Throwing Information

Welcome to the world of track and field throwing events! These events are some of the most physically and mentally challenging events in the sport, requiring both strength and speed -- as well as technique and form.

There are several throwing events in track and field, including the shot put, discus, hammer, weight throw and javelin. Each event requires a unique combination of strength, technique, and speed to achieve the best results.

The shot put is a test of raw power and strength, where the goal is to throw a heavy ball as far as possible. The discus requires more finesse, as the athlete must throw a round disc with proper rotation to achieve maximum distance. The hammer throw involves swinging a heavy ball attached to a wire, and the similar weight throw involves swinging and throwing a heavier weight attached to a short handle.  Finally, the javelin is a combination of skills in which the athlete throws a spear-like object as far as possible.

Our experienced coaches will work with each athlete to help them develop their skills and achieve their goals in these events. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced thrower, we welcome you to join us and explore the exciting world of track and field throwing events!

General Information

The Rancho Cordova Track Club (RCTC) Throwers compete in local, regional and national meets.  Generally these meets are run under the guidance of USA Track & Field (USATF) -- the National Governing Body for track and field, long distance running, and race walking in the United States.

We require all of our athletes to be USATF members for insurance and organizational purposes.  The memberships are annual, inexpensive and purchased through this website: https://www.usatf.org/home/top-utility-nav-content/membership

We also comply with all state and school based rules associated with track and field including those from the California Interscholastic Federation regarding high school sports participation.

We strongly encourage our athletes to participate in school based athletics, and mold our program around those school sports.  For example, the majority of the USATF track season operates after high school competition ends, and culminates in the USATF Junior Olympics held at the end of July.

Success

The throws programs of the Rancho Cordova Track Club has had a lot of success in just a few years of operations.  We have athletes who have attained All-American status at national level competitions, participated at the highest levels of high school track and field and gone on to compete in leading college programs.  

Our throwing athletes have been repeatedly at the top of northern California high school competitions.  In 2023 we sent more than a dozen throwers to the Junior Olympics (perhaps more than any other such program) and scored four All-American titles in those games, including having 2 of the top 8 shot put thowers, the California/Nevada javelin champion and the 2nd place national champion in hammer throw.

Coaches

We are very lucky to have a wealth of coaching knowledge and experience in throwing - probably the best for any club in California.  We coach at Middle school, high schools, colleges and universities.  We include experienced and successful coaches, past collegiate athletes, All-Americans, and even Olympians.  You can see some of our bios on the RCTC Coaching Staff Page.  

  Head Coach - David Sander

  Coaches - Alex Knudsen, Henry Sharoyan, Travis Johnson, John Badovinac and Andy Bloom.

  Youth Coaches - Izzy Popejoy, Dana Greer, Gabriella Devlin

Practice Schedule

We hold generally practice on Monday, Wednesday and Friday  from 5:30pm-7:00pm, and Sunday from 10:00am-12:00pm.  This is subject to change.

Additional practices can be held based on meet schedules, and athlete needs.  

One on one coaching is also available, for a fee beyond our very reasonable basic membership.

Location

We practice at the Cordova High School (CHS) Stadium / Track and Throwing Facilities located at 2239 Chase Dr, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.  A map is available to our facilities in the downloads section of this site.

This is arguably the best non-collegiate throwing facility we are aware of in Northern California.  At CHS we have three discus circles, four shot put circles, and one hammer cage - the only high school based hammer cage in northern California!  We also have lots of open space for javelin training and other drills.

Age Restrictions

We can accommodate throwers from age 6 to 20, or beyond with special arrangements.  

What Do You Get?

Things you get when signing up for Rancho Cordova Track Club's Throwing programs:

• Team jersey & shorts for competition
• Use of club throwing implements and training equipment
• Use of our premium throwing facilities
• Access to practice, with high quality coaching and lots of athlete camaraderie
• Participation and collaboration with a highly successful group of athletes with a broad range of skills, many of whom compete at the Junior Olympic or national level, and some who become collegiate athletes
• The benefits of athletic participation:
  • challenging yourself in finding success in accomplishing more than you realized you could
  • gaining self-confidence
  • learning to perform under pressure
  • building leadership and relationship skills
  • learning teamwork
  • becoming stronger, faster and more fit
  • experiencing the setting of goals and executing a plan and hard work to achieve those goals
• and of course, FUN!

Meet & Championship Events

We host several large youth track meets at Cordova High School, and are the preferred venue for the region's largest meets.  We also host smaller meets, and travel to attend meets in our region.

We participate in USATF meets, including the qualifying meets necessary to send throwers to the USATF Junior Olympics, where we typically have a large presence of throwers.