Spring has sprung in Boise. There are daffodils and tulips, and trees leafing out. The grass is getting emerald green and the temperature is rising. On the campus of Boise State University, students are getting ready for semester end and graduation. At the Bronco Stadium workers are busy working to finish the new skyboxes high above the field. And in this springtime atmosphere there is the YMCA Invitational presented by the YMCA Team Idaho.

Team Idaho was started in 1978 to provide a grass-roots opportunity for youth to participate in Track & Field. The first year the club had 15 kids. Today the club has over 600 participants. The goal of Team Idaho is to help participants at all levels improve their specific Track & Field skills, make new friends, and have fun. Like all of the programs at the YMCA, Team Idaho is dedicated to the values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility. As stated in their brochure: "We encourage kids to make track and field a fun way to stay healthy and fit. Your child chooses their event, and is coached by the YMCA’s awesome staff, as well as local high school track coaches. This feelgood program will give your child the confidence to try several different events, and find where their strengths lie."

The Head Coach for Team Idaho YMCA Track & Field Program is Tim Severa, a YMCA employee of more than 24 years and the co-founder of the Team Idaho Track Club. Tim is well known and respected in the community for his skill and love of track and field. Runner's World Magazine awarded Tim the Golden Shoe Award in 1982 for his efforts in making running a mainstream sport in the Boise area otherwise known as Treasure Valley. Assisting Tim are more than 40 hand-selected volunteer and staff coaches. Many of the coaches hold at least a level one USAT&F coaching certification and have more than a century of combined Track & Field coaching experience. Some of the coaches even participated in Team Idaho when they were young.

The YMCA Team Idaho has sponsored the YMCA Invitational for many years and is looking forward to bigger and better meets in the future.

Boise is the capital of Idaho, the largest city in Idaho and the economic, cultural, and transportation center for the area. Boise is a city of about 163,000 people. But when the Boise Valley metropolitan areas are included, the population rises to 1.4 million people. Boise means "The Woods" in french or "Les Bois" That name came from French Canadians who were surprised to see the Boise River banks thick with cottonwood trees. Boise is also one of the "Gem Cities" (Boise, Nampa, Caldwell, Meridian, Kuna, Eagle) and set in the "Treasure Valley" (southwest Idaho--surrounding the low-lying lands of the Boise, Payette and Snake Rivers). Boise is a sophisticated urban area complete with downtown loft living, upscale shops, downtown traffic, thriving businesses, a variety of attractions, lots of parks, a 25 mile greenbelt area that flanks the Boise River, active nightlife and lots of places to eat and drink.

Treasure Valley has its roots in the gold and silver mines in the Boise Basin and Owyhee Mountains. This treasure hunting lured miners as well as settlers looking for productive farmland. Some of the settlers were dropouts from those heading west on the Oregon trail. With Improvements in transportation and irrigation the area prospered and towns and cities were founded to fill the needs of the growing area. Boise was founded in 1863 and continued to grow with opening of the Oregon Short Line Railroad and the Boise Diversion Dam which heads the New York Canal. A complex irrigation system throughout the Treasure Valley was completed in 1909. Today, the city is a major regional center for business and industry including engineering, agricultural, building materials and high-tech firms.