Pella Atletieks Track & Field Club

We are attaching the AAU National Qualifier info. It is important that you remember to register ON-LINE by June 22nd in order to participate in this meet. YOU CANNOT REGISTER AT THE GATES for this meet...all sign-ups must be done ON-LINE...you can edit your on-line entries up to the deadline. This meet is the AAU meet that is being held in Pella, IA @ Central College June 25, 26, 27, 28. Athletes that place in the top 6 of their event(s) will be eligible to move on the the AAU National Olympic Games to be held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, IA. This meet will be highly competitive, so think carefully about the races you have your child enter and have reasonable expectations for him/her. We want our athletes to have fun, learn to set their own personal goals and find personal accomplishment in meeting those individual goals!

The link that you will want to use to register for this meet is at:

http://www.coachoregistration.com/cgi-bin/login.pl?cd=nq_iaaau

Enter your child as a member of the Pella Atletieks TF Club if you can, then proceed to register your child for the events he or she can participate in. If you are asked to provide the Pella team PIN number, e-mail us for that info.

Questions? Don't hesitate to contact us.

We have been working with Marv Allen (director of Iowa-AAU Track and Field program) and Central College to have the 2009 Area 12 AAU Junior Olympic National Track and Field Qualifier hosted here in Pella! (June 25-28) Not only will this meet bring fantastic running competition from the surrounding midwestern states, but it gives our athletes a special opportunity to participate in a highly competitive track meet right here in town!

Eventually, we will be looking for parent volunteers to help with some aspects of the meet, however most of the 4 day event will be directed and organized by Iowa-AAU. This is the state of Iowa pre-qualifier for athletes that are hoping to finish in the top 6 of their category and move on to the prestigious 2009 AAU National Olympic Games to be held at DRAKE STADIUM in Des Moines this summer. (See events calendar for info.)

Folks, this is a BIG TIME opportunity not only for our town to host so many great athletes and families from around the midwest, but it is also an exciting venue for our club athletes! Spread the word.

Today's practice has an objective of work capacity. Work capacity or endurance is one of the 5 biomotor abilities (strength, speed, flexibility, coordination, and endurance) present in all sports. We have introduced the other 4 already. Our dynamic warm-up works on our coordination and flexibility, while our last three practices have addressed strength and speed. Work capacity will be addressed in three ways. A general strength circuit utilizing body weight strength exercises, a stair circuit that targets specific strength needs, and an interval session on the track to meet energy system requirements and an introduction to pacing. See attached document for specifics.

For those of you following along on your own, here is the workout for today. It is set-up to develop speed and acceleration qualities. Every event from the shot put to the 3000m requires speed to be successful. Also, available research highlights two distinct developmental periods for suitable for the training of speed qualities. All of our young athletes fall within one of those two speed development windows. Therefore, speed will always be the focus of at least one of our practices each week.

We will also introduce hurdling as a skill set. Hurdling can be a daunting undertaking if not done correctly. I cringe when I see athletes lumbering over hurdles that are too high and too far apart to promote good mechanics and a speed rhythm between hurdles. It is more troublesome to break bad habits later on then to take the time to learn at a developmentally appropriate hurdle height and distance. Even though hurdling is not available until the midget age class, we will introduce the skill to younger athletes also. It is a nice complement to our speed development and acceleration skill set.

I am utilizing the same skills we have used the last two practices, but I am introducing some wrinkles to the drills. I am also including some game style elements to the practice to keep it engaging.

See the attached document for practice details.

Track practice for next week will be on April 28 and 29 at Central College.

