Cross Country Rules Clinic - Intro

Rudy Aragon - NMAA Assistant Director

Office Phone - (505) 923-3270

E-Mail: raragon@nmact.org

Welcome to the 2009 NMAA Cross Country Season! Following are some points of emphasis that you need to make a mental note of:

  • Your rosters must be posted online through your MVP account by September 15th. Those schools that fail to do so will be fined.
  • As a service to you, the NMAA has compiled a list of meets/dates that will be taking place within our state throughout the 2009 cross country season. The listing can be found on the cross country webpage of the NMAA website.
  • If your school owes an unpaid fine to the NMAA, you will not be allowed to compete until the fine has been paid. Please review with your Athletic Director.
  • If your district plans on hosting a district JV or C team cross country meet, please understand that teams participating must be within the allowable 8 meet limit. Varsity athletes are allowed 8 meets plus the district meet, sub-varsity are allowed only 8.
  • If you plan on sending teams to two different meets on the same day or weekend and they both run in varsity races, please be aware that this will count as two (2) of your varsity team’s allowable 8 meets. Each athlete is allowed to compete in 8 races and each school may schedule a maximum of 8 meets.
  • If your athletes compete in a fun run, etc. after the starting date of the 2009 cross country season, please be advised that the run will count towards their allowable 8 meet limit. (Each athlete on your team is allowed one scrimmage and the fun run can be utilized as a scrimmage.)
  • This year’s NMAA State Cross Country Championships will once again be hosted by the City of Rio Rancho. As required, a meet will be held several weeks prior to the state meet so that those of you who choose to do so may have the opportunity to race on the state championship course.
  • I hope that your season is a successful one and want you to know that my colleagues at the NMAA and I are here to help you in any way that we can. Please don’t ever feel that you are infringing on our time when you make contact with us. That’s what we’re here for! Below, some food for thought:


“So you want to be a winner; what successful people do!”180x250_083.jpg

Do you at times marvel at the abilities of people who seem to have it all together and are able to experience success at whatever endeavor they choose to become involved with? What is it that allows them to win consistently, even in situations where the challenges seem too great and the odds stacked against them? If you’ll take the time to think of the truly great people that you have observed or may have known, you will find that they all live by some version of the following concepts which undoubtedly have been major catalysts to solidifying their status as life-long winners.

Winners have vision. They are eternal optimists who understand that to have an improved future, you need to be able to visualize it. Vision ignites the passion within us that fuels our commitment towards achieving excellence. Vision allows us to transform our “dreams of greatness” into the reality of achievement through extensive and consistent effort. The beautiful thing about vision is that it has no boundaries or limitations. Winners know that their vision will eventually become their destiny, and are fully aware that once they’ve lost sight of that vision, limits begin.

Winners never make excuses. To a winner, excuses are the “nails used to build a house of failure.” They realize that there are poor excuses and there are great excuses, but the reality of it all is that an excuse is nothing more than a reason why something didn’t get done. Winners are all about results. They have no interest in justifying why their goal was never reached or their task never successfully completed.

Winners are resilient. They have the uncanny ability to persevere during times of adversity. They might get knocked down but they will never be knocked out! Winners understand that standing face to face and toe to toe with their challenges builds character, and that people of character always have hope and people who have hope never lose sight of their goals and dreams.

Winners are all about integrity. Simply put, integrity means doing the right thing, all of the time, regardless of the situation, circumstances or consequences. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” Winners understand that success, no matter how great, is fleeting and will eventually erode with time, but significance, the impact that their life has on the lives of those that they touch, is ever-lasting. Winners know that people will “forget what you said and they might forget what you did, but the will never forget how you made them feel!”

Winners thrive on commitment. They have come to realize that committing fully to a cause is actually liberating because it sets them free from all rational hesitation. They understand that to commit is to remove your head as a barrier to your life!

Winners are loyal. They are especially loyal to those who have nurtured them and have dedicated their lives to ensuring that they possess the intellectual, physical, emotional and spiritual strength required to function productively within a global society. They are loyal to the standards that have been established by those who have come before them and to setting quality examples for those whose time has yet to come.

You want to be a life-long winner and not just a “one hit wonder”; you know what you’ve got to do!

Rudy Aragon

PROCEED TO UNIT II