Champs info & more

Lots of information here. This is the email from Mary Ellen to the coaches.

Here is the post season entry form

Here is the travel info

Coaches,

Sunday is champs. Much information to pass along.

Remind your subnovices that they will race AFTER the cadet boys race this weekend. The last two weeks the cadets have started at about 3:20 for a point of reference. Make sure all your athletes have four (4) pins on their number and they are wearing the CORRECT number. Remind ALL parents that they are to stay behind the red ropes at the finish line. I will have no problem DQing a kid whose parents get in the way. Remind parents that pacing results in a disqualification of the runner. Keep your parents under control!! Hats off to the parents who follow directions.

The only runners who are eligible are those who have completed two races this season. Numbers will be checked at the starting line. The only exception to this rule is the subnovice race Any subnovice who is on a roster is permitted to compete.

Please make certain that all officials (chute people and marshals) are on time for their assignments. It is not fair to the people that you are relieving to make them stay longer than necessary.

Remind your runners that interference (putting out your arms to keep a running from passing, pushing a runner to the outside) can be grounds for a disqualification. Same goes for cutting the course.

Any team that will enter into the team scoring (3 in an age group or 3 in each age group) will have to turn in an index card with your team name, group score and the cards of the top three scorers for your team. I will have extra cards in the event that you forget. The top fifteen (15) finishers in the novice, minor and cadet races will need to turn in your cards to the scorer for the awards. The subnovice will receive all awards in the chute.

Awards will be given out after all the races are completed. Team awards will be handed out at that time also.

Long sleeved t-shirts will be on sale for $13. "Philadelphia CYO" red travel shirts will be available for $8. "Philadelphia CYO Cross Country" magnets will be available for $5. There will also be a limited number of sack packs available for $10. Exact change is always appreciated. Checks are also accepted and can be made out to "Philadelphia CYO Cross Country."

All sweat orders will be available on Sunday. Pease, please, please stop by the finish line and pick up the sweats.

Post season competition:

All runners who are rostered are eligible for the post season. There is no minimum meet requirement. Any high school runner who ran for the CYO is also eligible to participate for us (as long as their high school coach is okay with the idea.) The team uniform is the red "Philadelphia CYO Cross Country" shirt which will be on sale on Sunday and any black shorts or tights. If supplies of the shirts run out on Sunday, I will order more before the regional meet.

There will be a meeting on Wednesday, October 28 for the post season. It will be at St. Anastasia at 7 PM. Any parish who is interested in doing the post season must be represented. If your parish is not there, I will assume that no one is doing the post season. Pass this information on to your parents. Any parent who contacts me after the meeting and claims that they no nothing about the post season will be directed back to their coaches. You will have to deal with them this year because I will not.

At the meeting, we will select our teams. First requirement to be on a team is that the athlete agrees to go to nationals. Any athlete who wants to run in the qualifying meet but not nationals will run as an individual for CYO. The top four finishers from the champs will get first chance to be on the A team. After that, we will go to the list of best times (to be distributed after the champs.) We will go down the list and place runners on teams until all are placed on a team. If we have more than three teams, we have permission to send the extra teams to nationals this year. I think this may be a one time offer so you may want to take advantage of the opportunity. We will try to field as many teams as possible in all the age groups including the subnovice. Please be aware that those runners born in the year 2000 are to compete in the bantom division (3000 meters). The post season competitions are based on year of birth, not grade in school. Some third graders will have to move up and compete with the novices. Last year, we fielded a team of just subnovices competing in the bantom (novice) division.

After teams are selected, paperwork will be turned in. All the entries are being done on line. I have attached a homemade entry form. I will handle all the on line entries since I am the team administrator.

For the regional meet, you will need to turn in:

a completed post season entry form

a copy of the birth certificate

a copy of the AAU card

$20 entry fee (cash or check payable to "Philadelphia CYO Cross Country"

AAU cards can be purchased at www.aausports.org. Go to membership and then to individual membership. Follow the directions. The AAU number is about 15 characters long. The team name is "Philadelphia CYO." The club number is MAATCY7KA0.

We will also collect paperwork and money for the national meet since everyone who participates in the regional can go to nationals this year.

For the national meet, you will need to turn in:

travel sheet (attached)

wavier form (copies will be handed out at the coaches meeting on Sunday)

YES Athletics card (paperwork will be handed out at the coaches meeting on Sunday)

entry fee ($20 for entry and $10 for YES card)

hotel money ($115 per room per night)

This will make life easier for the age group coaches at the regional meet.

I know that this is a ton of information. Pass it on to the parents and let them decide about the post season. I will get practice sites listed on the website this week.

Any questions, call or email me.

Pray that it does not rain too much on Saturday.

Mary Ellen