not get an official time, and will not receive ribbons for that event.

FINALLY….HAVE FUN!!!

Now that I got all the boring stuff out of the way….do understand that track is a very fun and social sport. The races and events come and go quickly. Most of the fun happens between events. At this age, while we want each athlete to do their best, our goal is always for them to have a great time, improve throughout the season, and continue to want to come back season after season. Please help us provide a positive, fun environment for them! I have been a part of this program for 15 years as a parent and coach, and it really is such a fun time. If your child is not having fun, please let us know so we can figure out how to make the experience better for them.