Cross Country Coach
Roles and Responsibilities
January
- Submit application for field use and pavilion rental at Pine Park. Will need $100 (get from Treasurer) and Certificate of Insurance which you can get from the Church Secretary.
March
- Track & Field and Cross-country share certain items like uniforms, walkie-talkie, megaphone, stop watch, cones and clipboards. Give those items to the Track & Field Coach as they will be needed as Track & Field comes into season.
May
- Must attend scheduling meeting of the North Area Coaches to set schedule for fall season.
- Prepare the practice and meet calendar in Excel
- Create Excel sheet for recording times and Meet results
June
- Track & Field and Cross-country share certain items like uniforms, walkie-talkie, megaphone, stop watch, cones and clipboards. Get those items form the Track & Field Coach now that there season has ended.
- Order any needed replacement uniforms from Play-2-Wear (724) 473-8470. They have the Logo on file. Typically small sizes are needed.
- Submit Field use application and Certificate of Insurance (obtain from Church Secretary) to the AD office at North Allegheny High School for use of the fields surrounding Marshall Middle School.
- Contact Paul at LA Photos (412) 487-7624 and set a date for individual and team pictures. Typically scheduled for the second 1/2 day of school during the first week back from summer vacation.
July
- You will receive a list of those students that have registered for Cross-Country. Send a letter of introduction and the season calendar.
- Send your runners a document with tips for running.
- Start practice by the third week of July.
- Typically practice will consist of Marshall Middle school on Tuesday evening, Pine Park on Friday morning and an optional speed training session on Sunday night at Pine-Richland High School track.
- Prepare label with each runners name, school and division listed.
August
- Get approval from school Principal to allow the runners to keep water bottles in their locker so they can hydrate all day particularly on Meet and practice days.
- Should schedule require it school principal must also be contacted to arrange for early dismissal. This is often required for the varsity Fox Chapel Invitational the 3rd week of September.
- Send families procedures for dismissal on Meet and practice days.
- Send out parent assignments for jobs when we host a Meet.
- Get a parent volunteer to coordinate snack for team provided on Meet days.
- Give Snack Parent a printout of the team to mark down families who have paid the $5 per child snack fee.
- Two weeks prior to pictures, confirm with photographer and pick up photo envelopes from school office and distribute to runners at practice.
- Distribute uniforms
- Send email regarding the slippery Rock and Fox Chapel Invitation’s. Parents must respond if their child will run or not by the first Friday of September.
- Hold two practice meets at the end of the month so new runners can experience racing conditions and parents can be trained in the various jobs.
- Prior to one of your last home meets, schedule an 8th grade recognition. Here is some information about this process.
- Communicate to the team when the 8th grade recognition is. Ask for a parent volunteer to coordinate the process. Have the parent volunteer coordinate the following:
- The 7th graders should make some signs to be posted at the venue to recognize each player.
- Purchase a carnation or a rose for each player to be handed to them during the ceremony.
- Purchase balloons so that each 8th grader and their parent can walk through.
- Send out an email with a list of questions that each 8th grader must answer and return to the coach. A list of these questions can be found HERE.
- At the recognition, introduce each player and their parents one at a time. Have them come forward to accept the flower and walk towards the spectators. At this time the coach should be reading the answers to the questions the 8th grader previously provided.
- It is the coaches option to introduce or not introduce the 8th graders from the other team, however the SAAA does NOT reimburse the cost of flowers for the visiting team and therefore does not recommend that they are provided.
- Communicate to the team when the 8th grade recognition is. Ask for a parent volunteer to coordinate the process. Have the parent volunteer coordinate the following:
October
- Let the SAAA know if any Diocesan Championships where won so the banners can be updated.
- Give any Diocesan Championship trophies to the SAAA to be included in the trophy case. A plaque with the winning names and the coaches maybe added at the SAAA expense. Keep it under $20.