Homeschool cross country team - anyone started one?

[Trilliumlady]

So we had a brainstorming session today with local moms about making our loose homeschool group a bit more formalized.  We were thinking meeting once a month with regular “class” topics (civics, music, PE among them) to be included.  I’ve been tossing around in my mind for a couple weeks already how fun it might be to get a group of our kids together to have a “cross country” team/running group.  There seemed to be quite an interest in this.  It would be middle school ages, likely 6th to 8th or so, we don’t have many more older than that but a chunk (8?) who would maybe fall in that range who would be interested.  

I’m looking to see if anyone has done such a thing or if y’all have some brilliant ideas what this could look like and how it might best be organized/implemented.  I am a runner (for fun) myself, and loved track in high school, but no official training.  I’m open to all ideas you might have!  Thanks!!!

 

[lmrich]

We did a runner's club. A few of the parents were runners and agreed to take a group of kids on the nearby trail to run a few times each week. The goal was to run in a 5K. Several of the kids did. My dd and two of her friends did one. Then dd broke her foot so the whole thing fell apart since I was the main organizer. 

[Rachel]

I took over a homeschool cross country team last year. 

It is parent led so kids practice on their own. We have one parent who has coached track, he led one optional practice per week. Parents worked together to warm kids up for meets. I ordered jerseys, registered kids for meets, and collected money. 

In order to participate in meets you may have to join the state athletic association.  Some states will allow independent (private school or homeschool) teams at all but championship meets, or there may even be a private school sport association. In my state it is easy for elementary and middle school kids to participate in meets but the rules for high schoolers are more complicated. If you just have 1 or 2 high schoolers it isn’t worth the expense of joining the athletic association and required trainings.  See if your state athletic association has any workshops you can attend for coaching tips though, ours is open to anyone. 

It is a very positive and encouraging sport. My kids have been participating for three years now and I plan on them continuing to participate for the foreseeable future. 

Some books I have found: Coaching Middle School Cross Country and Track & Field by Timothy Rayle. The Youth and Teen Running Encyclopedia by Mick Grant and John Molvar. 

Good luck!

Edited January 9, 2019 by Rachel
Fixed typos

[Trilliumlady]

Very helpful, especially those book recs.  Thanks!!

[jetzmama]

We don't have track here, but we do have a couple of homeschool team sports that are still pretty young. After deciding that there were enough kids for a team, finding a parent willing to coach, and finding a place to play, a mom with a vision called all of the local private schools within a 1.5 hour radius and asked if they would be willing to scrimmage this new team for practice. They agreed. After seeing that the team was serious, every school agreed to add the homeschool team to their regular schedule the following year. This was middle school level when it started, but has continued into high school. Another team sport has been added in exactly the same way. The same name was used for both teams, and will be for any future homeschool teams in our area in order to add credibility. When a school agrees to a scrimmage or game with a team with this name, they know who they are dealing with and the type of people they are dealing with. They are willing to make space for us since there have been positive past experiences.   Hope that helps with some implementation ideas!  Good luck!