There are many track meets through the training season available to our competition athletes.

Our club coaches support attendance at particular meets that suit our training plans for our athletes. In support of these meets, we provide a club duty coach to assist our athletes at these meets. There are some elementary and high school track meets in the early part of the season that your school may be participating in. These are NON club supported meets – meaning that there will not be any club duty coaches or other coaching support. If you choose to compete at these meets, you must do so as a representative of your school. If your school is not attending and you wish to participate, please speak with your coach.

As you have expectations from your coaches in training, coaches also have expectations in meet participation. If you are a Track Rascal our expectation is for you to have a lot of fun, learn some new skills and to attend our club wind-up mini meet. An added bonus for Rascals is some of the JD meets have a track rascal competition that you may want to participate in.

If you are a JD athlete or older, the expectation is for you to compete! It is in competition that you can sharpen the skills that you have been training and developing at practices. Below is a reference guideline of the coaches’ expectations for a minimum base level of competition participation:

• ages 9, 10, 11 – be in 3 track meets with one of them being a championship meet
• age 12 and older – be in 4 track meets with one of them being a championship meet

Optional meets should be taken as training opportunities or the chance to enter in events not typically entered. It is not recommended to attend all meets.

CLUB SUPPORTED TRACK MEETS

There are many events on the BC Athletics Track & Field Calendar. Royal City Track & Field Club typically attends a number of meets which you will find below. Athletes should take part in as many as possible. Some meets are one day (the Pentathlon requires athletes to compete in all five events), and those that are three days long start with a few events on Friday afternoon and evening. When at a club supported track meet, look for the familiar Royal City Track uniforms and banners.

You can view all dates for the current years’ meets on BC Athletics’ website at: http://www.bcathletics.org/CalendarResults/.

Athletes and their parents should consult their coaches about which track meets and events they should attend.

DUTY COACHES

A Duty Coach is always assigned to a Club Supported track meet. The Duty Coach is responsible for over-seeing the meet on behalf of the club, to answer questions from athletes and parents regarding meet issues, and to advise both athletes and parents in navigating a track meet.

Royal City Track and Field Club is quite fortunate to have a large contingent of coaches. Other NON-DUTY coaches may be in attendance at meets to watch athletes and provide help and advice where needed. But it is the athlete’s responsibility (with some guidance) to apply what they have learned at practice to the meet.

—— SUPPORTED 2023 TRACK & FIELD MEETS ——

BC SUMMER GAMES

Every even year, U16 (14 and 15 year old) track and field athletes are eligible to compete at the BC Summer Games based on qualifying standards at a designated qualifying meet. Athletes are selected for provincial zone teams. For more information please consult the BC Games website or speak with your coach.

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—— BC CROSS COUNTRY (XC) CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2023 ——

Vancouver Thunderbirds XC Relays	Surrey Bend Regional Park – Surrey	Sep 16
Vancouver Spirit Run	Jericho Beach Park – Vancouver	Sep 24
Festival of XC	Crescent Park – Surrey	Sep 30
BC XC Championships	Crescent Park – Surrey	Oct 14
Frank Reynolds Memorial	Cates Park – North Vancouver	Oct 21
Fraser Valley XC Ramble	Clearbrook Park – Abbotsford	Nov 12
Gunner Shaw Memorial	Jericho Beach Park – Vancouver	Dec 2
Canadian XC Championships	Ottawa	Nov 25

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TRACK ETIQUETTE FOR MEETS & PRACTICES

The main outdoor training sessions run from the beginning of April to late July. We encourage parents to stay, watch, learn and help, but if you must leave, make sure you are back before practice ends to pick up your child. Sometimes practices end early due to inclement weather – please talk to the coaches on bad weather days to get an accurate ending time.

Athletes are responsible for bringing their own track bag to practices and meets.  Each track bag should contain 2 water bottles, a dry change of clothes, socks, etc. and a small energy snack.

It is important that each athlete wear proper warm up attire to practices.  Warm up attire includes warm up pants and a jacket.  Please bring a hat and gloves on cool evenings.  Athletes should not arrive at practices in only shorts and a t-shirt. It is very important that you convey to your young children not to leave the track complex by themselves. They must wait for you. If they have any concerns have them approach any one of our coaches for help.

Athletes should arrive at the track at least an hour prior to their event at a meet to ensure they can get their number and get a proper warm up. Older athletes should arrive at least one and a half hours prior.

*Please note that parents or athletes are responsible for registering for track and field meets. Please see the Meet Registration page.