Meet opportunities are sometimes right under your nose
I often get queries from new masters or open athletes wanting to know, simply: Where can I find a meet in my area? I suggest reviewing my FAQ for ideas, but I often just type: Check with your local USATF association for a meet calendar. But even that’s an iffy proposition. Tonight I learned of a meet that accepts masters athletes in four events. It’s right up the street, in fact.
But if it hadn’t been for my M45 hurdler friend Jeff Davison, who sent me a set of links to upcoming Southern California meets, I wouldn’t have been aware that this coming Saturday, April 2, the Flo-Jo International 10th Annual Invitational Track and Field Meet — primarily a youth meet — has four events for masters.
The San Diego-Imperial Association of USATF doesn’t list the meet on its meet calendars! And San Diego USATF is sanctioning the meet. Oops.
But the Mother Ship in Indy — usatf.org — lists the meet with this description:
This is an excellent opportunity for all sponsors, open athletes, and track and field enthusiast to participate and compete in four open events(100m, 400m, 1500m, and 4x100m relay) and earn sponsorship funds for competing youth track and field clubs. Each USATF youth club that participate in the meet will receive a grant of $300, for travel expenditures to any USATF youth championship meet. Flo-Jo International Invitational Track and Field Meet is the Most Exciting and Fun meet for youth and open competitors. Every competitor is a winner and will recieve an award for their effort. Please contact meet director at flojo99@cox.net , or visit our website at: www.flojo.org.
Another good source of meets for masters are collegiate “invitationals.” Often they allow unaffiliated, open and geezer tracksters to jump in a lane. And usually the entry fees are low.
A good example is the Triton Invitational at UC San Diego on Saturday, April 23, 2005. Price is $15 per entry.
So if you want to compete, visit your local college Web site, or call the track office. You CAN go home again.
