EAST VIEW CROSS COUNTRY

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1 Athletes/Parents, Welcome to the 2017 Eastview High School Cross Country Team. We are very excited to have the opportunity to work with everyone this year! A strong Coach-Athlete-Parent relationship is instrumental in helping build and maintain a strong Cross Country program. Below you will find information about the team including: practices, expectations, meet schedules. COMMUNICATION Communication between parents, athletes, trainers and coaches is integral to a strong program. If you would like to discuss how your son or daughter is progressing, please contact us: Coach Mike Burton burtonm@georgetownisd.org phone: x8180 Coach Sarah Burton burtons@georgetownisd.org phone: x8223 Please do not hesitate to contact either of us with any concerns you may have. We also have our own website. In order to get to our team website, you simply need to visit Eastview High School main page, click on Student Activities, then click Cross Country. Here you will find schedules, records, and announcements. In addition, we would love for you to receive all the information that you may need each week to stay informed about team activities. Each week we a newsletter entitled The Running Patriot. This newsletter includes the results of the meet from the previous week, directions to the upcoming meet, any changes in the schedule and other information we feel is pertinent. It is very important that you, as a parent, read this newsletter each week as it contains information that you need to know. These newsletters will be available on the Cross-Country website, and ed to you as well. Other important contacts: EVHS Athletic Trainers: Cody Boling - Marissa Washington - BolingC@georgetownisd.org x8122 WashingtonM@georgetownisd.org x8109 XC/Track Booster Club: TBD

2 ATHLETE EXPECTATIONS As a member of the East View Cross Country team each athlete is expected to: 1. Maintain good academic standing pass all classes. Students who earn below 70 may not participate in meets. They do still practice. If failing grades become habitual the athlete will be dismissed from the team. 2. Be a positive example to teammates, parents, and the community wherever they may go. Be selective in their social activities. 3. Maintain good training procedures including proper nutrition, hydration, rest, and injury management. Cross Country runners are athletes 24-hours a day, not just during the hours they spend running. It s the other 23 hours a day that will separate the good from the great. Athletes should have a water bottle with them at all times. 4. Attend and participate in all practices and meets including those scheduled on school holidays. If an athlete misses practice for any reason, they will not be able to attend the next cross-country meet. Please notify a coach prior to missing (either , or through our group chat). 5. Properly care for equipment loaned to them. Missing equipment items will be paid for. 6. Be familiar with the rules and tactics of Cross Country. 7. Keep parents informed of all team activities. 8. Report on time to all team functions. Arrival at the practice start time is not on time. If you re early, you re on time. If you re on time, you re late. If you re late, you re rude. Be ready to run at the start time. If you are late to practice, the school will be locked, and we will be out running. We will not come back for you. DO NOT BE LATE. 9. Report all injuries to a coach for referral to the trainers. Athletes/Parents please let the coach and trainers know you are injured before you go to a doctor. 10. Do not complain or whine. If early mornings or following our team procedures are a problem, there is an easy solution - find another sport. Failure to meet the team expectations may result in disciplinary action including suspension from meets and/or removal from the team. Coaches reserve the right to suspend any team member for any action considered inappropriate or detrimental to the team. If a team member has a conflict with another school activity, the athlete, the sponsor, and coach will discuss the situation and try to create a compromise that works for everybody. If there is a conflict with an outside school activity, Cross Country will take priority. BUILDING TEAM TRADITIONS It is our hope that the evening before Cross Country Meets, the team gathers at a team member s house, or local establishment for a team dinner. This will be organized completely by the athletes and their parents. If a parent would like to host a team dinner, we are happy to add that information to our weekly newsletter. At the close of every meet, the entire program gathers to reflect on the meet. This is a symbol of our team unity and the significance of every individual to the success of the program. This allows individual athletes and teams to recognize the accomplishments of teammates. Athletes are expected to be present. The Cross Country season culminates with an Awards Banquet. More information about this banquet will be provided closer the end of the season.

3 NUTRITION Water/Gatorade The absolute minimum consumed should be 128 ounces per day (that s one gallon, or 16 eight ounce cups)! The drinking fountain rule applies for school If you pass one, take a drink! Every athlete should have a water bottle with them at all times! Proper nutrition is essential to athletic performance as well as good overall health. A balanced meal of complex carbohydrates, protein, vegetables, fruits, and fluids is best. Athletes should eat before and after every workout and race. Eat something light before morning workouts, such as toast with peanut butter and honey, or a banana. All athletes should eat at least 8 servings of fruit and vegetables each day. During the racing season athletes should refrain from any carbonated drinks. Junk food should be eaten in moderation and must never replace the essentials of a healthy, balanced diet. All athletes need to consume enough calories to maintain their weight. No one should be on a diet. There are some athletes; especially those who are experiencing exercise and good nutritional habits for the first time that will experience weight loss. As a parent, if you suspect your child is not eating properly please bring this to a coach's attention. Required equipment: EQUIPMENT All athletes must have at least one pair of quality running shoes. Two pairs are better than one! It is recommended that you start each season with new shoes to limit the risk of injury. All athletes must get and wear a running watch to practice each day (one that has a stopwatch and is water-resistant). If this is an issue, see me. All athletes will be issued team racing equipment at the start of each season. It is imperative that this equipment is turned in at the end of each season. All athletes will be held responsible for their equipment. If lost or stolen, the athlete will be required to make payment for lost equipment. Suggestions for keeping up with equipment: Athletes should make sure they place their equipment in their locker with the locker locked! Athletes should NEVER loan equipment to someone else. Athletes should always have someone watching their equipment while they are competing. Picking A Shoe: Quality running shoes generally cost between $75 and $125. The most important factor in choosing a running shoe is comfort. If the shoe fits and is comfortable you are probably OK. If injuries are a problem or there is some biomechanical flaw in a person s running form, the best option is to have your runnering stride and running form evaluated. Most running stores (i.e. Rogue Running, Fleet Feet, etc.) can perform a stride analysis and help to select the optimal running shoe if you are unsure.

