XC Team Rules

 

TEAM RULES AND BELIEFS:

Click here to review the Cross Country Team Covenants as outlined by Coach Rand at the Parent & Athlete meeting. 

 

2021 BHS Cross Country Team Covenant

 

The Four C’s: Character, Commitment, Courage, and Confidence

 

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in the common hours.” – Henry David Thoreau

 

What is a covenant and why do we need one?

A covenant is a binding agreement or compact made by a group of people who desire to achieve a high level of excellence. The covenant motivates the individual and emphasizes the importance of the team. Individuals learn that they have to make sacrifices for the good of the team and in doing so are able to build a team focused on success rather than a group of individuals acting independently. Through the covenant, each individual develops an unbreakable belief in themselves, their teammates, and their coach.

 

Guiding Principles

 

A. Develop a good sense of values. This includes:

• A love of your sport.

• A thirst for knowledge about your sport.

• Be there for your teammates. Show interest in their progress.

• You should be making contributions to the team.

 

B. Choose a goal and work towards it.

• Be realistic. Don’t set your goals too high or too low.

• All activities should be geared toward reaching these goals.

• Believe in yourself and your team.

• Give it your best. No excuses.

 

C. Athletics is a function of education.

• Good students generally make good athletes.

• Academic success is your responsibility.

 

D. Qualities of the mind.

• Effort, enthusiasm, persistence.

• Don’t worry about making mistakes. Have courage.

 

E. Understand the place of athletics in your life.

• Family and academics come first.

• Learn to balance your individual priorities with your team priorities.

• Learn how to keep ALL of your commitments.

• People with exceptional commitment do not ask for exceptions.

• Is your team commitment more important than your social commitment?

Developing Mental Toughness and Consistency

 

A. Be self-motivated and self-directed.

• Direction comes from within.

 

B. Be positive but realistic.

• Don’t be a complainer. Don’t criticize.

• Negativity is infectious.

 

C. Be in control of your emotions.

• Control anger, frustration, and fear.

 

D. Be calm and relaxed under fire.

• Do not avoid pressure.

• Being put to the test is an opportunity to discover your potential.

 

E. Be energetic and ready for action.

• Get yourself pumped up no matter how you feel (tired, personal problems).

 

F. Be determined.

• Have a will to succeed.

• Pursue your goals relentlessly.

• Take setbacks in stride.

 

G. Be mentally alert and focused.

• Tune-in what is important and tune-out what is not important.

 

H. Have self-confidence.

• Do not be intimidated.

 

I. Be fully responsible for your actions.

• Don’t make excuses.

 

J. Adopt a rhythmic schedule.

• Stay focused on short-term, daily goals.

• Get 8-9 hours of sleep each night. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day.

• Eat a healthy diet full of complex carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, and lean protein.  

 

 

COMMUNICATION

 

Most of our communication with athletes will be done daily at practice.  We will communicate with parents in the following ways:

 

A. A weekly update will be sent home the day before each meet (usually Thursdays or Fridays).

B. Like our team Facebook page: www.facebook.com/brewerhighxc

C. The text messaging service “Remind”.  To receive text messages, text the message “@7384f7b” to the number (207)808-7861.

 

Parents and athletes can contact Mr. Rand by voice/text at 852-8891 or by e-mail at grand@breweredu.org.  Coach Albee can be contacted at kalbee@breweredu.org.

 

ATTENDANCE AT PRACTICE/MEETS

 

Attendance at all practices and meets is expected. Athletes should not join activities at school or participate in outside activities that will cause them to miss practices or meets. Communication is the key – if you are not going to be able to attend practice you need to let Mr. Rand know ahead of time and it needs to be for a very good reason. On days when you are doing remote learning from home, you will need to do the Covid screening before leaving home and get a ride to school.    Practices will be 2:30 - 4:30 Monday through Friday, meeting at the picnic tables beside the tennis courts.  Make sure you have your own water bottle!

 

PARTICIPATION IN  MEETS

 

All athletes will run in all of our meets with the following exceptions:

 

A. Athletes will not be entered in a meet until the coaches feel that the athlete is ready to race 5K.

 

B. At the KVAC Championship Meet, top 7 run varsity and everyone else runs in the JV race.

 

C. At Regionals and State Meet, only the top 7 runners compete.  

 

EQUIPMENT

 

The online team store will be open for orders until September 10 at 11:59 PM.  You will be able to order t-shirts, hats, running tops, running pants, and other Brewer High XC branded gear.  All of this is optional - order as little or as much as you want!  The gear should be delivered for pick-up at the end of September.  Go to the “Online Store” link on gobrewerwitches.com.

