Athlete’s Daily Role

Club members are expected to represent SFTC in a positive manner both on and off the field and club activities. This includes “myspace”, “facebook”, “instagram” and all social media, as well as activities in which you participate outside of track and field.

Practice Attire

Practice attire must be appropriate in appearance and conducive to the training. Please review the following guidelines:

  • No denim
  • No court shoes, dress shoes or basketball shoes for runners.
  • Sports bras are required as needed and DISCOURAGED from being worn ALONE
  • Wear athletic supporters (jock straps) as needed (those wearing unisuits)
  • No jewelry
  • No obscene artwork/logos
  • No swearing, fighting, disrespecting others
  • Athletes are required to jog 2 laps for warm-up as a group. If you arrive late, you will still have to complete the 2 laps on your own before joining the group.
  • Different coaches have different coaching styles.  An athlete’s ability to adapt to different styles will benefit their training and mental preparation to get them performance ready.

Team Commitment – Relays

Relays are not “a right”. The top performing athletes and alternates will be selected for the relays. There are always more athletes that want to be on the relay teams than we can accommodate. If you are not attending practice you may lose your spot to someone that would like to be on the team. We REQUIRE every athlete to attend every scheduled practice possible. Please text or email the coaches/staff if you will not be at practice. In the selection of a relay team for ex. the 4x100m., the top 2 fastest 100m will be selected for mandatory participation. The remainder of the relay team will be selected by the coaching staff from events such as the 100m, 200m, long jump, and hurdles. If you are a 200m specialist, your 200m time will be converted to what a 100m time would be for potential selection. Within this pool, you must run a 100m at least one within the year and rank in the Top 10 of the club.

Parents must not use withholding practice as a form of punishment for their child. By withholding them from practice; it punishes the rest of the team. This type of absence will not be excused in the selection of a relay team.

Nutrition

“All athletes can benefit from making good food choices that will support consistent training, maximize performance in competition and help maintain good health.” – Lamine Diack IAAF President

Good nutrition is an important part of an athlete’s daily life. Eating and drinking well can allow athletes at all levels of performance to achieve the special goals of their training and competition program. The SFTC coaching staff will provide athletes recommendations and guidelines on good sports nutrition. Your nutritional coach will be Karen Lopez and you are required to keep a nutritional diary for one week. Karen will only help you once you have this information.  SFTC offers a basic nutrition, diet and human kinetics at practices.

Please provide your athlete with a healthy snack for track meets as generally, meets run all day. Sending a child with money to buy stadium food  which is usually not in the best interest of the athlete. Every athlete should also have a water bottle at every practice/meet. If you have a question about meals or snacks please ask your coach.

Basic Nutrition Information

Snack Hints

These high-carbohydrate foods can be packed and taken along for midday snacks, long workouts, or competitions:

  • Breads, bagels and muffin
  • Crackers and pretzels
  • Fig Newtons , oatmeal-raisin cookies
  • Fruit juices, or tomato or V-8 juices
  • Fruit yogurt
  • Frozen yogurt
  • Cereal and milk

Pre-competition Meals

Pre-competition meals should be:

  • Eaten 3-4 hours before the event.
  • High in complex carbohydrate like bread, vegetables and fruit
  • Low in simple sugars like soda pop, sugar and candy bars.
  • Moderate in protein
  • Low in fat
  • Adequate in fluids

All Day Events

Athletes should consider the amount of time between eating and performance when choosing foods at all-day events. Suggested pre-event foods include the following:

One hour before competition:

  • fruit and vegetable juices such as orange or tomato juices, and/or
  • fresh fruit such as bananas, raisins, grapes, oranges, peaches, or watermelon

Two to three hours before competition:

  • fruit juices and fresh fruit, and/or
  • breads, bagels or muffins, with a small amount of cream cheese

Three to four hours before competition:

  • fruit juices and fresh fruit, and
  • breads, bagels or muffins and
  • a light spread of peanut butter or I slice of cheese for breads, or a light
  • spread of cream cheese for bagels, and or
  • a bowl of cereal, with milk or yogurt

Four hours or more before competition:

  • sandwich with 2 slices of bread and 2 ounces of lean meat, and
  • fresh fruit, and
  • fresh vegetables, and
  • milk or yogurt

DON’T FORGET WATER – Try to stay away from pop or carbonated beverages.

The above recommendations are from Eat to Compete; Eating for Endurance, Food for Sport; The Athlete’s Kitchen; and Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guide Book.

Credit to Golden Ears Athletics .

Cell Phones

There will be NO CELL PHONE USAGE DURING PRACTICE AT ANY TIME. If there are emergency situations, the athlete must go to the coach for permission for phone usage. This includes texting! Cell phones can be easily damaged, lost or stolen.  SFTC does not encourage them being brought to practices.

SFTC is not responsible for any damaged, lost or stolen electronic equipment or cell phones.