Cross Country Training Groups Begin

JD Cross Country Practices (age 8-13) will start on Monday, September 4th, 4:00pm at Clearbrook Park (also known as: Ron Wiebe Park) in Abbotsford.  Practices will be Mondays and Wednesdays 4:00 – 5:30 pm and Saturdays 10:00 – 11:30 am. If your child has not yet registered for this season and you would like to have him/her participate, please contact Christa McAuley at [email protected] for more information.

Middle Distance Group Practices (age 14 and up) will begin Tuesday, September 5th at Clearbrook Park. Practices will be Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:00 – 5:45 pm and Saturdays 10:00 – 11:45 am. Please make sure that you bring a water bottle and be dressed ready to run (wear layers). 

Fall Season Sponsorship Drive in Full Swing

Over the next few weeks the main fundraising focus of our club membership is inviting people and businesses that we know to be sponsors of our Fall Cross Country Races: 4 Grand Prix Races & the BC Cross Country Championships which we are hosting in Clearbrook Park.

Use the new “Club Sponsors” section on our website to find all of the resources you need including the 2017 Fall Sponsorship Letter & Sponsorship Packages for Valley Royals Track & Field Club with Chart

The deadline for Gold ($1000) Sponsorship & Up has just passed but, as long as your sponsor doesn’t mind not having their feather flag on display at some of the earlier Grand Prix Races, we can still accept and promote these higher level sponsors until the Silver Sponsors deadline. 

Silver ($500) Sponsors need to be submitted to Debbie by Wednesday, September 6th.

Bronze ($250) & Friends of the Club ($100) Sponsors need to be in by Wednesday, September 13th 2017

Athletes get fundraising credits worth 50% of each Sponsorship that they bring into the club which can be used to pay entry fees & even help pay for next year’s club membership (if purchased before December 31st 2017)

Submit your sponsors to Debbie Foote at [email protected]

 

 

Valley Royals Perfect at Nationals!

For the official results of the Legion National Youth Track & Field Championships click: http://www.legion.ca/docs/default-source/track-and-field/2017-championship-results.pdf?sfvrsn=0

For the BC Athletics Team BC Recap about Team BC-Yukon’s performance at Legion Nationals click: http://www.bcathletics.org/News/bc-yukon-team-recap-2017-legion-national-track-field-championships/2646/

Valley Royals Perfect at Nationals!

The Valley Royals Track and Field Club sent five athletes to the Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships and all five returned with medals.  Each athlete achieved the lofty midget and youth standard required to qualify for the event August 11-13 in Brandon, Manitoba, but their outstanding results exceeded all expectations at the premier nationwide competition. 

Leading the way was Rowan Hamilton, 17, who continued his remarkable season bringing home two medals, including gold in the hammer throw.  In July, Hamilton competed up an age level at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in Ottawa, where he shared the spotlight with fellow Valley Royal Vikramjit Gondara and returned with a silver medal. 

In Brandon Hamilton, who along with Gondara is trained by Royals Coach Harold Willers, would go one better–beating his own Canadian record with a throw of 69.54 m to bring home gold! He also added a bronze medal in discus with an impressive throw of 44.63m.

Elliott Payne, 15, who also trains with Willers, earned a gold medal in javelin in the midget age category.  Payne broke his previous record of 55.18m set at the BC Athletics Championship Jamboree in Coquitlam with a throw of 55.79m in Brandon. 

“My experience of competing, travelling and living with team BC was absolutely amazing and I will never forget it. I met so many people on my team and from other provinces that I became really good friends with and that I’m keeping in contact with. The coaches were all great too. They helped you with anything you needed and were there at all times. They loved to have a little fun too. I hope to come back next year to experience this all over again!” ~Elliott Payne

The Valley Royal gold medal run continued with high jumper Alexa Porpaczy, who is trained by acclaimed Royal coach Ziggy Szelagowicz.  Porpaczy won gold at Legion Nationals with leap of 1.75m to capture her third straight national title.  She added to her gold medal at the U-20 Championships in Ottawa in July.  The result rounded out a season, which included an impressive appearance at the Youth Commonwealth Games in the Bahamas, a gold medal at the prestigious Mount Sac Meet in California and a personal best of 1.80m, while earning a fourth straight Provincial High School Championship.

