Dear
Parents/Athletes
RE: Spring Break Track Arizona
We are very excited to continue a track tradition of a spring track trip to
Arizona. The Chandler Rotary Invite is a big invitational that gets teams from
Colorado as well as around the country. We have made arrangements to take a
team of up to 30-32 athletes this spring. Here are some of the details as we
move forward.
The meet will be held at Chandler HS in
Chandler Arizona. We already have up to 9-10 hotel rooms booked for our
athletes this number will be the max,
but everyone will have the opportunity to participate. There is a limit of 2-3
athletes per event and a relay team. We make every effort to get those
interested involved in at least two events if possible. Some athletes will be
able to compete in 2-4 events, including relays. Other athletes may only
compete in one or two events. Again, there is a limit of just 2-3 entries in
each event, so let us know ASAP. I may be able to add extra in some
events. If multiple athletes want to compete in the same event, the coaches
will take the top performer. This meet is varsity meet and should make our
varsity standards for a meet like this.
Here are some more details: Date: March 21-25th: The
meet itself is 2 days with a qualifying mark needed for the second day. The
meet that we will have most athletes in will be March 23rd, and we
may have a few that compete on March 24th
Trips: Over the past many years, Coach Miller has
taken athletes on trips to Idaho, Arizona, and for Cross Country, Arizona and
Kansas. Trips are a great experience for our young athletes to experience a
quality big meet and visit with other students from the region. This will be
our 5th trip with Legend Track. Our top goal for the
trip is not the performances themselves, but the team atmosphere and
bonding that does occur. The trip down and back is long, but kids
enjoy the socializing and comrade that will be just a memorable as the meet
itself! This is truly a team trip!
Travel: As a team we are working with Arrow for
our Charter bus and leave at 6:30am on Wednesday March 21st . We
will travel by bus and arrive around 7-8:00pm. We will have some team plans on
Thursday (including practice time) and compete on Friday and Saturday. We will
leave from the meet on Saturday night (around 9pm) and travel through the
night, and arrive around 1pm on Sunday March 25th .
Hotel: We have hotel
reservations for the Days Inn- Country Club in Mesa, Arizona
We reserved our room
last fall, and space is very tight. There are a number of activities going on
in the area, so additional rooms are going to be very hard to find.
· 333 W Juanita Ave, Mesa, AZ, 85210 United
States of America
Cost: The cost of our trip will be set at $500 –
The trip costs will
cover the bus, hotel, and 3 team meals. The team will cover 2 of the
main team dinners on the trip and a dinner at the meet/bus for the ride
home. We will ask for athletes to bring cash to help with additional
food/snacks and souvenirs at the meet.
This year: We will ask
everyone to bring in $20 cash to give to Coach Miller to help pay for part of
the 3 team meals. It is easier to collect from everyone up front. Extra meal
money will be for lunches or items on your own at the meet or rest stops. We
will also use the money to load up a cooler. Drink donations will help!!
Breakdown:
Hoping for 30 team
members (min) to make the trip affordable for all.
Bus is $9,000 not
including gratuity. With a minimum of 34 athletes = $375 each
Hotel- Depending on the number of rooms we will need…..10-12 plus
the driver. The cost will be around $3500 for 3 nights (Weds, Thurs, Fri) which
would break down to about $100 each….maybe a little less, depending on the
number in the rooms…..and the boys breakdown vs the girls breakdown plus….I
know we may be able to cut down rooms if we have athletes that have parents in
town. Most of the time, the kids do like to stay with the team and enjoy the team
bonding. We will have a block of rooms, and the hotel does have a pool.
The remaining amounts will help cover the team meal costs….Which
puts the total around $500 each. Other teams that make this trip are charging
close to $800.
Since the trip does occur
over spring break, I have had at least 2 or 3 kids/parents mention that they
will make a family trip of it, and fly with parents and not travel with the
team. While we understand your family plans, this will not necessarily reduce
the cost of our ‘team trip’. Our team has always had 25 to 30 athletes on
the trip. I think we could have as many as 36 this year. The bus is our biggest
expense at $9000. This is $300 for each team member. If we don’t have 30 kids
‘ride’ the bus, then it increases the cost for the remaining teammates. Flying
with a group this large is not an option. There may be a way to reduce some
costs if we can get 30+ commitments. The bus is the best way to get the most
kids and families to afford and participate.
Remember: The trip down
and back is a big part of the experience too! We do understand that other plans
may prevent this in certain situations. Please understand that we are tight on
funds and the trip is all funded by our team raising money and our families.
There is not a budget for these trips. The goal is 30 or more.
We have plenty of
fundraising opportunities to reduce most of these costs!!!
Snap-Raise online
fundraising (very popular and successful by many teams) We raised
over $8,000 last year!
We also have our Chili’s
nights, our home track meets, and some ‘sponsorship’ possibilities. There is no
reason that our Arizona team cannot get the entire trip paid for if they
participate in the fundraising! Snapraise is team fundraising service and does
take a smaller cut if we have 70% participation.
Athletes who raise
monies from our fundraiser will count towards the trip. Final payments ($350
remaining after deposit, can be made online in the fees in parent portal.
We won’t be able to accept checks after March 10th. You
also can split payments up. Final payments will be due on or before the first
week of May. Contact us if you have questions on how to make payments.
We will have a number
of fundraising opportunities as we have done in the past. Please encourage your
child to get involved with our fundraising! A $150 cash deposit will hold
your spot. The balance can be determined after the fundraiser and other
expenses come due sometime in April.
There will be forms to
complete and more info soon. If you have questions, please ask!!!