Sub-Bantam division (Birthdate is 2001 or later) Practice time: 6:15-7:00 PM
Bantam (Birthdate is in 1999 or later) Practice time: 6:15-7:00 PM

Midget………………birthdate is 1997 & 1998 Practice time: 7:00-8:00 PM
Youth………………..birthdate is 1995 & 1996 Practice time: 7:00-8:00 PM
Intermediate…………birthdate is 1993 & 1994 Practice time: 7:00-8:00 PM

The Knoxville Panther Track Club will sponsor a youth track and field meet on Saturday, May 30th, 2009.
Registration Form is available as an attachment. You can download and send to Mike Cunningham. Info is on the registration form.

AGE GROUPS: (Age as of May 30th, 2009)

Class A – 6 and under * Trophies to 1st, Medals 2-6 indiv. events
Class B – 7 and 8 * Medals 1st-6th in 4 x 100m
Class C – 9 and 10 * Every Participant receives T Shirt
Class D – 11 and 12 * Maximum of three events per contestant
Class E – 13 and 14 * You may go up a class, but not down

SCHEDULE: Field events will begin at 10:00 a.m. Track events will begin immediately following the field events, approximately 11:00 a.m. They will run girls first, then boys.
(Example; A – Girls, then A – Boy, B – Girl, then B – Boy)

RUNNING EVENTS FIELD EVENTS
100 M Dash A-B-C-D-E Long Jump A-B-C-D-E
1500 M Run C-D-E (Two pits, one girls, and one boys)
70 M Hurdles D-E High Jump D-E
400 M Dash A-B-C-D-E (All girls in both classes, then boys)
200 M Dash A-B-C-D-E Shot Put B-C-D (6#) E (8#)
800 M Run A-B-C-D-E Discus C-D-E
200m Hurdles D-E
4 x 100 Relay B-C-D-E
*Relay teams are responsible for forming their own teams!

REGISTRATION FEE: $20.00 includes 3 events and a T-shirt. All registrations must include the ENTRY FORM, and FEE. Registrations should be mailed to Mike Cunningham, 1187 127th Place, Knoxville, IA 50138.

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.

Attached is tonight's workout for those of you not able to make it to practice. We are focusing of speed/power. We will always focus on speed/power early in the week when the neuromuscular system is the freshest. The exercises are similar to last week but arranged differently to facilitate efficient delivery to a large number of athletes. Contact me with questions. Additional workouts for the remainder of the week will be posted later this evening.

For those new to USA Track and Field, the following link has the events that your child may choose to participate in according to their age division. Your child's birthDATE determines their category...not their AGE on the day they participate. So check carefully.
SUB-BANTAM only has the 100, 200 and 400M for athletes to compete in. Sub-Bantam athletes MAY participate in the BANTAM categories, but will obviously be competing with older athletes if they choose to move up to this division.

http://www.usatf-iowa.org/docs/youth/Age%20Group%20Events.htm

Next week we will only be able to schedule ONE practice due to Jr. High meets (3 meets next week), Central College meets (1 meet) and Drake Relays next week. Practice will be Monday, April 20th.

Sub-Bantam division (Birthdate is 2001 or later) Practice time: 6:15-7:00PM
Bantam (Birthdate is in 1999 or later) Practice time: 6:15-7:00 PM

Midget………………birthdate is 1997 & 1998 Practice time: 7:00-7:45PM
Youth………………..birthdate is 1995 & 1996 Practice time: 7:00-7:45PM
Intermediate…………birthdate is 1993 & 1994 Practice time: 7:00-7:45PM

Enjoying an outing at Drake Relays would be a great way to expose your child to the different events and how they are run, plus you will get to watch some incredible runners, jumpers and throwers! LoLo Jones will be gracing the track; you won't want to miss her!

Coach Pingel will post work-outs that your child can do next week if you can get to the track on your own.

Also...make sure you get your uniform and apparel order in to Phil Hemming at the Sports Page by Wednesday, April 22nd. We have extended the deadline for orders by a few days to make sure those of you who want to wear the official track uniforms, can. Remember: Kids do NOT have to wear the official uniform, but must if they think they may run in a relay. Relay participants must ALL wear the same uniform for their club team.

Info TBA