To welcome incoming and returning athletes, athletic directors and sports coaches hosted the winter sports orientation meeting in Amador Valley’s Multipurpose Room from 6-7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 17. 

“We will be doing it annually because all our registrations can vary and be confusing for some of the parents and it’s very hard to answer each of those parents individually by email. So, if we can get them information now, it saves people a lot of time and we want to make sure everybody is registered on time,” said Alphonso Powell, Coordinator of Operations at AVHS.

The meeting introduces registration procedures as well as fundraising in each sports program. Amador sports is a program generated by fundraisers for activities and facilities, making donations a crucial part of a successful season. 

“I want the audience to know how to register and connect with the coaches from their program. Also, fundraising works very differently per sport. It depends on how they want to do it. Different teams have different ways of fundraising,” said Powell.

For incoming freshman athletes and parents, the orientation helps keep track of dates and provides time for any questions to be answered. Information and important dates can also be found on the AVHS Athletic Booster website. 

“My daughter’s a returning athlete, so we’ve done this before. This is just making sure for us to keep ourselves updated and weren’t missing out on any dates or information. Once you have been through it once, there’s not so much (new information) maybe. But for new freshmen parents and new athletes, this is absolutely important to them,” said Amador Valley parent Ashley Treadway.

Any athletes interested in applying to winter sports must register on the Athletic Clearance website with all forms filled out by Oct. 31 or earlier, depending on the sport. 

“Athletic Clearance is just a platform that you go on and you make an account. The best part about it is that once the information is in there, then it’s all updated as it goes forward from each sport each year. The Athletic Clearance carries on multiple years,” said Powell.

The winter sports meeting keeps parents and coaches connected and builds trust among each other as students become athletes at Amador.

“We want the parents to know safety is always a good sign. Like I said while we went through the registration process, we have to have our physical (form). The main thing is to give them an overall feel for the program and how things operate,” said Powell.