First, a big thank you to all the student athletes and parents who helped out on Saturday for the car wash. Thanks to everyone’s efforts and the great weather, we have a new record total: $1300.41!
Before we get to the meet, a few things this week:
2. Locker signs have been ordered. We hope to have them in a couple weeks. Reminder, we do suggest that each student bring a lock Some snacks have been provided by the boosters for the team in the locker room but please remind students to throw away their wrappers and keep the locker rooms in good condition.
3.. Picture Day on Wednesday at 3:05, all athletes should wear their uniform and get their picture taken. M& M will be taking everyone’s picture and parents will be able to see proofs before they are ordered.
4. Pasta Dinner on Friday 9/1 !! Rhodes Home, 2527 Appletree Dr., 6-8:30 PM
Bring money for shirt purchase if you wish to do so.
Have food/drinks, but bring money if you want to purchase food at meet- typically choices are not appropriate before the race, but fine for after the race.
DONT bring valuable items. If you have something of value (like a phone) put it in your bag hidden, inside the tent.
Hydrate and fuel appropriately.
Listen on the walkthrough or course explanation from coaches- there’s LOTS of teams/athletes around so it’s easy to get distracted.
Coaches will distribute timing bibs/chips at a designated time/location in advance of all races. Bibs you can keep but timing chips must be returned after the race. Timing companies issue fines when timing chips are NOT returned at end of race.
Have a pair of shoes/socks to walk the course, and a 2nd pair of shoes/spikes and socks to race, and flip flops/slides to wear post race.
Wear your uniform that was given to you in the race. Anything not given to you by coaches MUST be approved by us or starter won’t let you race.
If you are leaving with a parent at the meet, you MUST check out with a Coach. This helps speed up exit of the meet for the entire team. Don’t tell another athlete you are leaving, see a coach to do this. Plus you must have a parent/administrator signed note given to the coaches.
Car Wash this Saturday 8/26 12-4 at the Sunoco on McMurray Rd. near the Dunkin Donuts. 🚗🧽🚙🧽🚘 This is historically a great fundraiser for us. Please sign up to help here:https://usccrosscountry.com/volunteer/
Team store is open and orders are due by 8/28- just a few days away! ⚫🤍🚩There’s something for everyone! Items will arrive in about 1 month. https://bsnteamsports.com/shop/5DEB1fCBs5
Thanks to all the parents and athletes for a wonderful turnout at the Parents Booster Meeting/Athlete pool party. I think everyone had a great time. Especially if you missed the meeting, please make sure you review this blog post and the linked minutes at the end of this post. We’re throwing a ton of information at you at the beginning of the season! Highlighting here the important items for this week!
Today 8/21 practice is at 3:30 PM and it is the last day to join the team! Tomorrow’s practice is at 8:30AM and uniform distribution to follow at about 10:00AM in room 226 (Coach Petrick’s classroom). After that, the practice schedule falls into the regular routine: M-Th 3:05 PM and F 2:50 PM all at the track, non-meet Saturdays 8:30AM at the rec center.
We are almost at 100% participation with dues ($80 per athlete). Any outstanding dues can be paid by Zelle (send to uschsxc@gmail.com) or check payable to USCHSXC and mailed to Howie Ginsburg 2433 Kings La 15241.
Car Wash this Saturday 8/26 at the Sunoco on McMurray Rd. near the Dunkin Donuts. This is historically a great fundraiser for us. Please sign up to help here: https://usccrosscountry.com/volunteer/
Coaches will begin phasing in the SportsYou app for communications. This is to replace Remind. Athletes and parents should both sign up. Instructions are here: https://usccrosscountry.com/sportsyou-instructions/
Both girls and boys have a new dedicated locker room space that is theirs exclusively during the season: Girls are in Small Gym #1 (room 427) and Boys in Old Pool #2 (room 423- entrance is on back athletic hallway that runs from cafeteria down to large gym. Students will each have their own locker, encouraged to bring their own lock. Locker rooms will be opened in the morning by security and athletes may place their items in the lockers. The room will be locked during the day and opened at the end of the day or when team is dismissed for a meet. Boosters are looking into locker signs for each athlete. XC athletes should not go into other team locker rooms.
Freshmen and juniors need concussion baseline testing if not already done. Please contact the trainers with questions.
It’s going to be a great season! Welcome to all our new runners this year
It’s imperative that at least one parent per athlete be subscribed to the blog- that’s the only way you will know what’s going on! Athletes may subscribe optionally as per your family’s judgement. If you are a new subscriber, please check the recent few posts as well. Take 5 seconds to click to the home page and subscribe.
By now all Healthy Roster forms should be turned in and trainers will be generating a list of who is approved for first day of practice. You can also check Healthy Roster. If everything is listed under “Athlete Documents” you are probably good to go. If anything is listed under Documents Awaiting Review, those haven’t been approved yet. If anything is listed under Missing Documents, you need to take action. Sometimes it’s a simple signature- the Consent to Treat is one commonly missed.
First day is Monday 8/14, 8:30 AM at the starting line of the HS track! Please make sure that you check out the coaches calendar at this link and check all the times for the first couple of weeks especially– there’s changes in time for different days! https://usccrosscountry.com/calendar/
The captains have planned outfit themes for each day of the first week of practice!
Monday 8/14: USA/Red White and Blue
Tuesday 8/15: Neon
Wednesday 8/16: Hawaiian/Beach (also captains breakfast for whole team after practice at location TBD)
Thursday 8/17: Twinning
Friday 8/18: USC spirit
Runners can reach the captains at @trackrunnersdaily on Instagram if any questions or to get added to the group chat
Don’t forget the pool party/booster meeting!
