September Update of All Things Good

I love updating this website and I think I've started to get some good content together recently that I hope you guys are enjoying.  Now that we are in September, the fall season is in full swing and things are busy busy busy.  Besides school going back in session for the kids and myself (yes, my long overdue graduation from Tulane University should happen this semester), I have also started to put together a second evening training session for local athletes.  I have a bunch of team fundraisers set up in the coming few months including our Lap-A-Thon and working games for the New Orleans Saints. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

This Tuesday, September 3rd, JCCS is hosting our first annual season opener race (well second if you consider last years race was cancelled because of a hurricane).  This should be a fun, short race that I plan to make better each year and add quality teams and athletes.  Just as the middle school and varsity meets we hosted last year, we always try to put on events that are run well and worth coming to.

I'm looking forward to bringing the team to races like Mobile Meet of Champions on September 7th and the Catholic High Invitational on October 12th.  I plan on bringing the team back to the Nike Cross Country Regional in November as well.

My favorite announcement for this post is that I am organizing Team Louisiana for the Footlocker South meet in Charlotte North Carolina.  I am working hard to get Louisiana on the level as some of our peer states, at least at the top level, and I want to try to expose some of the top athletes from the state to the highest level of the sport.  I'm nearly done writing up the team packet for those who are interested in joining us for the meet.

Looking further into the future I am looking into putting on a relay meet next year with a few distance oriented relays as well including 4x8 and the DMR.  As always, putting on quality events is of the most importance for us!

Lastly I want to give a shoutout to the countries that follow this website the most outside of the US. China and Germany, here's looking at you!  Have a good labor day weekend.

End of the Summer and the Coming Year

If you have worked with me for any time as either a coach or an athlete you have probably heard me use the phrase "arm yourself with knowledge."  That's what I look to do between this website and my twitter.  I have only been writing this blog for about four and a half months (although I've been on and off with LA Running for 10 years) but I have already started to reach out to help people, not just across the country, but across the globe!  As the AAU season winds down and the school season picks up within the next week or two, I want to talk about what to expect as the the blog grows and as I grow as a coach.  Like I have done in the past, I want to keep you all informed in what's going on not just with me but with the sport in general.

First and foremost, you have probably noticed some new pages and items recently on the website.  I have added a section on graduates of the Southern Athletics Club which I will add content to as the year goes by. For me, showcasing what the hard working athletes on the team are doing in their races and seeing how they are being rewarded by college coaches is great for the young runners out there to see that their diligence can and will be rewarded one day.

Brenda Martinez thinks this site is number one.  Well, she probably would if she read it.

The two newest pages are what I have really gotten excited about the last couple days.  There is now a downloadable documents section where information on the team and training options are available, but in the future I hope to add a lot of free training documents for other coaches and athletes to read and consider.  Building up the sport is a big part of why I started to write!  That is one reason why I have finally opened up the team webstore with the help of Jon Davis.  This will allow much easier access to coaching and training with Southern Athletics and Vintage Performance as well as a way for people across the country to get team gear.  You will also notice the Donate button has been added.  If you feel like supporting the Southern Athletics team or what I do here with the blog and Vintage Performance, feel free to show it!  Anyone who coaches in track and field can tell you that team funding is a huge part of what we do.

Two other items I plan on putting together for the future, in keeping with the philosophy of knowledge is power (as well as trying to give as much to the running community as possible) is a weekly (or so) update with some of the best articles I find that talk about track and field or athletic development.  As mentioned I will be putting up free training guides (as I finish them which could be a while!) under the downloadable documents section, but I also plan on putting up weekly training plans for high school and middle school aged athletes to follow.  It's a chance for coaches to get workout ideas, but can even be followed day to day to help foster athletic development.

Lastly I wanted to say congratulations for Hannah Ivory and Zechariah Blake for competing in the AAU Junior Olympics in Ypsilanti, Michigan this week!  Zechariah took home All-American status as he won the discus with an AAU record mark of 137 feet!  Great job representing Southern Athletics and John Curtis!

Adios, and see you guys soon.  I'll leave you with a video of Alan Webb setting the American record in the mile with a 3:46.  Enjoy.

Fundraising For Your Team

No doubt if you have ever had to coach a team, at some point money would become an issue, especially with a sport like cross country and track that seems to soak up a lot of money with little chance to generate revenue.  Travel, equipment, and uniforms seem to leave a team in need of extra cash to pay for the other costs like meet entries, team awards, or anything else.  If you get frustrated, trust me, you are not alone!

There are a lot of different ways to make some more money for your team, but there are a few things to consider.  One is that ALL athletes need to contribute.  It is not fair to let some members of the team raise all the money while others sit back and do nothing.  Another is, shoot for large fundraisers rather than a bunch of smaller ones.  Why?  For the most part fundraising is tedious and time consuming regardless of how much you are raising, so shoot for raising higher amounts of money and be productive with your time.  Lastly, get the parents involved!  It will make them appreciate what you do with their kids, and it will also allow them to be a part of the teams success.

So here is a list of some ideas that you can do for fundraising that can help your team this coming year:

1) Work concessions at sporting events.  Some high schools, colleges, and pro teams are looking for people to staff their concessions stands and will allow them to keep a percentage of sales.  While one or two games may not yield more than a few hundred dollars, a whole season of concessions may help raise over a thousand dollars which can make or break a team on a small budget.

2) Host a dinner night.  Cook up some plate dinners for your teams friends and family, teachers at the school, and local community members.  Charge 10-15 dollars per plate (which will probably yield about 5-10 dollars worth of profit).  Sell some brownies or other desserts on the side as well.  A properly planned out dinner can yield up to 500 dollars of profit.

3) Host a team lap-a-thon.  Have your athletes find sponsors who will donate a specified amount of money per lap he or she can run for a specified amount of time (usually 30-60 minutes).  Or in other words, if an athlete runs 30 laps in an hour and has a sponsor donating a dollar per lap, the athlete just earned the team 30 bucks!

If you have had any other successful fundraising ideas, feel free to share!