If you are planning to join the cross country, please to to the Matador Athletics for information on athletic clearance. All the forms and information you need will be available or linked on that web page.
In addition, the athletics department will be hosting two days–August 2 and August 3–for athletes to come and have all their paperwork cleared and checked off so that you can begin practicing. Please understand that your coach can not allow you to practice with the team until you have met with the A.D. or the athletic trainer and they have cleared you on line! So please plan to be at the pre-season clearance on August 2 and 3.
In the meantime, please review the instructions on the Matador Athletics site, and schedule your physical NOW (doctor’s schedules get busy soon as many kids go to have their annual physicals for sports. So ask your parents to schedule an appointment right now, ‘my doctor was busy’ is not going to allow you to practice with the team! If your doctor is booked, many urgent care health clinics will allow you to walk in with a parent and get a physical right away. Urgent care clinics can be a quick, convenient option for your physical).
When you schedule your physical, please consider having having your iron levels tested by a serum ferritin test. Decreased iron levels can result in reduced performance from endurance athletes such as cross country runners. There is more information on iron levels posted here. I was looking around at updates in literature about iron levels and runners, and found this (very technical) paper here…I struggled through it and the author does conclude that “…routine pre-season iron screening is warranted in all middle and high schools across the country. Adolescent female athletes in every sport, particularly endurance sports, should be tested for serum ferritin at least two months prior to the start of the competitive season.” There is a lot of confounding information out there, and many primary care physicians do not follow this discussion (I believe this is because low iron levels are not a health issue as much as a performance issue). The danger, in my opinion, is not so much a health risk as a lost opportunity. If a new runner comes out to run and feels tired and dead legged, the runner may simply conclude they are not a good athlete; when in fact, they may just have low iron that makes them feel dead-legged. This thought makes me truly sad, as I fear many kids may give up when a simple blood test may have helped identify an issue.
One of our recent graduates shared a following letter from her college athletic department which supported this view also. Her college letter said, and I quote, ‘In the past years we have recommended bloodwork screening for athletes that have a greater risk (Mens’ and Women’s cross country and Women’s soccer) for vitamin deficiencies. Iron deficiency anemia can cause decreased performance, fatigue, weakness…all endurance athletes may be at risk for having iron deficiency anemia or it’s early precursor–low ferritin…we recommend that all at risk athletes mentioned above…obtain bloodwork screening for evaluation.” PLEASE consider getting a serum ferritin test when you get your physical, and ask for the number from your doctor. I’d like you to have every opportunity to be your best!
Do not hesitate to contact Coach Flatow coachflatow@gmail.com if you have any questions.