Juniata Valley Striders Youth Track & Field & Cross-Country Club Program

The program is open to all students in the Mifflin and Juniata County School Districts ages 7-14.

Sign-up will be at the Mifflin County Track & Field Complex storage shed on Monday, March 14th, 2022, at 6 PM. Practice will follow on the next Monday, March 31st and run from 6-7:30 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. A membership in the AAU, a membership in the Juniata Valley Striders, and a signed waiver are requirements for participation.

Membership will cover practice insurance, competition insurance, AAU meet eligibility, and local meet eligibility. Events will involve running, hurdling, jumping, and throwing. Track will run through July and Cross Country through November.

Practice will involve a warmup, a skill section, a physical section, and a warm down which should end by 7:30 PM. We expect athletes to be on time for warm up and to be picked up by 7:30 PM. With the new laws and regulations, parents are welcome to come to practices and meets and are welcome to address abuse concerns or safety concerns. This is a major change from USATF.

Athletes are expected to protect and keep clean practice facilities, always display proper decorum, and be respectful and positive with communication to teammates, coaches, officials, and parents. Athletes should be where they are supposed to be, when they are supposed to be, doing what they are supposed to be doing. Try to be the best you can be – not the best of all. Discover your God given gifts, develop them and use them. Help your teammates and competitors to be the best they can be. Never, never, never give up, pick yourself up and keep trying. Set realistic, measurable, challenging, attainable goals and work toward achieving them. Use positive affirmations and avoid negative thoughts. When someone is speaking – pay attention!

Always have water available to hydrate (come to practice and meets hydrated). Be dressed for all possible weather conditions. Identify dangerous situations and adapt. Throwing and jumping areas are areas to stay clear off (competitors can’t control their movements). 

A woman or man is not measured by victory or defeat, but by how the pick themselves up after failure or how they act after victory! Your worth is never determined by your performance, but by your intrinsic value to all of us. Garbagemen save more lives than doctors.