4 PRACTICE SCHEDULE Morning Practice : Practices is at 6:15am sharp Monday through Friday. Occasionally, practice times will vary. Please read newsletter and check with your athlete for changes. Mondays : San Gabriel Park. Restrooms near the corner of E. Morrow St and Lower Park Road. We will meet directly at the park and a bus will be available to take athletes back to campus. Tuesday-Friday : EVHS. If you are late, you will be locked out of the school and we will be gone on our run. DO NOT BE LATE! Weekend Practice : Athletes are expected to complete an easy minute run each weekend when not racing on Saturday. Meets : See attached schedule. Also, each newsletter will contain a meet schedule and directions for that week's meet. Cross-country is a morning sport. Typical departure times on meet days are between 5:00 am and 6:00 am. Yes, we know that is early. It is the nature of the sport. Please don t complain about this during the season. If you feel that these times are too early, this may not be the sport for you.

5 BECOMING A CROSS COUNTRY EXPERT: FOR PARENTS This section is especially dedicated to those of you who are new and don t want to go home after a meet and wonder if we won or not. What to Bring? Meet Schedule, lawn chairs, binoculars, water, video or still camera, stopwatch. Parent Expectations: Do not: Coach your athlete at meets. Complain about early mornings, or other procedures ( especially on our athlete group chat). Gather at the starting line with the team at meets. Panic when the athlete throws up on your shoes, has muscle soreness, etc. Expect your athlete to have a good race, every race. Get in the way of the runners on the course at meets. Do: Support the entire team as well as all runners at a meet enthusiastically (not just our runners) Encourage your athlete to be a part of team activities. Understand that not everyone has a great race every week. Expect your child to be tired some mornings, and understand that they are still expected to attend practice. Allow your child to fail. Be willing to help when needed and be willing to simply watch and cheer when not needed. Feel comfortable enough to ask Coach Burton about anything. We were all new to the sport at one point. Make sure your child is on time. Model a positive attitude by not complaining about early practice times, long meets, team procedures, etc. Have a great time watching an exceptional group of hard-working kids compete in the great sport of Cross Country. PLEASE KEEP IN MIND After a race, a runner will possibly be more physically spent than you would anticipate. They may exhibit rubbery knees, general weakness, the appearance of fainting, glassy eyes, nausea, and salivating (what a fun sport, huh?). This usually passes quickly. There are trainers at each meet to treat any more serious problems. Many of these can be avoided with proper hydration.

6 Scoring or We came! We ran!? How did we do? Cross Country is a true team sport. Every person on the team has an effect on the team s outcome. You can compare team scoring in cross country to the game of golf: low score wins. Times do not affect team scores (usually). Typically, each varsity and junior varsity team can run between seven and ten runners (sometimes more). Each individual finishing a race is issued a card in the finish chute with that individual s finish place written on it (These cards must be turned in to the Coach or manager) For example, the first finisher gets #1, the second #2, etc The places of the first five runners from a team are added together to compute the team score. The sixth and seventh runners on the varsity and all the additional runners on the JV serve to bump an opposing team s score higher by finishing ahead of the opposing runners. Team A Team B Score Bumps Team A s 5 th runner If there is a tie in the team score, the tie is broken by comparing the finish of the sixth runner on each team. There have been state championships decided this way. EVERY RUNNER ON THE TEAM IS IMPORTANT! Whether you finish first or 800 th, your performance is important, if not to the score of the meet, at the very least, to the overall attitude and work ethic of the program. Race Tactics Cross Country racing on the surface appears to be simple, right? The fastest runner wins, how tough can it be? The important thing to remember is that Cross Country is a team sport. In fact no other sport emphasizes the meaning of team more. In order to have a good team all of the runners must be able to perform well. Therefore, the most important aspect of cross country tactics is pack running. The most important result of pack running other than the score is the spread or gap time. This is the time from when a team s first runner finishes until their fifth runner finishes. Great teams have spread times of less than 20 seconds. Most good teams have gap times less than 60 seconds. THE CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON This year the District Meet will be held at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock on Friday, October 13. The varsity team must finish in the top three teams at District to advance to the Regional meet. The top four teams at the Regional Meet advance to the State Championship. All other athletes and parents are strongly encouraged to attend all the post-season meets. The Varsity and The Traveling Team The Varsity athletes earn their spots based on performances throughout the Cross Country season. Though rules dictate that a varsity team may have up to seven athletes, only runners who have proven capable of competing at the Regional and State level will compete on the varsity team. This may result in a team of less than seven runners at some meets. Coaches reserve the right to make roster changes to any spots.

7 IN CONCLUSION In deciding to join this team, you have made a commitment to give nothing less than your all to help develop the EVHS team into one of the best distance programs in the state. That may sound like an outrageous goal, but we KNOW that with proper time and determination, we can run with the best. The only thing separating us from the leaders is the countless miles that they have put in. We will get there. We expect 100% commitment not just during practice, but during the other 23 hours of the day that you are not with the team. You are part of a team. Your team members depend on you. This sport is unique, in that one runner can make the difference between 1st place and last place. Don t be the one that holds your team back. RESOURCES Check these out for more information on Cross Country around the state and nation. The team website: EVHS main site, click on Student Activities, and then click on Cross Country For the State of Texas: texastrack.com tx.milesplit.com/ For the National Scene: DyeStat.com For the Nike Cross Nationals Meet information: Publications: Texas Track & Field News Subscriptions - $ Throckmorton St. #806 Fort Worth, TX 76102