There is some degree of overlap between the TRYstars and the Juniors sessions.
If children are 7-15 years of age, they would join the club as CTC TRYstars members and be introduced to the junior programme at one of the Sunday afternoon CTC TRYstars sessions.
Depending on their level of fitness, their availability and their level of interest, they may be invited to come to one of the Wednesday evening CTC Juniors sessions if they are aged 13 - 15 years of age.
If a junior is aged 16 - 19 years of age, they would join the club as a CTC Junior Club member and would be introduced to the junior programme at one of the Wednesday evening CTC Juniors sessions.
If a member is over 18 years of age of course they can participate fully in the CTC Seniors programme.
A core group of keen teenagers have been training with the juniors coaches on a Wednesday night.
The group comprises four teenage girls between the ages of 13 to 16 and, more recently, two older boys
who have recently finished high school. The content of the program is designed to match the senior club
program and includes swim sessions, fitness and running sessions, and bike skills.
Juniors remain members of the TRYstars program until the age of 15 then transfer to a TriNSW Junior Club
membership between the ages of 16 to 19. During the CTC Aquathlon season two of the Wednesday night races
each term are identified as suitable for the older Junior Club members (16 years and over) to participate.
Three of the girls Carla, Isabella and Laura participated in the TriNSW Tri Shave Try-A-Tri event
held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, Penrith on Sunday 7th March. The girls were very
relieved that the warm up lake had been clear of blue green algae for one week so that a triathlon event
was able to proceed with a revised swim course. All of the girls completed the 150m swim, 5km bike and 1.5km run.
This was their first All Women's triathlon and Carla's first triathlon ever. Both Isabella and Laura had
previously participated in Weet-Bix TRY-athlon events in Primary school. It was encouraging to see how calm
and savvy they all were in handling the mass swim start positioning themselves well for the deep water start
and sighting well to keep on course. They also performed smooth and efficient transitions. One of the girls
was 5th out of the water and 1st out of T1! The girls kept up a constant effort during the event and finished
strongly. Another exciting part of the day was the lucky draw with two wetsuits as major prizes. Much to the
delight of the CTC members (including six adults who had participated during the morning and Marisol as junior
coach), Carla's number was the last one of the day to be drawn out of the box and she went home with a voucher
for the second wetsuit! Well deserved after arriving at 6am, competing at 7am and then supporting until 2pm.
It is a very exciting time for the Junior programme as we develop more coaching content and explore safe options
to include more cycling sessions.
Susan Murray
