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West Chester Track Club
Molding Tomorrow's Leaders Today
Serving the youth of Chester County area in Track and Field since 1961. 
 
Home      Overview

Spring

Practice begins in April for our younger athletes approximately, 5-12 years of age, in the primary grades up to about 6th grade.  In April and May, while our high school and middle school athletes are still competing for their school teams, the club’s younger athletes, those in  primary, sub-bantam, bantam, midget, and youth categories (see age-group categories below) compete in the United Age Group Track Coaches’ (UAGTCA) Developmental Meets.  These meets are held on the weekends.  

Summer
In June, July, and August, when we have our full roster after the PIAA State Championships, our athletes compete in AAU and USATF Junior Olympics.  They also compete at UAGTCA Invitational Meet and the Philadelphia Masters All-Comers meets at Henderson High School. The AAU and USATF Meets take place on weekends beginning in June and ending in late July or early August. (See our 2008 schedule in the index at the left of this page.)

Athletes advance by qualifying in AAU and USATF Junior Olympics from the Area Championships to the Association Championships or District Championships to the Regional Championships to the National Championships.  Qualification is based on placing in the top 6 places at the area meets, top 4-6 places at the association or district meets, and top 3 places at the regional meets.  

The culmination of these meets is qualification to participate at the National Championships.
 
 

Cross Country

The West Chester Track Club offers a Cross Country program in September and October for athletes in 4th through 8th grade. Athletes in grades 9 through 12 may participate if they are not on their school Cross Country Team.  Masters athletes may also participate since the oldest division of the Cross Country Meets at Fairmount Park is the Open Division. Practices are held at various public venues in Chester County.  Meets are held at Fairmount Park's Belmont Plateau on Saturday mornings. 
 

Indoor Track

From November to early March, the club offers an indoor track and field program for youth athletes (K-8) and Masters athletes.   We participate in the Mid Atlantic USATF Youth Athletic Meet series held at Lehigh University. This series culminates in the MAUSATF Indoor Championships in March. We also participate in the Philadelphia Masters Indoor Track Series and the UAGTCA Indoor Developmental Meets. These Masters Meets are held at Haverford College, Swarthmore College, Widener University, Ursinus College, and Albright College.
 
 
 

Junior Olympic Program

This is the group whose primary sport or secondary sport is track and field. This group continues their track and field experience directly from their middle school and high school programs. This group is committed to compete in the National Junior Olympic Programs for either or both USATF and AAU. However, athletes usually choose either the USATF or AAU path to the Junior Olympic Nationals.    This group is willing to travel to the Area, Association, Regional and National Championship Meets regardless of the location.   The National Meets for both AAU and USATF rotate yearly between the western states, the midwestern states, the southern states, and the eastern states. This requires much commitment and dedication from the athletes and parents. 






Developmental Group

These athletes will participate in the National Junior Olympic Meets but might not advance at the area, the association, or regional levels either because they do not qualify or choose not to advance. Athletes from this group are encouraged to participate in UAGTCA Summer Classic and All-Comers meets.  Besides qualification factors, this group may not be as committed to travel as the Junior Olympic Group.  However, the Developmental Group receives the same quality level of coaching as the Junior Olympic Group. No distinctions are made.  Our Developmental Group is essential for our club especially at practices where they enhance our training program and form the core developmental group of athletes for the future.




Our members come from all over Chester County, including West Chester, Downingtown, Coatesville, Great Valley, Tredyffryn-Eastown, Phoenixville, Kennett Square, and Avon Grove.