Team Philosophies: these core beliefs guide all decisions of the coaching staff
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The safety of all participants is the primary concern of the coaching, teaching, administrative, and support staff of the school.
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Co-curricular participation is a means to develop such qualities as
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a. Discipline
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b. Respect for oneself and one's peers
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c. A strong work ethic
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d. Sportsmanship
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e. Physical and athletic prowess
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f. Independence
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There is a place in the Lake Zurich Girls Cross Country program for participants of all skill and ability levels.
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Varsity level competition is a privilege to be earned through displaying the qualities that best promote the school, the sport, and the team.
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Coaches, athletes, and parents share the responsibility for making the cross country program positive and successful.
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Behavior that is detrimental to the positive functioning of the team or its individual members will not be tolerated.
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Success is a byproduct of hard work and a positive attitude--never the other way around.
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Any behaviors or actions that endanger you or a member of the team will be dealt with swiftly and severely.
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You must be at practice the day before a race to be eligible to race.
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Missing a race for any reason other than a pre-arranged school event (ACT, band, etc.) will result in sitting out the next race.
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You may not be in the team tent during a girls' race; doing so will result in suspension or dismissal from the team.
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You must take the team bus to a competition to be eligible to race.
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You may only leave a competition after all girls' races are completed, and only with your own parent or legal guardian.
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Arrangements to leave with someone other than your own parents must be made in advance and approved by the coaches.
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You may not get into a car or other vehicle during a practice unless it is an emergency and a coach has been notified first.
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Stealing anything from your own teammates or from another school will result in immediate dismissal from the team as well as referral to the school deans and any relevant police agency.
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Have fun.
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Not racing the week-day dual meet may make you ineligible to race the Saturday invite.
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Missed competitions must be prearranged; in the case of sudden illness a coach must be notified as soon as possible.
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You need to attend practice consistently to be eligible to compete.
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If you are going to miss a practice notify a coach (either in person or call us) before the practice.
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Do not violate your pledge card.
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Be positive and supportive of your teammates.
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Notify coaches or captains of any problems or injuries as soon as possible.
Training Principles: these concepts guide the implementation of training programs
1. You’d better be having fun
Cross country is really just a bunch of people running through the woods—there are usually no cheering crowds, no high profile scholarships, no school assemblies dedicated to you. So if you’re not having fun doing this, you could probably be spending your time better doing something else.
2. Over-training is usually counter-productive
Pushing yourself beyond reasonable limits will often produce results, but these results are almost always short term. The long-term effects are injury and a decrease in performance, as well as mental burn out. Your high school career should be a progression of four years each better than the last; beyond high school you should have years of running at the collegiate, community, or recreational level. Don’t jeopardize that.
3. Cross country is a distance running sport
You need to run the mileage. You need to build up to it carefully and with a sound plan. But you need to run the mileage. There is no shortcut.
4. Cross country competition is a combination of speed and endurance
Okay, in addition to the mileage you also need to develop speed if you want to be competitive. That means you have to run the tough speed workouts. No, they’re not as enjoyable as long runs but they are just as necessary. Sorry.
5. Having a successful career means a progression of four years
Yes, there are always those freshmen studs who dominate races their first year. If you’re one of them that’s awesome. But most aren’t. Most high school runners will start somewhere in the middle of the pack and either improve steadily or decline dramatically over their years of high school. The difference (injuries notwithstanding) is following a good training plan and being disciplined enough to follow it and make good personal decisions.
6. Discipline is mandatory
Your coaches are only with you a very small percentage of the time. 99.9% of who you become as a person and an athlete will be the result of decisions you make for yourself. That covers everything from deciding to go for that training run even though you don’t feel like it (or not going for the training run when you know you shouldn’t) to choosing how and with whom you’ll spend your free time. High school is short but the repercussions of the decisions you make now will make themselves felt for a very long time. Trust me on this.