By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IN an effort to ensure that they are caught up to date on the relevant information for their success on and off the track, the Red- Line Athletics Track Club hosted its annual month-long series of teaching sessions for its members.

Dubbed “Health and Wellness Month,” the athletes heard from a panel of speakers, including Olympian Andretti Bain, who spoke on “The Winning Mentality,” Donovan Ingraham on “Nutrition,” Ashley Mortimer on “Social Media: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” and Harrison Thompson Jr on “Mental Health.”

The sessions were held every Friday during the month of November in the VIP stands of the original Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium.

The event, according to club founder and head coach Tito Moss, was to continue to work towards building young adults who will be able to contribute positively to society at large through athletics. “We selected a venue that was conducive to the COVID- 19 protocol, which was outdoors, which allowed us to space out,” Moss said. “We also thought it was necessary to speak to the whole athlete.

“We wanted to speak to their state of mind, we wanted to motivate, we wanted to encourage them about what they are putting into their bodies to get the absolute best performance possible. So as a track club, we want to speak to the whole athlete.”

Despite the COVID-19 environment that the athletes are faced with, Moss said he was thrilled by the efforts made to attend all of the sessions and he admitted that each speaker left a wealth of knowledge for the athletes to prepare them, both mentally and physically, for the road ahead of them.

Hopefully when they do it again next year, there will be a wider range of topics for the student-athletes to digest. But he said this year’s event provided more than enough information to sustain them until then.

As they have done in the past as well, Red-Line Athletics is now gearing up for their annual Scholar Athletic and Academics Awards where the student-athletes will be honoured for their performances in the classroom and on the track.

“So to tie in with this event, which has just culminated, it is our goal to continue to speak to the whole child – their mind, body and spirit,” Moss said.

“We will continue to work and motivate the kids in Red-Line Athletics,” said Moss.

During each session of the month, which featured more than 50 of their athletes in attendance, Moss said the coaching staff was encouraged by the amount of parents who chimed in and were able to get some information that they could enforce with their children at home.

Based on the response from their athletes, Moss said he’s confident that Red-Line Athletics Track Club will go on to produce another stellar season in 2022 with both the local and international competition on the agenda.

Red-Line Athletics, born out of the dismantled Club Monica Track Club and which features the majority of athletes from St Augustine’s College, is not even five years old, but they have already made an impact on the local track and field scene.

In addition to doing a number of projects to help motivate their athletes, the club also made a donation to the Great Commission Ministries International in April of more than 500 pounds of food, including rice, grits, corned beef and tuna.

A cheque for $1,000 was presented as well to help with their daily distribution of food and other essentials to the needy at their Wulff Road headquarters.