Squannacook Rivers Runners Club

Presents the

5th Annual Hershey Track & Field Youth Clinic

Would you like to have fun running and/or be a part of a relay team?

Ages 9-14 (Ages as of 12/31/10)

The Hershey track program is a national program involving recreation departments that hold local and state track meets, culminating in an invitational, all-expense paid trip and competition in Hershey, PA.  The program is sponsored by the Hershey Corporation to promote fitness in America's youth.  The emphasis of the program is learning the events, trying your best to improve your performance, and having fun running.  Each age group (9-10, 11-12, 13-14) has four individual running races, two field events, and a 4 x 100 relay.  At each of the first two sessions participants try two of the running distances and one of the field events.

NEW Instructor:  PHILLIP CROSBY is a Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame member inducted in 2004. He has coached cross country, 1972-2007 and track 1971 to the present at Lexington High school. During his long coaching career he has developed state champions in most all track events. Here is a statement from Coach Crosby that might give you insight into his coaching. "I feel that coaching is simply bringing willing athletes to an understanding of sensible training practices, loft but realistic expectations and most importantly how to gain enjoyment from an effort to improve that extends over weeks and months rather than minutes or hours.  Athletes that train with me will be taught not told.  Eventually every athlete needs to be self sufficient from, not dependent on, a coach." Coach Phil Crosby March 2010

Location: Groton Dunstable Regional High School Track

For More information regarding registration, please contact

            Kerri @ (978) 870-8597 or sqrrtrack@verizon.net

Our approach to the track clinic is based on four basic tenets and our own positive experiences with the sport:

*  Children like to run and running is fun.

*  Running can be a healthy, life-long activity.

*  Improvement, knowing you have done something better than before, is a

    most satisfying feeling and a self-confidence builder.  Learning that effort

    creates it is a valuable lesson.  In track, no matter what one's ability, there

    is no bench, no coaching or refereeing decision, and no doubt whether one is

    doing better.

*  There is excitement from the competitive aspect of the sport.

The Hershey Track Program Process

Squannacook River Runners register each participate with a state coordinator.  A local meet is held, and may include a number of town's together to provide more efficiency, excitement and competitiveness.  Each town then submits the best performance of each of their children to the state coordinator.  Thus, one does not have to win the local, multi-town meet; one only has to have the best performance for one's town. It is not the intent of the Hershey Program to establish a winners only contest.

The state coordinator determines the top 16 performances by town, and those children are invited to participate in the state meet in July in Bolton.  If a child cannot participate on the date in July, then that child's town may find a replacement from among its other participants.

The state winners are eligible to be selected to participate in the national Hershey Track meet in Aug.  A geographic distribution rule that states that each state must have five participants in the national meet does not guarantee that a state winner will go to the national meet.

Local Hershey Meet (for ages 9-14, as of Dec. 31)

One may enter only one local meet at the Harvard Track.

*  Track meets are long affairs, and because there is no required pre-registration for the local meets, there is no way for the meet organizers to predict the number of heats of each race that will be run.  With 30 different running events to be held, it can take a long time.  Your child should not plan on doing other/multiple activities within the time frame of the track meet;  especially if they are the member of a relay team.

*  A participant may compete in 2 running and one field event, or one running and both field events.  Being a member of a relay team counts as one of the participant's running events.

How Hershey Clinic Works