Cross Country (XC)

The club’s purpose is to foster a lifelong love of running. Our program teaches essential running skills while helping athletes build speed, endurance, and strength—all within a fun, team-oriented environment. Designed with multiple levels to accommodate varying ages and experience, our program ensures that every child has the opportunity to succeed and grow throughout each season.

• My child has never run long distance?

We encourage any child to join our team. Kids train in groups according to their experience and age. Running in groups is more fun. Many families return year after year as kids make life-long friends while sharing fun and challenging experiences together.

• Would you share more about the cross country conference?

Organization: The Valley Youth Conference is non-profit, 100% volunteer-run organization dedicated to youth athletics. During the spring, Newbury Park Track Club competes in the Ventura County Youth Track Conference (https://www.vcytc.org/).

Geographic Reach: The conference covers a large footprint in Southern California. It encompasses the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, Antelope Valley, Simi Valley, Pasadena, and the West Los Angeles area.

Core Values: The conference is designed to provide a healthy, safe environment for youth to develop athletic skills and good citizenship, with an emphasis on encouraging scholastic achievement.

• Which documents are required for registration?

Since fall 2024, a Birth Certificate is only needed once to verify an athlete's birthday at their first season registration.

Player Contract (athlete) and Code of Conduct/Medical Waiver forms are needed each season. Both forms are directly below.

• Is parent volunteering required at meets?

Since the Valley Youth Conference is 100% volunteer-run, at meets everyone shares the volunteer load (acting as course monitors, finish line helpers, or coaches). Shifts typically run between 30-60 minutes. We ensure parents are able to watch their kids run in their race.

• What is the difference between the regular and postseason?

Regular Season: The 7 regular-season meets mentioned in your text bring all the conference clubs together to compete on Saturday or Sunday mornings. These meets rotate through various host locations, primarily centralized in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys. Athletes race in standardized distances against peers in their specific age and gender groups.

Postseason: During the regular season, athletes compete for their home clubs (like NPTC). However, once the post-season begins in mid-November, the top qualifying athletes from across all VYC clubs merge to compete as a single, unified team known as the Valley United Striders. This unique structure allows the conference's best runners to pool their talent and compete on a national level.

Each age group team tries to qualify through the association and regional meets. Each age group team tries to finish top 5. Additionally, any individuals who finish in the top 30 also have the opportunity to advance to the next round of competition. Teams that advance all the way go on to compete at cross country nationals. We typically attend USATF nationals (in some years the conference attends AAU nationals). Every athlete in the conference is invited to run at the association meet even if not competing within a postseason team.

• How does the timing work on meet mornings?

Cross country meets usually run between 8:30 to 11:30 am. We encourage athletes to support other teammates. At a minimum, athletes should arrive a few races in front of their age-group race to allow for warming up. While athletes are warming up, it is the ideal time for parents to support in a volunteer roles.

• How can I learn more, I am new to this sport?

Koby Reynolds (Head Coach) | 805-760-2822

Alavi Konkader (Head Coach) | 818-648-2096