USATF is the national governing body for all US track & field, cross country, and road running. In addition to managing the Olympic teams, they also manage the Junior Olympics. Athletes of all ages can compete in the local Association meet, and anyone 7 years old and older who qualifies in their race can move on to the National meet. The top 15 individuals and top 2 teams will qualify. Age groups are determined by birth year, and are in two year increments: 8U, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18.

Here are the 2023 Cross Country Meets:

  • Association Meet. This will be held on November 12 at Bassett Park in Buffalo. This is typically a small meet. Most, if not all, athletes will likely qualify for Nationals. Events are 2k (8U), 3k (9-10 and 11-12), 4k (13-14) and 5k (15-18). We have a block of hotel rooms available. The link is in the TeamSnap event.

  • National Meet. This is big meet, held on December 9 at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park in Louisville, KY. We will put travel logistics together soon for this.

In order to compete in any of these meets, your athlete will need to have a current USATF membership. The instructions to complete that are below.

And if you have any problems, hit the big “Help!” button at the bottom and send an email to Coach Steve.

Register with SOAR. This is for the modified and varsity runners that will join us after their season. You can register at https://go.teamsnap.com/forms/388486 and use the discount code USATF to cut the price by $15. Once complete you’ll be covered to attend our post-season practices and we’ll handle your registration for the USATF meets.

Register with USATF. If you wait until November 1 to do this step, you will get a 14 month membership, through 2024. If you do it earlier, it will only be good for the rest of 2023. Go to the USATF Connect Login. If you’ve had a membership in the recent past, you should be able to log right in. If you had one in the less than recent past, you may need to recover your account. Here’s the link for that. Whatever you do, don’t create a second membership. That makes a mess. Once you’re in, update your membership for 2023.

If you’re completely new to USATF, create a new individual membership. When you get to the Club Affiliation option, find “SOAR Running Club (NY-04-1125)” in the drop down.

And you will need to complete a Date of Birth verification, which requires you to upload a scan or photo of a birth certificate. This is a one-time requirement, but it is a real requirement for all USATF youth meets. And the verification portion can take a few days, so don’t wait! Once the membership is set, you’ll see a menu of options to the left. You should see “Athlete Verifications” on that list. That’s where you’ll need to add a Date of Birth Verification.