Pella Atletieks Track & Field Club

Be sure to check out Upcoming Event information on the right side links of the website. We have posted new info about the AAU National Qualifier to be held here in Pella. This is a BIG meet and if you intend to have your child participate, make sure you get him/her registered ON-LINE by June 22nd. We cannot enter your children in this meet like we can for the USATF State Meet.

All info is contained in the links under Upcoming Events.

Monday, June 8th
Sub-Bantam 3:15 - 4:00
Bantam and Younger Midgets 4:00 - 5:00
Youth and Older 6:00 - 7:30 (Speed, Blocks, Long Jump)

Tuesday, June 9th
Older Midgets - 3:00 - 4:00
Youth and Older 4:00 - 5:00 (Stamina and Hurdles)

Wednesday, June 10th
Bantam and Young Midgets 3:00 - 4:00
Older Midgets 4:00 - 5:00
Youth and Older 5:30 - 7:00 (Speed End., High Jump, Throws)

Thursday, June 11th
Sub-Bantam 3:15 - 4:00
Older Midgets - 4:00 - 5:00

Friday, June 12th
Bantam and Young Midgets 4:30 - 5:30
Youth and Older: (Event Specific)
5:30 - 6:15 Hurdles / Distance
6:15 - 7:00 High Jump / Long Jump
7:00 - 7:30 Throws

Another successful week for the Pella Atletieks club. I saw some great performances at the Hershey's meet on Friday and many personal records (PRs) and excellent efforts at the Little Panther Relays on Saturday. Way to go everyone!
There are 4 weeks until the big meet, the AAU National Qualifier. I like to structure training in a cyclical fashion. This means every few weeks, approximately 1 out of 4, I will cut training back to allow for recovery and restoration. Research shows that you can't push athletes week after week without scheduled breaks and keep your athletes healthy, both physically and mentally. This goes double for young athletes. Therefore, this week will be one of those weeks we "back-off" in training. We have been practicing consistently for 6 weeks. Taking a break now allows for 2 weeks of increased work and 1 easy week prior to the AAU weekend. Not to mention it syncs well with the last days of school for the Pella athletes and the beginning of summer workouts at Central.
Finally, now that school is coming to a close, we will start summer hours. This means practices will be earlier in the afternoon to avoid summer workouts of the Central athletes.

Contact me with questions.

Monday, June 1st
Off

Tuesday, June 2nd
Youth and Older - 6:00PM - 7:30PM
Objective- Speed, Acceleration, & Power

Wednesday, June 3rd
Sub-Bantam 3:00 - 3:45
Bantam and Young Midgets 3:45 - 4:30
Older Midgets 4:30 - 5:15

Thursday, June 4th
Youth and Older - 3:30 - 5:00
Objectives- Stamina

Friday, June 5th
Off

A reminder to parents about the weather. If severe weather breaks out during practice, you need to come pick up your athlete as soon as possible. I will have the athletes either under the stadium or in the field house by the west doors closest to the track. My cell phone is 641.780.1503 if you need to contact me.

Here is the practice schedule for this week. There is no practice today, due to Memorial Day.

Tuesday, May 26th: Cancelled due to weather

Wednesday, May 27th:
Bantam-Young Midget (3rd and 4th graders) 5:00 - 6:00
Older Midget (5th & some 6th) 6:00 - 7:00
Youth and Older (7th, 8th and 9th) 7:00 - 8:00

Thursday, May 28th:
Sub-Bantam 5:00 - 5:30
Bantam-Young Midget 5:30 - 6:00
Older Midget 6:00 - 6:30
Youth and Older 6:30 - 7:30

Friday, May 29th: Hershey's meet has moved to Central. We will be able to get a workout in before the Hershey's meet begins (Hershey's meet begins at 5:45, so we will attempt to get our practice in beforehand). Thanks to Doug for the suggestion. The practice will be limited to Youth age group and older. Younger athletes may want to compete in the Hershey meet.
4:00 - 4:45PM Hurdles
4:45 - 5:15PM Long Jump
5:15 - 5:45PM Shot Put @ Shot Put Rings

Just a reminder that the two track meets that are slated for Friday in Pella and Saturday in Knoxville require pre-registration. If you plan to run in the Pella Hershey's track meet, you can register at the Pella Community Center.
Deadline to register is Wednesday, May 27 at 4:30PM. The event is free.

The Knoxville Panther Relays pre-registration has passed. You may register at the gates the day of the meet.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: All registrations must be received by Friday, May 22nd, 2009 in order to receive a T-shirt the day of the meet. Late registrations will be accepted the day of the meet from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m., and will be $25. (No T-shirt guarantee for late registrations) For more information contact Mike Cunningham at 641-842-6155.

