There are two levels of play offered at HOPE.
Micro-minis: This is for Kindergarten, First, and Second Grade students. Second graders who are more competitive or athletic may also run with our Competitive Track Team.
Competitive (travel) track team is for boys and girls in grades 2nd through 8th, we compete against other South Jersey Catholic grade schools.
Practices for the competitive track team are generally an hour – hour ½ and take place on weeknights. Start and finish times depend on the weather and daylight savings times. Practices are rotated each week to allow children to participate in other sports. In the early part of the season, some practices may occur on Saturdays and some Sundays depending upon the weather and track availability. Practices will begin in early March, depending on the weather. Micro-mini will practices similar to the schedule above, but they practice less often.
Micro-mini track meets occur on Saturday mornings from 8-9am at Timber Creek High School track. Competitive track team meets occur on Saturday mornings from 9am until 12/1pm time frame depending on the number of teams participating and occur at Timber Creek High School track. Relay Championships and divisional championships are generally held on Friday nights in May while the Meet of Champions occurs on a Saturday afternoon at an alternate location.
Track and Field is an excellent opportunity for the kids to get into shape, to hone their speed, and work on their overall fitness. Emphasis is placed on nutrition, hydration, proper form, core strength, foot speed and quickness, technique, with a variety of running, bounding, stretching, jumping and other athletic exercises. It is also an excellent opportunity for the kids who are in other sports, such as baseball, football, soccer, and basketball to work on their running and sprinting form. Because there are so many events available, it presents a good opportunity for kids who may not have enjoyed or found the right fit in other sports.
There are sprinting, middle distance, and long distance events. There are also non-running events such as the high jump, long jump, shot put, softball throw. There are plenty of events for kids who only like to run and sprint short distances, and work on their jumping and core strength.
Rather than spend hundreds at fitness centers and on trainers, send your kids to track and we will get them in shape!!!!
For the micro mini age kids, it is also a great opportunity to get the kids outside for some exercise. They have fun, it is non-competitive and the children run shorter events, for fun.
PENN RELAYS
Our team competes each year in the Penn Relays Carnival which is the largest track meet in the country and takes place in late April at University of Pennsylvania, on the famed Franklin Field. There is an opportunity to field a team of our four fastest runners in the school, to run in a 4x100 meter race. It is a highly competitive race and truly something that would be memorable for the kids to compete in, like playing basketball at the Palestra (which is across the street) in front of thousands of fans! The race is held on a Friday morning, so the kids get to miss a day of school!
We have been blessed with some excellent teams over the years. I hope your son or daughter can help us carry on our strong tradition!
The Head of the Track Program is Ryan Sheppard.