MAY 14, 2009 ISSUE
Local Youth Track Club is Up and Running
The Tailwind Track Club has begun another season. The first official meeting was on April 23 and since then the team has been meeting for practice on Monday and Thursday every week.
Registration for the club is still open for youth from age 5 to 18. The fee is $55 and includes a t-shirt and Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) membership. Full and partial scholarships are available on request.
“Kids who want to get the most out of what Tailwind has to offer should register within the next couple of weeks,” said Head Coach Don Wood.
So far, nearly 70 kids have signed up this year.
Tailwind Track Club is a chapter of the AAU and has three primary objectives: to learn and improve new skills including motor development, to help kids get excited about fitness and track and field, and most importantly to have fun.
Wood, a High Country Resident and former assistant coach for Watauga High School Cross Country, has been involved with Tailwind for 10 of the club’s 16 years. He took over the head coach position four years ago.
Every practice will open with warm-ups geared to get the mind and body ready for more strenuous activity. After warming up, athletes will move to event-specific stations designed to help them develop the particular track and field skill they are interested in. They will also be given the opportunity to learn new skills and practice for various events. Wood said that Tailwind follows a USA Track and Field (USATF) curriculum with variation based on experience.
Every practice ends in a competition of some sort to help the kids loosen up and have a little fun.
“Tailwind is great. It has a very free feeling compared to other sports,” said club member Rebecca Hayes. As a returning member, Hayes will be competing in the Long Jump, Triple Jump, High Jump and 400-meter dash. She was second in the state last year in the Long Jump.
This year the team will compete in two major meets. On Saturday, May 23, they will be headed to the 6th annual Johnson-Riley Track and Field Challenge at Ronald Reagan High School in Pfafftown. Then, on the weekend of June 13 and 14, they will compete in the North Carolina AAU State Meet at Mallard Creek High School.
“We’re going to try to build to a point where we can have a team win at the State Meet,” said Wood. “We always have a few individual winners, but I think we can really go for the Best Team Award.”
Wood is assisted in coaching the team by local coaches from the Watauga County School System and also by athletes and track and field enthusiasts who have donated their time. He said that additional adult coaches are needed and anyone interested should come help out.
“Tailwind is great because it really helps kids express their energy and enthusiasm for sport,” said Wood. “They’re given opportunities to succeed which will in turn help them experience the same success in other areas of their lives.”
For more information or to sign up as an athlete or coach, call Don Wood, 828-773-3428 or email wood@skybest.com.
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