Practices and Team Rules

When are practices?

• Summer practices are held from 7:00-8:00 pm
• During the school year, practice time will be 2:45-4:30 after school. Students are to change in the locker rooms attached to the small gym .
• Athletes should be picked up at 4:30 behind the Middle School near the cafeteria entrance. If a 4:30 pick-up time does not work with your schedule, please make the necessary arrangements since students are not allowed to be on Shawnee property unsupervised.

Where are practices?

• Summer practices are held at Faurot Park at the shelter house near the pond.
• During the school year, unless I tell you otherwise, we will begin and end at the Middle School.

What if I can’t make it to practice?

• If you are present for school, you should be present at practice. The coach must be notified in writing before an expected absence from practice or the day following an unexpectedly missed practice. Absences from school for the day do not require written notification. See attached rules for details.

What do I need to take to practice?

• Comfortable running/training shoes and socks (not basketball, track spikes, or skateboarding shoes), comfortable shorts and shirt , a water bottle , and a POSITIVE ATTITUDE .

What do I need to take to a meet?

• Uniform (jersey, shorts, jacket, pants), comfortable running shoes , racing shoes (spikes, spike wrench), extra socks , money for snacks (if applicable), money for pay-phone after meet , a WINNING ATTITUDE .

What about the weather?

• Listen to the announcements at the beginning or end of the school day. Cross-country meets are almost never cancelled for weather.

Attendance

Regular practice attendance is required for an athlete to remain a member of the team. To be a team member requires a commitment to all daily practices, team meetings, meets, and special events of the team.

Excused Absence

Absence from school due to illness is considered an excused absence.

An illness which occurs during school must be verified by a parent or doctor’s note upon the athlete’s return to school and practice.

A doctor’s appointment will be considered excused when the athlete presents a verification of said appointment from the doctor’s office. Please try to schedule appointments so that they do not conflict with practice or meets. A referral from the doctor to excuse an athlete for a specific time should be taken to the trainer who will inform the coaches of the referral.

Unexcused Absence

An unexcused absence will be considered a lack of interest and commitment on the part of the athlete and will result in disciplinary action being taken. If an athlete is at school and misses a practice or meet, it is considered unexcused. If an athlete misses an invitational without at least a week’s notice, it is unexcused. In the case of a dual, tri, or quad meet, the coach must be notified at least a day in advance.

First Offense: The athlete may be required to miss participation in one meet, and additional training may be assigned.

Second Offense: The athlete may be excused from participation for the rest of the season. The athlete may be given the opportunity to remain a member of the team if they are truly willing to make the necessary commitment to the team and demonstrate the desire to remain a team member.

Immediate Dismissal

This could result when an athlete chooses to conduct himself/herself in a disrespectful manner which reflects negatively on himself/herself, the team, the coach, or the school.

Practice

You must have a current (no more than one year old) OHSAA approved physical and emergency medical form on file in the athletic office before you can participate in any practices or meets.

Please pick up the necessary forms from the high school athletic office or from the coach.

Practice time will be 2:45-4:30 after school. Students are to change in the locker rooms attached to the small gym .

Athletes should be picked up at 4:30 behind the Middle School near the cafeteria entrance. If a 4:30 pick-up time does not work with your schedule, please make the necessary arrangements since students are not allowed to be on Shawnee property unsupervised.

If you are present for school, you should be present at practice. The coach must be notified in writing before an expected absence from practice or the day following an unexpectedly missed practice. Absences from school for the day do not require written notification. See attached rules for details.

Athletes should bring appropriate practice gear to school. This means shorts, shirt, socks, and shoes everyday. Be prepared for any possible weather conditions. Tardiness to practice is not acceptable unless previously excused by a coach, teacher, or administrator.

A normal practice consists of stretching, form runs, the workout, cool down, and stretching.

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drug Use

The Shawnee Athletic Department has adopted the following policy regarding alcohol, tobacco, and drug use:

A student athlete identified as using or possessing drugs, alcohol, or tobacco by a faculty member during the sport season or admitting to using or possessing drugs, alcohol, or tobacco during the sport season shall be subject to the following consequences:

First Offense: The athlete shall be denied participation in 50% of the contests scheduled for that sport. The consequence may be reduced to 10% of the contests if the athlete participates in a chemical assessment by a certified chemical dependency counselor. The athlete shall continue to practice.

Second Offense: The athlete shall be denied participation for the remainder of the season.

Travel Releases

All athletes must take school authorized transportation to and from away contests. Athletes may be excused from riding either to or from an athletic event on school authorized transportation for school related reasons or extreme exceptional circumstances. This privilege may be granted on the rarest occasion since our philosophy continues that to be that an athlete is part of a team in all phases of the team activity and is expected to use school transportation for all away contests. In the event of extreme inconvenience (as mentioned above), the Athletic Director shall determine whether or not a student can be released from using school transportation only after the following procedures have been completed:

Athletes must secure a travel release for from the Athletic Director’s office in the high school.

The athlete and his/her parents must complete and sign the travel release form.

The athlete must notify his/her coach o the perceived transportation problem and have the coach sign the travel release form.

The athlete must return the travel release form to the Athletic Director at least 72 hours in advance of the contest.

The Athletic Director will notify the coach and the athlete of the approval or denial of the request for release from using school transportation.

Emergency Travel Release

The coach shall release an athlete from using school transportation to return to the school upon receiving written request from the athlete’s parent or legal guardian. In no case shall a coach release an athlete to ride home with anyone but his/her own parent or legal guardian.

Event

Cross-country is a team sport consisting of a two-mile race over grass, pavement, trails, or other surfaces.

The first five runners to cross the finish line will score for the team. The sixth and seventh runners will serve as tie-breakers. First place scores 1 point, second place scores 2 points, etc. The team with the fewest points is declared the winner. Runners not in the top 5 for our team contribute by beating top 5 members of other teams, increasing their scores.

Boys and girls usually race separately; however, in the event both genders run in the same race, the genders will be scored separately.

At a few invitationals, the teams (boys and girls) will be divided into Varsity (top 7) and Junior Varsity or Open (rest of team). The Varsity and JV teams will compete as separate teams. This is an excellent opportunity for runners not in the top 7 to score.