For those of you interested in competing in the Hershey's Track Meet located in Oskaloosa, IA you may contact Carrie Blommers @ blommers@wildbluepella.org. The meet will be held on Wednesday evening, May 27th at the Oskaloosa Track. I believe registration for the Oskaloosa Hershey's meet must be completed by this Friday, May 22nd. If you contact Carrie, she can get you registered and give you the specifics on the meet.

Those of you planning to run in the Pella Hershey's Meet, must be registered at the Community Center by Wednesday, May 27 at 4:30PM in Pella, IA. There is NO fee for this meet.

Just a note on the age groupings. Last week I made some adjustments to accommodate our growing numbers. I put the sub-bantams in their own age group. Sub-bantams are basically those athletes born 2001 or later or 2nd grade and younger. The bantams are those born in 2000 or 1999 and are typically 3rd graders or 4th graders. The young midget group (one of the largest groups we have) are the athletes that are born 1998 and possible 4th graders. The advanced or older midgets are our 5th graders and maybe 6th graders (born 1998 or 97). Finally, our youth and intermediate groups are our older 6th graders, 7th, & 8th graders (born 1996 - 94).
These groupings are to facilitate our practices and do not change the USATF competition age groups. If you're unsure of your child's practice groups or have an athlete on the fence and wants to practice with other athletes in their grade level or friends just talk to me.

Sub-Bantam (2nd grade and younger)
Bantam & Young Midget (3rd - 4th graders)
Advanced Midgets (5th and 6th)
Youth & Older (7th & 8th)

Let the 3 ring circus begin! Practices will be a bit scattered until school is out. We are adding two more age groups (youth and intermediates) to the mix now that MS track is complete. Once school is dismissed, I will be able to schedule a more consistent block of time to each age group. So bear with me as I try to organize the various age groups and event particulars.
Later this week I will send and post some detailed information on the research and thoughts that drive my workouts. For those new to the club, there will always be a speed and power day for all athletes regardless of event. Speed is a critical biomotor ability for any athlete in any event so it gets its own special day. Also, event specifics will not be taught everyday. For example a hurdler or a thrower may not hurdle or throw during a practice, but the work that is scheduled is still planned with them in mind and will benefit them. The younger athletes (Bantam on down) will always do a little of everything. Well rounded athletes is a primary goal for our club.

School is still in session, so I am trying to keep the number of practice opportunities within a reasonable limit.

Monday-
5:15-6:00 Sub-Bantams
7:00-8:00 Youth & Older

Tuesday-
5:00-6:00 Bantams and Young Midgets
6:00-7:00 Advanced Midgets
7:00-8:00 Youth & Older

Wednesday-
5:00-5:30 Bantam & Young Midgets
5:30-6:00 Advanced Midgets

Thursday-
5:15-6:00 Sub-Bantams
6:00-7:00 Bantams & Young Midgets
7:00-8:00 Advanced Midgets

Friday- Event Specific
5:00-5:30 Shot Put Only for Midget, Youth, & Older (Only athletes wanting to compete in the shot put/multi-events, not for all athletes!)
5:30-6:30 Hurdles & Distance Only for Midget, Youth, & Older (Only athletes wanting to compete in the hurdles, multi-events, & 800m & up, not for all athletes!)
6:30-7:30 High Jump Only for Midget, Youth, & Older (Only athletes wanting to compete in the high Jump/multi-events, not for all athletes!)

*Notice* The open blocks of time on Monday and Wednesday are there so I can watch my daughters play softball.

A big weekend for the Atletieks. Compliments to all the athletes who participated this weekend. We had a small, but tough crew at the Lone Tree AAU meet on Saturday. The weather was barely tolerable and a handful of athletes (Samantha, Corin, Annika, & Jordan) stuck it out and competed well. Then, early Sunday morning, (Wade P.) competed in the Jordan Creek Duathlon (2 mile run + 18 mile bike+ 2.5 mile run). To wrap up the weekend, a large contingency of runners again handled less than ideal temperatures to compete in the Grinnell USATF meet. Good performances were had by all. Several coaches commented positively on Pella's larger numbers and strong performances.

We will post results and pictures as soon as I transpose my notes and have time to upload the images. Look for them by Tuesday of this week. As far as results go, I will post my times and distances. I did not get all place finishes, so I will leave them off. If parents want to email me their athlete's places, I will add them to the result sheet.

Definitely a good start to a successful summer!