The Northlea News

Cross Country @ Northlea

Northlea Cross Country 2017

If you ran with us last year, we're happy to have you back.  If this is your first year, welcome!  We're looking forward to another fun and successful year of cross country running!  

 

There's a lot of important information to know about our 2017 season, so please review this package carefully and ask us if you have any questions.

 

Special thank you to the staff and parent leads on this enormous undertaking.  Teamwork makes the dream work!

 

Teacher Chair - Mrs. Ossher 

Teacher Coaches - Ms. Cioban, Mrs. Fazl, Ms. Butts, Mr. Benedict, Mrs. Lanktree,  Mrs. Gatt, Ms. Resnick, Mr. Card,  Mrs. Siurna 

 

Parent Co-Chairs - Megan O'Connell & Alexis De Castro

Parent Coordinators - Christina Snelson, Anne Baston, Nicole Cooper

Parent Coaches - Jodie Wolkoff, Amy White, Meghan Buttle, Paige Purvis, Greg Robertson, Teresa Bayley, Janis Morris, Eric Morris, Sarah Anderson, Laura Weir, Al Pribaz, Natasha Kent, Sue Pribaz, Anna De Maio, Lucy Winston, Christine Voykin, Carita Wong, Akiyo Hattori, Mark Arsenault, Roger Guttormson, Sandra King, Peter O'Connell,  Sam King, Jacques Beauregard, Nancy Baillie, Eran Gilady, Nigel Gray, Richard Rivard, Claude Lukawesky, Kristen Ruttan, Leslie Gibson

 

Forms & Fee: 

Please ensure your forms are returned to us by no later than September 8th.  Boxes will be outside every morning at training where you or your child can leave your forms. We want the option of taking certain groups off-site and we can't do that unless we have your forms. Cost for grade 1 is $10, cost for Grades 2-8 is $20.  Our priority is to ensure that all students can access this opportunity.  If finances are a barrier to involvement, please be in touch with Ms. Sandler.  Concerns about finances will be handled with discretion and will remain confidential.  Our priority is to ensure that all of our students can access this opportunity.  

 

You can find a copy of the parent permission form here:

cross country permission form 2017.pdf

 

As is the case with most programs, you get what you put in. The more your child attends training, the better they're going to be prepared for races. We cannot allow runners who do not regularly attend training to participate in the races so please ensure your child is coming to a minimum of three mornings a week.

 

In the event of a heavy rain, training will be cancelled and the Twitter account @NorthleaXC will be updated.  The website (www.northleaschool.ca) will likely also be updated with that message but Twitter will be updated first so that is the primary site we ask you to reference updates about training on days with questionable weather.

 

Injuries/Illness:

If your child is injured and unable to run or not feeling well,  DO NOT bring them to training.  We don't have the manpower to supervise individual children who can not run.  Feel free to speak to one of us if your child is consistently missing training due to injury.

 

Respect and Code of Conduct:

We will require EVERY participant to sign the Cross Country Code of Conduct.  This code must be followed at all times while training or attending races.  If this code is breached, appropriate measures will be taken.  If you have any issues, please come and speak to one of us.

 

Off Site: 

This year, only grades 4-8 will be participating in off-site training.  We hope to begin off-site training during the second week of school.  A schedule of off-site days is below on this page. If your child is uncomfortable going off-site or would prefer to do the on-site training, they are welcome to come another day or join another age group staying at the school for training.

 

Correspondence:

All information will be sent to you via our co-ordinators. Please ensure you have filled out your email address clearly on the attached forms to ensure you receive all the information (and there will be lots!).

 

CTAC Race & Brock Gordon:

The Central Toronto Athletic Club usually hosts a race in September but unfortunately their permit was not renewed and the race will not be happening this year. The Brock Gordon however, is open to kids in all grades.  It's being held at Thomson Park at Brimley and Lawrence. It's a beautiful cross country course and we recommend all kids participate if they're available. Please watch out for your opportunity to sign up. More info to come.

 

Grade 1 & 2 *New this year*

We've made some changes to the program for our smallest runners this year. Grade 1's will be training twice a week (every Tuesday and Thursday) and Grade 2's will be training three times a week (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday) between 8:00am -8:30am. Grade 1's will only participate in the Northlea Race (see below). 

 

Adult supervision is MANDATORY for all grade 1 & 2's participating in Cross Country. This is not a drop-off program. Our volunteers are busy with training and are not able to provide one on one attention or accompany individual children into the school for washroom visits. If your child is in the daycare, please speak to them to ensure proper supervision. If a parent can not attend, please designate another parent to oversee your child.

 

Grade 1 and 2 Northlea Race:

Given the limited racing for the grade 1's and 2's, we will be hosting a race just for them one morning at Northlea on Friday October 13th.  We will not be including the Grade 3's this year as they have the option of moving on to the Conference Final race. There will be no more training for the grade 1's and 2's after this race.

 

Training Time Grades 3-8:

Grades 3-8 will train every day between 7:45 am - 8:30 am. In the event of a heavy rain, training will be cancelled and the @NorthleaXC Twitter feed will be updated with that message.

 

Spirit Wear:

All runners at TDSB races MUST be wearing a Northlea shirt or risk being disqualified.

Our signature Northlea shirts can be ordered online at:

 

http://northleaschool.entripyshops.com/youth-pro-team-tee

DON'T FORGET TO ORDER LIME GREEN

 

Feel free to order other articles of clothing, there are lots of options!  They need 7-8 business days for delivery, so please order early to ensure you've got your swag for the first race!

 

TDSB Races:

This year, only grades 2-8 will be travelling to TDSB races.  There are three TDSB races. The grade 2's only participate in the first race, the grade 3's have the option to move on to the second race and grades 4-8 have the option of moving on to the City finals.

*Starting in 2018, only grades 3-8 will travel to TDSB races.

 

The dates are as follows:   

Zone Race:  October 4th

Conference Final: October 16th

City Final:  October 26th

 

We are both at every practice in the morning.  If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to speak to us at training or email us at alexisdecastro@outlook.com or meganoco1@me.com.

 

Looking forward to a great season!

 

Off-Site Schedule and Safety Information

All runners are covered for neighbourhood excursions as per the "Permission to Participate in Off-Site, Walking Excursions" Consent Form sent home in the September Package.

Safety Information for Off-Site Running

We love taking our runners off-site. It's a great way to introduce our kids to cross country, prepare them for the races and have some fun!  We've put together some information for everyone to ensure all our runners are safe while we're out in our neighbourhood.

  • All runners are expected to listen  to the teacher and parents at all times.
  • The off-site location is located adjacent to the Rehabilitation facility at the entrance to Sunnybrook Park.
  • Each group will have one staff member and two parent volunteer coaches to ensure proper supervision.
  • Staff will accompany runners to and from the off site location via Sutherland Drive only.  Once there, the runners will be allowed to:
    • Run on the hill at the entrance to the park with adults placed at the bottom, middle and top of the hill.
    • Follow the trail behind the