***Our Fall Cross Country Program begins on Tuesday, August 20. While it is fine for kids to begin later, we suggest they begin practice no later than September 7.
Basic Info (you can scroll down to the registration form at any time):
Ages: 1st grade and up
*Middle School Meet Only Option: If your child is currently participating on their middle school cross country team, they are welcome to join us at meets for a discounted program fee of $125. Depending on a middle schooler's motivation, and how often they practice with their school team, it also fine to join our regular program!
First Session: Tuesday, August 20, 6:00pm
Last Session: October 27th, 2:00pm (SJTFC Cross Country Festival)
Practice Days and Times:
- Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:00pm (shifting to 5:00pm on 9/16)
Practice Locations:
We practice at various locations depending on the session. A complete schedule will be provided. Locations include Pennypacker Park in Haddonfield, Challenge Grove Park in Cherry Hill, and Cooper River Park in Pennsauken.
*Please note that all dates, times and locations can change based on outside circumstances.
Fall Cross Country Overview:
Following our general mission and philosophy, our cross country program is designed to teach kids about the sport, with a goal of helping as many kids as possible to embrace a sport they love. Beginners are enthusiastically welcomed, AND we will get right to work building a base of fitness and endurace that supports full enjoyment of the sport. We encourage all of the kids to attend at least some meets, as challenging oneself through age-appropriate competition is part of the sport. At the same time, there is no obligation to attend all practices or meets. We always conclude our season with our very fun Cross Country Festival, which allows kids of any age to choose a distance from as short as 100m and up to a 5K. Parents and other family members and friends are also welcome to particpate in the festival.
Competition Team:
New club members who wish to join our competitive team: We encourage kids to attend as many practices as possible during the first few weeks to help them prepare for the fun, developmental meets that we attend. Although the meets are desinged to be fun, cross country courses by nature are challenging (trails, grass, hills). Pushing kids to compete before they are personally ready can be devastating to their interest in the sport. Please speak to the Head Coach by Wednesday, September 6 if your child would like to join our competitive team.
Fee: We employ a tiered fee structure in order make our club as accessible as possible. You are free to select any of the three fees listed. The standard fee is the average amount we need to collect to sustain the club and make this program a success. The supporter fee is offered as an option if you would like to help subsidize the reduced fee, as well as our no fee option for families in need.
Reduced fee: $225, Standard fee: $250, Supporters fee: $275
Details:
Our Fall Cross Country Program is appropriate for all kids from 1st grade and up. We encourage all of the kids to participate in fun competitions, but we also support kids who simply want to be in good physical condition and run a few days per week.
We begin the season with a few weeks of preparation for the fun meets we attend. On the first day, all of the kids practice together and begin getting to know each other (our experienced kids are asked to help us welcome new and less experienced kids). From there, we begin slowly, take breaks as needed, and gradually work toward extended running intervals. In a few short weeks, all of the kids are enjoying longer runs on the beatiful autumn trails!
During the first few weeks of training, we will talk to the kids about the meets and encourage them to participate. It is important to reassure the kids that speed is not important, and that the meets are really just a type of practice, especially when just starting out.
Competition is approached as “learning to compete,” meaning that we participate in meets to learn about how to prepare for and engage in competition, practicing good sportsmanship, learning from success as well as failure, staying focused on the present, etc, as opposed to pushing for top times or places. As a club we celebrate all success, but it is not the focus of our programs.
Beginning in early to mid-September we participate in meets on most Saturdays and occasional Sundays. We carefully design our meet schedule so that kids can ease into competition, and we supplement this by hosting our own, low-key, informal meets. This is what our 2023 schedule looked like, but it provides an idea of how we approach the season:
- 9/9 Cherokee Challenge: This is the first competition of the season and is for middle and high school aged kids only. In general, our new members and beginners are not ready to compete by this event.
- 9/16 SJTFC Series Meet #1: This meet is a great intro to the cross country race, and we will have several distances that kids can choose from so they are starting out with some amount of comfort and confidence.
- 9/23 Six Flags Wild Safari Invitations: Another meet just for middle and high school kids, this one also allows for particpants and their families to get discounted entry tickets to the amusement park.
- 9/24 Shore AC XC Series: On the Sunday of the Six Flags meet, this one is a great option for kids who want to experience a more formal meet, but it also has the option to choose an 800m, 2K, 3K, 4K, or 5K race. About 1 1/2 hours away. We may only have a parent volunteer supervising this event.
- 9/30 Phila Express XC Series: At the famous Belmont Plateau course, this is a fun series with prescribed distances for each age group (8 and under: 1.5 miles, 9-12: 3K, 13-14: 4K, 15-18: 5K). It is a hilly, challenging course.
- 10/8 AOC XC Invite: A Sunday meet in the NW Philly Suburbs (about 1 hour away). 8 and under: 2K, 9-12: 3K, 13-14: 4K.
- 10/14 SJTFC XC Series #2
- 10/21 Phila Express XC Series
- 10/29 SJTFC Cross Country Festival