Winona Wildcats Runners Club

We have seen a growing number of students losing confidence in themselves due to their lack of natural ability towards athletics and this tends to perpetuate a lack of interest in sports and overall health / well being. Many of us here at the school regularly run races and see the positive impact it has in setting a goal (the race) and then seeing the goal through to the end. We hope to have a student running club where the ownership of the club lies with the kids. We would help them train for races and help them achieve their personal goals.

Update (May 13, 2011)

Although we received the funding in October it proved to be really difficult to start our club until the spring. All the routes around our school were not really safe for the children until the snow was gone and we wanted to ensure that once they came out we could keep them motivated to return weekly to our club. With warmer weather and cleared paths we are happy to report that our running club is officially "running" (excuse the pun).

We had to limit the grades that could participate only because we had to ensure we had proper supervision to keep the kids safe. At the moment we have grade 3 and 6 students participating. Our initial proposal was a little ambitious and we forgot to take into consideration some of our school board regulations (For example - one to ten student / teacher ratio).

We are happy to report the club is achieving the goals we set out to accomplish. We have a number of different children attending the club that range in athletic abilities. Each week the club grows not only in student participation but also staff and parents in our community. The first week we had 2 staff members and 6 students running our 5 km route. Last week we had 6 teacher, 2 parents, and approx. 18 kids running. This week we are expecting even more.

The students are really taking ownership of the club by setting personal goals for themselves and even creating a logo for the shirts we intend to purchase for the club. The race we hope many of them will participate in is a month away and already many of them are excited about their possible participation.

Although we are extremely proud of all the kids our most favourite moments is watching children that would not normally attend such a club come out and find success. One particular child really comes into mind where she started the run and about 200m into our 5km run wanted to go back to school. After a little pep talk and showing her some running strategies she completed the route. She was beaming and so proud of herself. Upon being picked up by her parent she even asked my colleagues and I to watch her run to her car. The following week this student recruited some of her friends to come out and acted as a cheer leader to them as they tried to run our route. Watching their confidence, self-esteem grow through athletics was why we wanted to come up this club. We truly appreciate imagine action for giving us the final push to get this club "running".

Update (June 27, 2011)

The Winona Wildcats Running Club was a huge success. We started the club with three teachers and eight students and ended the club with nine teachers and thirty students. The one thing we learned from doing the club was that running is very intimidating to a lot of people and working through and meeting running goals is a huge boost to self confidence towards athletics.

We ran a five kilometre route each Wednesday and occasionally met to decide things such as our running logo or the colour of our jerseys. To create a cohesive team environment we ordered running shirts and running jackets. We soon found out that the money we received from ImagineAction was not going to be enough so we did some in school fundraising to subsidize our efforts. We also had to keep some money ready to help families with race fees as we soon found out how expensive it is to enter organized races.

The club concluded with running the Grimsby Peach Bud 5km Race. This was optional for members as parents had to drive, chaperone, and pay for the entry fees. We did form a relationship with the organizer who offered advice and counselling. Unfortunately, we could secure free entry for our members however, he did provide us with a five dollar discount per member.

I think our club was so successful because we kept the club size manageable and could provide a lot of support to each member. During each run we partnered up with children and offered much encouragement to help them reach their goals. Sometimes it was the kids who needed to help us reach the finish line. The main goal for the running club was to keep the atmosphere supportive, non-judgemental, and always positive. I believe keeping this focus is what made the club like a magnet attracting new members each week.

If I had to change anything I would try to figure out a way to start earlier. I see the progress the kids have made and wished I had more time. Safety is always our priority and trying to create a club like this and keep the momentum through the winter is a difficult task. We already now have a good base for teacher support and we are going to collectively talk about how to improve our club for next year.

I would like to thank ImagineAction for providing the fuel for getting this club going. We talked about doing this club for a couple years now and receiving the grant was the spark we needed to put our actions forward. We all learned a lot from eachother from participating in this club and