It is hard to believe we have finished our regular season! Our League Final race was awesome and all the hard work paid off! You should have received an Invitation to the end of year banquet on Wednesday November 1st at 6:00 - 9:00 pm. It is important that you respond, asap so we can order the food! This is a very special event and all athletes will be recognized. Storm will provide the main meal and we ask you to bring a item according to your child's age group. If you have multiple athletes, just bring one item from the youngest Childs group. You will receive a sign up genius to confirm what to bring!

We ask that all families stay to the end of the ceremony so that the younger kids can see the older ones awards too! Coach Jeremy has a nice surprise planed for you all! Please see Post Season info below if interested!

Team Banquet 

Our awards Banquet is Wednesday Nov.1st, at 6:00 pm- 9:00 pm!

This will be at City of Santa Clarita Activities Centre 20880 Centre Pointe Pkwy. Each family was assigned a item to share. Please refer to the invite asap. Storm will be serving Stone Fire and pizza!

We will need 6 volunteers to come at 5:30 to help set up we will need about

7 people to help with serving at 6:15

SET-UP: 6 people to arrive 1half hour early (5:30) to help put on table cloths, and table decorations. 

Servers: 7 people to help from 6:00 - 6:45 with serving the food. 

Items to bring, Please sign up when the email comes out!

Sub Gremlins and Gremlins - Desserts for 10  

Bantams -Water Boxes or individual bottles of juice, Please bring individual serving items such as cans, bottles or boxes,  NO LITER BOTTLES

Juniors and Youth  - Appetizers, finger food, for 10

There will be a donation box at the party for you to contribute money towards to coaches' gifts. 

 Post Season Valley United Striders

Today starts our post season practice. If your child is interested, please come tonight to find out more information. They should be near the top 24 athletes in the rankings. Rankings can be found on our website on the cross country page under the schedule. All sign up information can be found on https://www.valleyunitedstriders.com There is a lot of information on how to join the team. This will be an all star team with the top athletes of our VYC Conference. I will attend a meeting on Tuesday evening to see who will be on the teams. If you are in the top 7 in the rankings you will most likely be on A team, all others will be voted on at this meeting. There are mandatory practices and 2 races to Qualify for the National Jr. Olympic Championships in Louisville Kentucky. Storm will continue to practice.

There is travel cost involved, additional team fees, and uniform cost. Also a USATF membership must be bought on Nov 1st.

Here are the upcoming dates.

Saturday Nov. 4th - all team practice - 8:30 am - West Creek Park

Sunday Nov. 12 - Association Qualifier- 7:30 am Central Park, Top 5 teams and top 30 individuals move on to Regionals

Sunday Nov.19 -Region 15 Qualifier - 7:30 am Balboa Park San Diego Morley Field. Top 5 teams and top 30 Individuals qualify for National Jr Olympics

Saturday Dec 9th National Race - Tom Sawyer Park Louisville Kentucky Travel dates Dec 7th - 10th.

Week of Oct.23rd - 28th

Post Season Practice

Monday - Central Park - 6:00 pm - 7:15pm

Tuesday - Central Park - 6:00 -7:15 pm  

Thursday -Central Park - 6:00 - 7:15 pm

Saturday - Central Park -7:30 am - 8:30 am

Valley United Striders merchandise will be available to purchased until Nov 5th only. It will not arrive until November 25th!

Coach Jeremy's Notes to the Team 

Wwwwwhhhhhhoooooooooossssshhhhhhh,,,

There went the season! My goodness what a ride that was! I’m still thinking we are practicing at COC and just like that we are done…

Well, it was a memorable one for me. New athletes, new families, new COACHES, and a ton of great performances. Running is a continuous journey. When you start the journey you are excited and full of anticipation. Then you get to the work and realize there is a lot to this like: warm up, drills, stretching, strides, HILLS, repeats, your heart rate that beats out of your chest, the feeling like you might fall over, and the feeling that you just conquered your doubts and improved! I reference this often how running is a great picture of life. Just because you are in elementary or middle or high school that’s not too young to be working through challenges. In fact this is the time when you learn what it takes to succeed and push through them! Parents, I wish we could honestly look at each other and say it wasn’t so, but you know the challenges don’t stop.

So as a team, let’s encourage each other to blow through the challenges as we enjoy the journey!

Saturday league finals was a great day to end the season. The weather was amazing, the athletes came to play with a ton of heart, our coaches led our athletes to their best, parents showed up to make sure everything was ready, and Alan and Elaine do what they always do which is ensure everything is ready in the background! That is the greatest example of the greatest team in the world I can share with you. Boom! Go Team!

Athletes, did you walk away from the race with your head held high, proud of what you accomplished this season? I hope so! I saw many PR’s, and tons of cheering for teammates, and many of you enjoying the experience. At the end of the day, we win some, we lose some, and we compete every chance we get to improve. Every other team brought their absolute best to this race and that was exactly what we want. 

Athletes, I hope you were proud of yourselves! Even if it wasn’t your best day. Coaches, I hope you were proud of what you produced this season! And Parents, I hope you were proud to cheer your kids on to greatness! Trophies, medals, and podiums will be fade away over time. Sure they’ll be recalled from time to time and.. probably with a little embellishment… but the experience we all share together is what helps us all be the leaders we need to be!

Ok, enough of that sappy stuff… 😊

With the regular season ending, there is a group that begins their run at USATF Junior Olympics in Kentucky. We have 7 more weeks to prove to ourselves and the country why Storm is a team you always have to keep a watchful eye on… We’ll be at practice tonight to kick that off so if you were top 16 throughout the season, and planning to go to Kentucky, we’ll see you at CP at 6pm. If you are wondering if you should come because you are maybe 9-16, come on out and the worst thing that happens is you get another workout in….

For everyone else, ENJOY YOUR REST! If you are getting the bug and making improvements, don’t take too much rest, then start going out for some runs to get ready for track! 2 weeks off for sure, but no more than 1 month.

Next Wednesday the 1^st is our banquet and it’s going to be a fun one. Let’s make it a great event so dress up a little and let’s see how amazing we all can look when we aren’t running! I’ll give you a little prep that I want to enjoy the night together… I’ve perfected getting us through it in the past in record time… but indulge me to stick around for the whole event to help honor every single athlete. I know it’s a Wednesday, and I raised 4 kids so I know how Thursday morning will be. For the team, it’ll be worth it!

See you tonight or Wednesday, and thanks again for an amazing season!

Coach Jeremy