CLUB ORGANIZATION

Norwesters Track and Field Club is a non-profit society registered under the Societies Act (B.C.). The Club is affiliated with the B.C. Amateur Athletics Association (B.C.A.A.A.) the Provincial Governing body for Track and Field, and Athletics Canada. It has been a major track and field organization since 1960. The Club is governed by a Board of Directors of not more than sixteen elected by the Club membership. It has its own constitution.

Policy Regarding Moving of Athletes Between Groups

Background

From time to time there will be requests for athletes moving from the group that they are training within the Club to another group. Most commonly these requests will be for an athlete to "move up" a group.

The decision for any movement of an athlete must be based on the best interests of the athlete and their progress in the sport of track and field.

NorWesters follows the generally accepted Long Term Development Model as prescribed by Istvan Balyi¹ in the organization and training of athletes. This includes programs for: Junior Development (JD) (ages 9 to 15), Juveniles (ages 16 to 17), Juniors (ages 18 to 19), Seniors (ages 19 to 39) and Masters (ages over 40). The JD program is focused on the introduction of the full range track and field events (runs, jumps and throws) in order to address skills that are best developed prior to maturation. As with any long term program involving the development of young boys and girls, consideration must be given to both the individual’s biological and chronological training ages. As athletes mature at different stages of their chronological age, one cannot generalize based on this and must take the other factors into consideration when planning programs. Although specialization can start to occur at the older JD level in cases where it is evident the athlete has a distinct talent in one event area or does not enjoy doing events not suited to him or her, it is not until the Juvenile and older ages that specialization is encouraged and specific programming is established for those athletes. As such NorWesters training groups and programming is established as follows:

Junior Development

Ages 9 - 12 (runs, jumps and throws - physical literacy: skill development, economy of movement, hand-eye, etc.)

Ages 13 - 15 (runs, jumps and throws - aerobic, strength and speed development)

Juvenile, Junior, Senior, Masters (specialized training in the following)

Middle Distance

Sprints

Throws

Jumps

Why the policy?

The reason NorWesters Track and Field Club has established a policy regarding movement of athletes between different groups:

• The training groups have been established by experts in the sport and are aimed at helping the athlete find the group that best fits his or her development stage.
  
• Arbitrary changes can affect the delivery of the training programs.
  
• Changes because there is a perceived or real personality conflict or discipline problem with a coach or other athletes is not resolved by changing training groups. This issue must be dealt with directly.

Requests to move an athlete into another group are most commonly made because:

• There is a wish to receive specialized training in an event that is only offered at an older age group.
  
• An exceptional athlete is not being challenged and feels that training with older athletes would enhance their progress.
  
• There is a wish to change coaches or stay with a coach.
  

Requests to move athletes into another group can be made by:

• Coaches
  
• Athletes
  
• Parents

NorWester Track and Field Club Decision Policy to Move an Athlete from the JD Program to a Specialized Senior Program:

The move must be in the best interest of the athlete.

Although there maybe significant pressure by a parent, athlete or coach to move an athlete to another group, it must be for reasons consistent with NorWester Club policy.

Criteria for moving an athlete:

Criteria for an athlete moving up includes having the ability to perform within an established range of times, distances or heights for the specialized event as well as meeting several critical tests for suitability to move into a higher group. For "moving up" from the JD program to one of the specialized event training programs, the athlete must meet the following criteria:

Performance Standards: A range of performance standards are developed by the senior coaches and are revised from time to time to meet changing conditions. A range of measurement for each event gives some latitude to encourage new talented athletes into the sport as well as allowing older JD athletes who have demonstrated exceptional ability to be considered for upwards movement. These standards are attached to this policy.

Additional Criteria that must be met:

If the athlete meets the performance standards other considerations to be assessed include:

• Physical capability of the athlete: The athlete must have demonstrated that he or she consistently places at the top of his or her age related event. The athlete is clearly physically above the level of his or her training group peers and would be better developed in the higher training group.
  
• The athlete clearly demonstrates a level of maturity and leadership and similar positive behaviours that would enable him or her to fit in with the older training group.
  
• The athlete has previously followed the policy of the JD program to maintain the overall fitness embodied by training in runs, jumps, and throws events.
  
• The athlete has demonstrated a commitment to training by attending between 75 -100% of regular practices, unless there is a valid reason for not doing so, such as conflicts that the coach and athlete have agreed upon. A demonstration by the athlete that missed practices will be done on the athlete's own time or by participating in a similar sporting activity should that be the cause of the conflict. (i.e. soccer practice instead of running practice)
  
• There must be complete agreement between the three stakeholders: Athlete, Coach, and Parents.

Furthermore, the process of an athlete applying to move up will always be contingent on the current event group size, coach/athlete ratio and general group dynamics (training level of the group, male/female ratio issues, and other specific requirements of an event group)

Process

Requests for moving an athlete should be made by any of the three stakeholders (athlete, coach, parents) to the Coaching Committee of NorWesters and they will assess the request and prepare a recommendation to move up to the Board. If it is felt by the Coaching Committee that there is not agreement by all three stakeholders and/or the athlete does not meet the guidelines of this policy the stakeholders will be so informed.

Who Makes the Decision

The decision to move an athlete is based on a recommendation and supporting rationale from the Coaches Committee to the Board of Directors. The Board has the final decision.

NorWester Performance Standards to be used in assessing athletes to move up:

Note: - performances must be made in sanctioned or official high school competition.