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 Regional meet, and then to the National meet. 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 2026 Outdoor Track Meets:
Junior Olympics (JO) Series
Niagara Association JO Championships are June 27 in at Roberts Wesleyan University in Rochester NY.
Region 2 JO Championships are July 9-12 at Moravian University in Bethlehem, PA. Athletes must qualify at the Association meet to run here. (This is highly likely, as the Association meet is typically small.)
USATF National JO Championships are July 27 - August 2 in Norwalk, CA. Athletes must qualify at the Regional meet to run here. (More challenging!)
In order to compete in the JO meets, your athlete MUST 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 USATF. 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’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.
