The Provincial and National Development programs are designed for athletes in high school. The Provincial Development program begins to teach athletes periodization and event specific skill. Athletes often choose between starting to specialize in the 400, 800, and 1500 meter events or the 1500, 3000 meter, and 5km. At this point, athletes have narrowed down their focus on sports and are multisport athletes that in addition to running still play competitively in another sport.
The National Development program is aimed at developing athletes that are single sport focused and are looking to compete at the National Level and collegiately once graduated from high school. This includes the U16/U18 Legion Track & Field National Championships, Canadian National XC Championships, and the U20 Canadian Track & Field Championships. Other high-performance competitions domestically (Ontario & Canada), and internationally (United States) are possible for these athletes. Funding opportunities are also present for these athletes.
Many of these athletes go onto compete collegiately at either the USports, NCAA, NAIA, or CCAA level.
A N N U A L
Cost: $1000
The Annual Membership in the Provincial/National Program is full year for high school aged athletes competing at the provincial and national levels. Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor track are the three seasons we train for in the annual program. Included with Annual Program Fee is the athletes' Athletics Ontario/Athletics Canada Membership, practice permits, and their race entry for the AO XC Championships. Relay entries are also covered. These expenses are paid for by the club and included in the fees paid.
High-performance opportunities are also available for athletes. These competitions take place domestically and internationally. Athletes that have performances under certain marks can receive funding to offset the cost of some of these meets.
The indoor track season typically runs from December to mid April at the Oshawa Civic. We train at the Oshawa Civic for outdoors as well in addition to other areas in Durham Region. Between seasons, our athletes get time off in order to recoup and enjoy a break away from running. This keeps them engaged and aids in preventing burnout.
c r o s s C o u n t r y
Cost: $300
Durham Dragons Athletics Fall Cross Country program is one of the best in Ontario. The Provincial and National development program is open to athletes 14-20 (grades 9-12 & University) that compete in the U16, U18, and U20 divisions. Practices start in August with base building and run through the end of November. The Athletics Ontario Championships are usually held in mid November and ACXC, the National XC Championships at the end of the month. The Dragons won 3 straight U18 Boys National Titles from 2015-2017. Additionally, in 2017 our U18 Girls and U20 Women both won team bronze medals.
As part of this program, athletes are provided with structed practices three times a week in addition to a group long run on Sundays. Racing opportunities throughout the for all athletes include the high school or collegiate season, the AO Championships. Any athlete that runs team standard can compete at Nationals. This program provides a great opportunity for athletes to get introduced to competitive running at the Provincial Level and high-performance competition at the National Level.
We offer a free two-week trial membership for any new kids that want to try out cross country before committing to the season.
I n d o o r / o u t d o o r t r a c k
Cost: $550 per season
More information to come...