 

We would like each athlete to have a watch at practice so they can time their own workouts.  The most important piece of equipment is a good quality running shoe that has less than 500 miles on them.  Some athletes may want to get racing spikes, information is below.  Please wear items at meets that would identify you as a Brewer runner.

 

SPIKES

 

Below are some good models of spikes for cross country runners.  Spikes are lighter than training shoes and can give you traction on muddy courses.  The school provides the removable metal spikes.  Good places to order online are runningwarehouse.com and eastbay.com.

 

Nike Zoom Rival XC

Asics Hyper XC

Saucony Kilkenny XC

New Balance XC Seven 

 

VARSITY LETTER

 

Varsity letter requirements are as follows:

 

A. Placing in the top 7 on the team in at least 50% of the meets. 

B. Running in the state meet as an individual or on a qualifying team. 

C. Seniors who have participated on the team for at least 3 years.

TRAINING

 

Freshmen and new athletes typically work up to 30 miles a week during their first year and will add 5-10 miles each year.  Seasoned athletes top out at around 50 miles per week.  Boys and girls will do the same workouts and the top girls will be in the mix with the second-tier boys.  Generally the girls will run 10-20% less mileage, but athletes running similar times, regardless of gender, run the same workouts.

 

 

Our training plan runs on a 10 day cycle and we will do a variety of workouts during each cycle.  Most cycles will include a long run, hill sprints or repeats, a tempo run, vO2 Max work, recovery runs and a race. There will usually be one day off every cycle (or every other cycle for some athletes).  We usually do our long runs 2 days after a meet, so sometimes that will be done on Sundays.  Since we do not have practice on Sundays, the athletes are expected to do the run on their own or get together with some friends on the team.  Long runs are about 25% of weekly mileage, so they range from 7 miles for freshmen to 12 miles for senior boys. 

 

RECOVERY

 

Recovery after hard workouts and races is very important.  Athletes should take recovery seriously and parents can encourage their athlete to make it a priority.  Here are some tips:

 

Hydration - take in some fluids quickly after a run to replace the fluids lost during exercise. Water is best before and during a workout and a sports drink is best after a workout (especially during hot weather).

 

Take in some carbohydrates after a hard workout while your immune system is suppressed. Try to do this within the first 5-30 minutes after a workout (the sooner the better). Taking in carbs during the first 15 minutes after a run while metabolism is high can replace glycogen at a rate of  200-300% the normal rate.  Also, take in some protein within the first hour after a workout.  Some good post workout snacks are sports drinks, an energy or granola bar, banana, a handful of jelly beans, bagels, chocolate milk.  Failing to do this can result in tired, heavy legs.  Shoot for 300-500 calories with plenty of fluids. Plan ahead - bring something to every practice.

 

High intensity workouts or races that build up lactate should be followed by a cool down.  A 15 minute jog or walk starts the process of recovery.  It helps get rid of stress hormones and pumps blood through muscles to remove waste products.

 

Massage is great as it increases blood flow to the muscles and improves mobility and flexibility of muscles.  Deep massage can break down scar tissue from an injury.  Light massage after running is fine.  Avoid a deep massage the day of a hard workout or race as it takes some time for muscles to recover from a deep massage.  Athletes can practice self-massage or they can use a foam roller.

 

Sleep - teenagers need 9 hours of quality sleep each night.  Sleep aids recovery and regeneration of tissues.  Hard training breaks down muscle tissue which leads to soreness.  Short naps help refresh your brain, but you need longer sleep to release human growth hormone which helps your muscles recover.

 

Stretching after a workout is important.  It can relieve tiny muscle spasms that lead to muscle soreness and inflammation.  Stretching is sort of a misnomer - it is more increasing flexibility than stretching.  Hold the stretch for 30-60 seconds until the spasms disappear.  Some good stretches for runners are: hurdlers hamstring stretch, quad stretch (against wall), calf stretch (against wall), foot orbits and gas pedals (20 reps).

 

INJURIES AND TREATMENT

 

Athletic Trainer Ben Pushard has been contracted by the school to work with injured athletes. If any athlete is having unusual aches or pains that might be developing into an injury they should visit them.  The key to preventing a serious injury is early treatment.  Dr. Pat Healy at Healy Chiropractic in Brewer is also a great resource if an athlete has more serious needs.  Ben’s email address is atc@breweredu.org.  

 

Freshmen and athletes new to Brewer High need to have an impact concussion screening.  Times will be announced at a later date.

 

MEET RESULTS

 

All of our meet results will be available on www.sub5.com.  Go to the high school cross country page.  I will also post photos from meets on our team Facebook page.