Parent Letter

St. Peter School
1881 Kaneville Road
Geneva, IL 60134

July 6, 2007

Dear Cross Country Parent,

Welcome to the 2007 St. Peter Cross Country season!!  This year promises to be a very exciting year as we build on the enormous successes of 2006.  Of course, our primary goal is to keep the conference title at St. Peter.  We’ve also joined the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) where we’ll be competing against schools of similar size from all over the state of Illinois with our 7^th and 8^th graders and our athletes will have the opportunity to join USA Track and Field (USATF) and have the chance to compete on a national level with our newly formed club, the “Crusaders”.

This year we’re conducting voluntary practices before school starts beginning on August 6.  Enclosed is a pre-season practice schedule and a handbook explaining the various methods of training we’ll be using.  We encourage your youngster to attend our pre-season training at Wheeler Park or at least try to perform some of the scheduled training on their own at home.  To get prepared, please encourage your runners to stay active!  Of course running is the best way to get in shape for cross-country but any activity is better than video games in the basement.  20-30 minutes of running 3-4 days/week or more if they really enjoy running will get them off to a good start.  Don’t forget that a sports physical must be completed and on file before participating in our organized practices.

Please have your runner eat a light, easily digestible snack 45 minutes before practice.  Some suggestions are a banana, granola bar, dry cereal, jelly beans or fruit snacks.  You should experiment to determine what works best.  It is imperative that your young athlete bring about 20 ounces of fluids to practice, preferably a sports drink, especially during warmer weather.  Good, supportive and comfortable running shoes are also very important.  Dick Pond Sporting Goods will be attending one of our early practices when school starts to help you pick the right shoe for your runner and give you a small discount. 

This is going to be a great year for St. Peter Cross-Country.  Lets work hard, run fast, have lots of fun, and fill our trophy case with new cross-country trophies!!  We’re looking forward to seeing you soon.  Please call or email any one of us with your questions. 

Sincerely,