Recap of Track & Field Programs
Orientation Meeting
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Middle School Auditorium

A meeting was held in the Middle School Auditorium to review with the community the district’s plans for upcoming Track & Field Programs at South Fayette.  Coach Mike Heiser - Head Track Coach, Coach Doug Sauers - Assistant Track Coach and Cross-Country Coach, and Gary Hirsch - Volunteer Track Coordinator discussed the overall Track & Field efforts and requirements of participation in the upcoming programs.  The following is a brief review of that meeting.

School Programs

The official Track & Field Programs for South Fayette will be Fall Cross-Country, Winter Indoor Track and Spring Outdoor Track. 

The Fall Cross-Country season began this fall with both a boys and girls team competing as an independent.  This was due to the teams being formed after the official entry period had passed for WPIAL team recognition.  Cross-Country season runs from mid-August thru mid-November.  Although this year’s season was for the High School only, it is anticipated that the 2007-2008 school year will include a Junior High program (Grades 7& 8).  This, however, is subject to Board approval of the program at the Junior High level.

The Winter Indoor Track season runs from mid-November through February.  Since there is no Indoor Track WPIAL program for Junior High, this will be for High School only.  Signups for this program will occur the last two weeks of October and will be advertised through normal channels at the school.

The Spring Outdoor Track season runs from March through May.  However, except for athletes who qualify to go to States at the end of the season, the program will normally end around the end of April.  For the 2006-2007 school year, this program will be for High School only.  However, as with the Cross-Country effort, it is anticipated that the 2007-2008 school year will include a Junior High program (Grades 7& 8).  This also is subject to Board approval of the program for Junior High.

One of the areas of concern for some parents was the fact that there was no official school program for the 5th/6th Grade students.  Unfortunately, this has to do with the fact that WPIAL programs are non-existent at that level.  These students will, however, be able to participate in the Summer Track & Field Club Program.  This program is explained in more detail below.

Physicals

School Physicals are required to participate in all track programs, as is the case with all other sports.  With the implementation of the comprehensive physical program at South Fayette, the paperwork submitted at the start of the year will apply for Track & Field as long as those sports were checked as a sport in which the student was planning to participate.  If they were not checked, it will be necessary for any interested student to get their doctor’s approval for them to train and compete.

Summer Program

Due to the success of last summer’s track program, it is our intent to offer an expanded summer program this upcoming summer.  The South Fayette Track Club will continue the program from April through July and it will be for all youth participants in the same 6 categories as last summer.  Those categories are;  Sub-Bantam (8 & under), Bantam (9&10), Midget (11&12), Youth (13&14), Intermediate (15&16), and, Young Men/Women (17&18).  In addition to the abbreviated list of events we offered last summer due to the lack of equipment, summer 2007’s events will include all hurdle events as well as the high jump and pole vault.

It is important to note that any athletes participating in the school’s Spring Outdoor Track program will not be able to participate in the summer program until they have completed their season at the end of April or, for those competing in States, the end of May.  Also, although the summer season will be scheduled through July for those wishing to compete in July USATF regional meets, the “official” end of our summer season will culminate with a sponsored USATF local meet to be held at our own South Fayette Stadium on Saturday, June 30, 2007!  This will be a sanctioned USATF meet where our athletes will be able to compete with athletes from all the clubs participating in the Three Rivers Track Association.  It will be comparable to last August’s season-ending Track Meet on a much larger scale.

It was noted that all of this year’s participants have already received notice from the Three Rivers organization about the discount offered through October for next year’s dues before the fees go up.  A separate notice was sent to all participants to get their dues paid early.  Membership in the Three Rivers association is required to participate in the South Fayette Track Club.  The insurance coverage alone is worth the investment.

Booster Clubs

There was a discussion about the necessity to have Booster Clubs formed for both the school track programs and the South Fayette Track Club.  It is the Booster organizations that sponser any invitational track meets and make the money for doing so.  Those funds can then be used for any purpose the Booster organization deems appropriate.  It is Coach Heiser’s intent to host our first school invitational on April 21, 2007 and we anticipate a good response and turnout due to the ability to use our new facilities.  We will need a large number of parent volunteer’s to help organize the meet and handle concessions.

Similarly, the parent’s organization associated with the South Fayette Track Club will be responsible for organizing and running the USATF sponsored meet on June 30, 2007.

There will undoubtedly be a lot of parents involved with both booster organizations.  However, it is necessary to keep them separate due to the fact that one is an official school program and the other is an independent club authorized to use the facilities as a community organization.

Should anyone have questions, feel free to email Coach Heiser at coach11@comcast.net or Gary Hirsch at gwhirsch@compuserve.com and watch the South Fayette web site for announcements about upcoming Track & Field signups.