The North Idaho Blaze Story

North Idaho Blaze Track and Field Club was started as in the Fall of 2019 with the inspiration from Coach Linda Lanker and middle school track athlete, Maricela (Mari) Nelson.  Mari had been running as an unattached sprinter (meaning without being affiliated with a club) through USATF for nearly 3 years and had qualified to run for the 100m sprints in the summer of 2019 for National Junior Olympics.  After having this experience of running at Nationals for the first time, she realized how amazing it would be to have a club team to train with.  Mari proposed to help make a a local track and field club as her Girl Scout Silver Award, something that she could do to help have a positive impact on her community, and share her love of running track with other athletes. 
With the help of some amazing track and field coaches, parents, and community partners, North Idaho Blaze became an official USATF Track and Field Club in February, 2020.  The first season started during Covid-19, and although there were no formal summer competitions for that summer, Blaze still had over 60 middle school and high school athletes that join the club, and offered an introductory Kids Camp for elementary students as well.