Welcome to the Asheville Lightning Junior Olympics Team website. Junior Olympics (affectionately known as JOs) is the top youth Track & Field and Cross Country program in America and is sponsored by USA Track & Field, our national track and field organization. It is open to boys and girls from ages 6 to 18, from beginners to advanced high school level. The Asheville Lightning is one of the most respected and well known Junior Olympics teams in the southeast and in 2012 it received the prestigious North Carolina Track & Field Association President’s “Youth Best Practices Award”, a recognition from the state level of the superior organization and administration of the Asheville Lightning. Over 2000 young athletes from Western North Carolina have been members of the team since it was first formed in 1991 and many of these have been State, Regional and National Champions. The team annually has over 20 volunteer coaches, a dedicated administrative staff and is supported by many youth-oriented organizations. Typically over 100 young athletes are on the team each summer. Practices are held Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 6:15 to 8:00 PM at UNCA beginning in late April of each year.