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- A single, co-ed team comprised of 5th through 8th grades.
- All grades and genders compete in meets on same days. Scoring is done at each grade/gender level.
- No prior experience expected from any athlete at any grade level! All abilities welcome!
- Season is roughly mid-March through end of May with about 5-6 meets occurring in April and May, generally Friday evenings or Saturdays.
- Practices are expected to be 2 days per week about 1-1.5 hours each.
- Note: We will work practice times around school play practices/shows and other major school events.
- Meets are generally hosted at local high school tracks.
- You can't participate in Spring Soccer and Track & Field at the same time. Archdiocesan rules state no athlete can compete in two sports whose season calendars overlap.
- Athletes can participate in multiple events per meet and per season. Middle school is a perfect time for kids to experiment and become familiar with their likes, dislikes and abilities across the various events Track & Field offers.
- Events vary by meet, but are categorized into three broad categories:
- Field events: long jump, high jump, discus, shot put [7th & 8th grades], softball throw [5th & 6th grades].
- Sprints, Hurdles & Relay: 50m, 100m, 200m (roughly 1/8 mile), 400m (roughly 1⁄4 mile). Some meets feature 50m and 100m hurdles. Some meets feature 4 x 200m and 4 x 400m relays.
- Distance Runs: 800m (roughly 1⁄2 mile), 1600m (roughly 1 mile)
- Competition occurs at both individual and team levels:
- Athletes compete individually (personal record, season record, individually placing in an event, etc).
- Teams compete per meet at grade and gender levels for points – for example, 5th grade girls all run and compete together at a team level in each meet separate from other grade levels.
- Athletes will learn:
- the structure and scoring of a track & field competition.
- different athletic requirements of each event.
- proper warm up and cool down techniques.
- impact of nutrition, hydration and rest on athletic performance.
- steady growth in abilities – training schedule that incorporates both pushing limits plus rest.
- specific techniques for each event; ability to try different events at practices and meets to gauge interest and abilities.
- sportsmanship; individual improvement during a single season and over multiple seasons; team unity.
- Build relationships with other students across multiple grades – there’s down time at meets in between events where the kids can play games, read, draw and generally get to know each other.
- Only equipment required is a decent pair of athletic shoes and t-shirt, shorts, or athletic pants. Track shoes not required at middle school level, any pair of athletic or running shoes are fine at this age level.
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