Another Szelagowicz trained athlete, Liam Espedido, earned a bronze at the meet in Brandon.  Espedido, who placed 4th at the BC High School Championships and won gold in the 14-15 age category at the BC Championships brought home bronze in the Midget age category with a Jump of 1.81m.

Rounding out the medal haul, Harrison Trustham, who also trains with Szelagowicz in the Power/Speed group nabbed multiple medals.  Trustham opened his season winning gold in the 300m and silver in 100m dash at the Valley Royal’s Vaisakhi Meet. He went on to win silver medals in the 100m & 300m hurdles at the BC Athletics Championship Jamboree in Coquitlam and now he has returned from Brandon a multiple medalist.

Not originally selected for Team BC, Trustham made the qualifying standard in multiple events and decided to go to Legion Youth Nationals in Brandon, Manitoba to represent the Valley Royals Track & Field Club. His decision was reinforced, as he medaled three times at the national event achieving bronze in Midget 100m hurdles and two silver medals one in 4x100m Relay and another in 200m Hurdles.

Valley Royals President, Ivon Singh Gill commented on the excellent results, saying “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to congratulate our athletes for achieving success at the national level once again. Athletes, coaches, and families–when we work together as a team, such great results are achieved. I am sure we have more to see from them.” 

Co-written by James Porpaczy and Monica Carsience

Valley Royals Coach Wins Gold in Canada Games

Congratulations to Valley Royals Coach David Boyd on his gold medal performance in pole vault at the Canada Games in Winnipeg Manitoba on August 4th. Boyd represented Team BC, achieving his gold medal standing with a vault of 4.80m. Boyd is a student at Trinity Western University where he competes for the Spartan Track & Field Team. This season, in addition to his own training and competing, Boyd took on the role of Assistant Coach for the Power & Speed Group of the Valley Royals.

Opportunity for Sponsors to Support Hundreds of Athletes in our Grand Prix Racing Series and BC Cross Country Championships

For Fall 2017 we have Sponsorship Packages available to give sponsoring companies acknowledgement at 5 Races. Each race will be attended by hundreds of athletes and their supporters:

  • Valley Royals Grand Prix Racing Series (4 races in September and October) For over 30 years our Grand Prix has attracted hundreds of students (over 750 last year) who attend school in the Fraser Valley from grades 4-8. Students run a 1-mile course in Clearbrook Park, cheered on by parents and friends, for 4 Wednesday afternoons in a row to see how much they can improve their time from week to week. This year the race dates are September 20th & 27th and October 4th & 11th 2017
  • BC Cross Country Championships in Clearbrook Park on October 28th, 2017. Attracts athletes from across B.C. for multiple races in a range of age categories

As a Non-Profit Society, we rely on the generosity of Sponsors and the volunteer work of our athletes and families. Sponsorship will provide equipment and coaching for the athletes in the Fraser Valley.

Check out our new CLUB SPONSORS section on the Valley Royals Website which contains Thank You Walls for all of our 2017 Sponsors, Sponsorship Packages, a downloadable PDF Sponsorship Letter 2017 Fall Sponsorship Letter & Sponsorship Packages for Valley Royals Track & Field Club with Chart  with a handy Chart of the benefits of each package at a glance! 

FUNDRAISING REQUIREMENTS HAVE CHANGED

This week, the Valley Royals Board of Directors voted to remove the dollar values of the fundraising requirements from athlete memberships so that the athletes can fundraise as much or as little as they would like. Fundraisers will be offered throughout the year to provide athletes the opportunity support the club while earning Fundraising Credits to help cover the cost of their Entry Fees. If you’d like to get your volunteer hours fulfilled by running a fundraiser for the club contact Christa at [email protected]