School and Club Running

[John Yano]

Does anyone know of regulations for athletes running "club" and for school? Due to the lack of track running clubs, I haven't really dealt with the issue till this year.

Here are some of my clarifications:

summer vs. during school
running a race with a club v training regularly with club (compared to HS)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

John Yano

[rcv_blackhawks_xc]

Mr. Yano,

okay what I know...

Running "Club" is a different situation than "Club" teams (soccer, basketball, volleyball for example).

In team sports you cannot compete on a High School CIF sanctioned squad and a "Club" team during the CIF season. During the off season (when that sport is not in cif competition, which includes summer) a kid can be on as many club teams they want to be on.

Running clubs can be a little tricky since you can be considered an individual working with the club coach not part of club team (as long as you don't compete club during the CIF season(s) you can train with your club)...

[Coach BL]

Coach,
Your best resources are your CIF Bulletin / section rules book or just contact your section directly. Each section has variations on this sort of thing & getting someone's uneducated opinion from outside of your section is a recipe for disaster.
Also, make sure you are looking at an updated book as many sections have made recent changes, such as a few sections dropping the association rule.

[John Yano]

Thanks for the comments.

I am specifically asking for Southern Section,

According to the CIF SS Blue Book, Article 60 G, it seems that cross country and track and field are considered individual sports and unattached competition is allowed during the season of sport.

I am not sure what the difference between working with a club coach versus part of a club team. Racing with a club singlet?

I am guessing this will be an growing issue to be dealt with in the future and appreciate your insight. Thanks guys!

John

[Keith Chann]

I am certainly not an expert on all things Blue Book but, a kid can train and race with his club outside of the season of the sport with no restrictions. Once the season begins, which means the first competition for that athlete for the school team, then he/she may NOT compete for the club. Competition for the club would mean that he/she is listed under the club name for an affiliation. The athlete may compete unattached but may not be listed as a club athlete or wear the school uniform in an outside competition.

As far as training goes, that is up to you. There are MANY high school athletes who have their personal coach and only meet with the high school team on race day when they compete in the school uniform. So you can make up your own rules/guidelines regarding what works best for your situation/team. I just caution about mixing the club athlete and the high school team because there can sometimes be conflicting goals and/or priorities.

It is not something to be taken too lightly as the head coach because ultimately it is your team and hopefully it becomes a program that fits your vision for development of the athletes as a whole, including many lessons that transfer outside of the immediate sport and into life.