Thursday, August 17 at 7:00 PM (may arrive at 6:45 for check-in) at Montclair Neighborhood Pool- 1217 Sherbrook Dr. (at the end of the street). If parking lot is full, please park on one side of Sherbrook Dr. only, so we don’t get a visit from our friendly local police!
We will go over the whole season, additional events such as pasta parties, senior rec, fundraisers, volunteer opportunities, and more. Coaches will cover training, team expectations, policies, etc. We do ask that one parent from each family attend. During the meeting athletes can swim and socialize.
Each student should bring items to the booster meeting/pool party as follows:
Seniors: 1 pizza Jrs: dessert, side dish, or snack – if snack, prefer individually packaged so any leftovers can be repurposed for meet snacks Soph: 8-12 Gatorades Freshmen: case of water bottles (24-36)
Dues are $80 per athlete and can be paid through Zelle (encouraged if possible) https://usccrosscountry.com/join-the-boosters/ Or a check can be made payable to USCHSXC and brought to the pool party, or mailed to
Howie Ginsburg, 2433 Kings La, USC, 15241
And put 8/26 on your calendar for our annual car wash fundraiser and check out the All Events calendar under the Calendar tab at the website.
Between now and then, no organized practice. Students should keep running on their own, or setting something up with a friend is encouraged! New runners can connect with teammates on Instagram @trackrunnersdaily
Please mark your calendars for the athlete pool party/parent booster meeting:
Thursday, August 17 at 7:00 PM (may arrive at 6:45 for check-in) at Montclair Neighborhood Pool- 1217 Sherbrook Dr. (at the end of the street). If parking lot is full, please park on one side of Sherbrook Dr. only, so we don’t get a visit from our friendly local police!
We will go over the whole season, additional events such as pasta parties, senior rec, fundraisers, volunteer opportunities, and more. Coaches will cover training, team expectations, policies, etc. We do ask that one parent from each family attend. During the meeting athletes can swim and socialize.
Each student should bring items to the pool party as follows:
Seniors: 1 pizza
Jrs: dessert, side dish, or snack- if snack, prefer individually packaged so any leftovers can be repurposed for meet snacks
Soph: 8-12 Gatorades
Freshmen: case of water bottles (24-36)
Dues are $80 per athlete and can be paid through Zelle (encouraged if possible) https://usccrosscountry.com/join-the-boosters/ Or a check can be made payable to USCHSXC and brought to the pool party, or mailed to Howie Ginsburg, 2433 Kings La, USC, 15241
Official practice will be upon us, so please review the previous blog post and get the Healthy Roster and Booster registration done ASAP! I don’t want to send nagging emails, despite how good my kids tell me I am at nagging 😀 Thanks to those of you who have already done this!
There are two parts to athlete registration! These two parts can be done in either order, but we encourage you to do both as soon as possible.
Athletes need to be registered through the boosters so we can plan great things for all the athletes. NEW THIS YEAR: EVERY ATHLETE, EVEN THOSE RETURNING, NEEDS TO BE REGISTERED THROUGH THIS STEP. https://usccrosscountry.com/booster-registration/We promise this is quick and easy– it will only take a moment but it’s important for everyone to do, so we can maintain our roster in an easier way, have correct contact information, and get athlete T-shirt sizes. Even if you are not 100% certain if your child is going to continue with cross country, please complete this step now to continue getting information for the time being. ***After you complete this step, you will be automatically redirected to the dues payment page. Dues are staying at $80 per athlete this year. If you want to take care of everything at the same time, go ahead and send payment by using the QR code or just opening Zelle in your banking app. If for whatever reason you aren’t ready to pay dues yet, it’s fine to just exit out for now and go to the payments tab later whenever you are ready.
Also, athletes must be registered with the school district through Healthy Roster in advance of the first day of practice! We highly encourage you to complete this by August 4. You can use the app on your phone, or the desktop version at dashboard.healthyroster.com. Athletic trainers will approve athletes through this process. Please contact the trainers with questions. If you’re having trouble with the site, feel free to message us as well- it’s not the most user-friendly for parents and does take 15-20 minutes. There’s also a fee associated with the athletic department; this is a separate step and more information about this will be available later.
Don’t forget, boosters will be providing ice cream to all athletes after practice at Tandem this Wednesday 7/26!
with all practice times for August. These are mandatory practices. Please review carefully as there are different times on different days due to the school schedule. A screenshot is also attached.
Some snacks have been provided by the boosters for the team in the locker room 
but please remind students to throw away their wrappers 
and keep the locker rooms in good condition. 
on Wednesday at 3:05, all athletes should wear their uniform and get their picture taken. M& M will be taking everyone’s picture and parents will be able to see proofs before they are ordered. 
Rhodes Home, 2527 Appletree Dr., 6-8:30 PM
stamped in athletics and turned in to coaches if you want to drive your child home from any meet. 
You can also check Healthy Roster. If everything is listed under “Athlete Documents” you are probably good to go. If anything is listed under Documents Awaiting Review, those haven’t been approved yet. If anything is listed under Missing Documents, you need to take action. Sometimes it’s a simple signature- the Consent to Treat is one commonly missed. 
(also captains breakfast for whole team after practice at location TBD)
– if snack, prefer individually packaged so any leftovers can be repurposed for meet snacks
and can be paid through Zelle (encouraged if possible) 
Upper St. Clair High School Cross Country Boosters 