I live in a southern town where football is king and then comes baseball,basketball and whatever. I think we've won region once in cross country but nobody really gives a damn if we ever run another CC event. Our CC coaches are usually just some coach that needs the extra $2000 or whatever. No vision,no plan for building a program. Usually a different coach every year.
I have resources available to promote and raise what little money it would take to do a 4 race series starting in Sept. My question to the experienced runners of the board is at what grade should I start. We have about 6 elementary schools that feed our middle school and high school. Should I just go with 6th grade or should I do 4th,5th and 6th? What is a fair time to award a kid a trophy or medal for running a race? I want the events to be free to the kids but I want the kids to actually have to run to win something. Do I need trophies or medals? I think I can buy small trophies at a reasonable price. I also have no problems with using recycled trophies and have new plates printed. Just as long as its some kind of hardware for the kids to take home and put on the mantle.
Any ideas would be great. my email address is
. I know building a program doesnt happen overnight but you have to start. Thanks in advance for your ideas.