Thomas Middle School Athletics

Dear Timberwolf Parents:

We are happy to invite your child to participate in Thomas Cross Country starting this August. Cross Country is a non-cut sport open to 6th-8th graders. We practice daily and with the exception of a couple Invitationals and the postseason everyone participates in most of the meets. As one of only two sports in middle school that 6th graders are allowed to participate in, Cross Country is a great opportunity to enjoy a healthy, outdoor activity, meet new people, and represent our school as part of a team. We are extremely proud of our athletes and of this program. Our girls team is the 2023 IESA State Champs and our boys finished in second place.

Please read the information below carefully as it contains everything you need to know for your child to successfully participate on the TMS Cross Country team.

In addition, this Friday, July 26th is the Pride of the Wolf Pack Golf Outing and the final day of the TMS Online Auction. The proceeds from this Golf Outing help support TMS alumni scholarships, TMS athletics, and TMS activities. All are welcome to attend this event and bid on auction items.

We look forward to another successful cross-country season! Thank you!

Your Coaches,

Todd Slowinski tslowinski@sd25.org

Joe Kim jkim@sd25.org

Becky Fahnoe rfahnoe@sd25.org

Please complete this form to register your child.

**Student login is d25(first name)(4 digit number)@student.sd25.org

(this is the same as it was for your elementary school)

**Example: d25annabel1685@student.sd25.org

This form MUST be completed before participating in practices.

$20 (new for Cross Country Fall 2024)

Everyone must get a new jersey (except 7th graders who bought it for track spring ‘24)

Athletes must have a current physical BEFORE they can participate in ANY practices. Physicals are good for 13 months, so “current” for the cross-country season means a physical dated after 9/15/23. A school nurse will be on hand to accept physicals from 7:00-7:15 AM on the first day of practice on Wednesday, August 7th at Hasbrook Park. Physicals can be turned in at the TMS office before Wednesday, August 7th, or uploaded to the TMS Health Office form linked here.

GROUPME APP: We’ve started a NEW GroupMe group, and this is the primary method of communication with parents, so please sign up ASAP. Please download the GroupMe App and click this link to join the TMS XC GroupMe group.

In order to best prepare for our season, all athletes are invited (but NOT required) to attend practices before school starts. Please see the attached calendar for dates, times, and locations of practices. *Please note: our preseason practices will be at Hasbrook Park. Athletes should meet on the North side at the tennis courts. If an athlete cannot attend practices before school begins, that’s okay as we understand there may be scheduling conflicts. We encourage all athletes to run 4-5 days of the week for 20+ minutes on their own (or run for 10 minutes, walk two minutes, then run 10 minutes more; or run 5 walk 2 and repeat 3-4 times). It takes time to build up cardiovascular endurance, and participants will do better and feel better if they have a head start.

In addition, our feeder high schools offer great summer camps:

• Hersey High School XC Summer Camp. Details linked here.
• Buffalo Grove High School XC Summer Camp. Details linked here.

For home meets, we will meet in the field and all walk over to Hasbrook as a team. Parents should be advised that parking is VERY limited. Athletes need to fill water bottles and use the bathroom before we leave school. Water is NOT available and the bathroom is limited to a port-a-potty.

Please see the meet schedule for bus information. There will not be buses for Friday and Saturday invitationals. For Monday - Thursday meets, all athletes will take a bus to the meet. There will be a return bus to Thomas, but parents are also welcome to take kids home directly from the meet.

Summer and Fall are warm and humid times and it is critical to hydrate before, during, and after running. Runners should bring plenty of water with them to every practice and meet. A 16-oz. water bottle is NOT enough on those really hot and humid days. If we need to cancel practice during the school day, we will send an announcement on GroupMe, at lunch, and over the school PA at the end of the day.

SOFTBALL: Unfortunately it will not be possible for girls to compete in both softball and cross country.

BASKETBALL: For 7th and 8th grade girls, while the girls basketball season conflicts with cross country, IT IS POSSIBLE to do both as bball starts later in our season. If you are interested in trying out for basketball, we would recommend joining cross country and then tryout for basketball (September 16th and 17th). If you make the team, you can then play basketball. A select few athletes may choose to continue with cross country and basketball. This will require some coordination with the coaches but we are willing to make this work. We’ve had several athletes in the past do this with much success.

We welcome and appreciate any assistance in making this season a success. If interested, please see sign up via Sign Up Genius. THANK YOU!

We will be holding a parent meeting on Monday, August 19 from 7pm-7:30pm via Zoom. Here is the link for the Zoom meeting. In the meantime, please make sure you register AND join the Remind App and have your child join the Schoology group.

Stay tuned….order forms will be available in August