Hello 8U Parents and Athletes,
This Monday (2/6) there is a parent meeting, and Tuesday (2/7) is the first practice for the 8U division. We are all looking forward to starting the season off on the right foot.
Thanks,
Coach Mike
Parent Meeting: Monday, February 6th at 6:30 pm at Buena High School Cafeteria. I highly recommend that you attend to get important information for the team and the season, particularly volunteer requirements.
Head Coach: Michael Oesterle
Assistant Coaches:
| Name |
| Richelle Bart |
| Chris Dunne |
| Whitney Hauer |
| Keala Stephan |
| Sean Stephan |
| Marcell Brickey |
| Jennifer Jacobs |
| Charne Huff |
| Chris Kuebler |
I am looking for 1-2 additional assistant coaches for the season. Please contact me if you are interested.
Goals for the season
- Safety
- Fun and an appreciations for the benefits of sports and exercise
- Good Sportsmanship
- Developing athletes abilities and helping them achieve their goals
- Making friends
Practice:
8U (also known as “Gremlins”) will practice Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:30-5:45 pm. Practice begins promptly at 4:30 at the track at Buena High School. Please have your athlete there a few minutes early to get their name tag and get settled. Our warm-ups are equally important to the workout, and we need your athlete to be there on time.
Parents are welcomed to stay and watch in the stands, but only athletes and coaches are allowed on the field. At the end of practice, we will keep our Gremlins on the field until they get a visual of their ride home. There will still be runners on the track when our practice is over so please be mindful of the runner traffic before you call them over to you. We will be teaching our athletes track safety as well.
Sign in and out:
Sign in and out sheets will be on the fence at the track. Please remember to sign in and out! If you do not sign out, be prepared for a phone call from me checking on whether or not you have your athlete with you. Please be on time for pickup; a coach must stay with your athlete until you arrive.
Preparation for practice:
Please have your athlete dressed and ready to go in comfortable running clothes and shoes. Our athletes LOVE their Tigres gear, which means many of them have the same water bottles, bags, and sweatshirts. PLEASE label everything!! If they need a snack before practice, please have it be something easy to digest. They are only allowed to have water in their water bottles on the track. No food is allowed on the track.
Attendance:
We understand that other sports, illness, and injury may conflict with practice. You do not need to email me if your athlete will not attend practice, but I would appreciate knowing if they are injured as well as if they are not going to attend a meet.
Meets:
Gremlins will sit in the stands and we will have pop-up tents for shade
One volunteer role related to the meet are a Team Parent. They are there to help keep track of the kids when they are in the stands, take them to the bathroom, and to look out for them if they have events coming up. We are looking for 3.
Gremlins will have the option to participate in the following events:
Field – Long Jump (this is the only field event available for Gremlins)
Relay – 4X100 (this is the only relay available for Gremlins)
Distance – 800 and 1600
Sprints – 100, 200, and 400
Athletes can participate in 4 events at each meet with a maximum of 3 running events plus the long jump. Some athletes will already know what events they are interested in, while others are still deciding. We are going to encourage them to try everything until they decide which events they like the most. Event sign ups will be on Thursdays on a separate clipboard on the fence at the track.
Setting up the relay teams for the 4X100 takes time. Once you select the relay, your athlete is making a commitment to three other athletes on the team. Relay teams will be created based upon times and attendance. There may be times that I cannot build a full relay team due to numbers, but I will do my best to make certain it is a fair process.
I will send out more information regarding meets as the dates come closer, but for your future planning, the meet schedule on the website is accurate and meets typically go from 8:00am – 2:30pm or so. There is one night meet this season, which will start in the late afternoon and go into the evening.
If you pre-ordered uniforms (singlet & shorts), they will be available at a future practice closer to the first meet. All your child needs is running shoes (no spikes at this age).
See you all soon!