Happy Birthday from this Thursday 21 May to Krishawn Aiken, Shaka Bunsie, Zachary Caparanga, Sophie Connor, Sienna Corbyn, Liam Dee, Toby Edwards, Andrew Elkins, Andrew Evelegh, Zoe Holley, Rebecca Jeffery, Lucy Johnson, Harriet Mollinson, Alice Musgrove, Sophia Obi and Leonie Onyems
BRITISH ATHLETICS LEAGUE 50TH YEAR BOOK – We are delighted to announce that a publication celebrating 50 years of British Athletics League history is now available to purchase.
Copies can be bought for £5, or £8 for two, and £10 for three, which is the maximum order. The cost includes postage and packing, with all money raised going to help young athletes through the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund, which has also supported many BAL athletes on their journey along the athletics pathway.
To order, simply email geoffrey.morphitis@capeandd.com with the details of your order and make an online payment of the appropriate amount to;
ACCOUNT NAME : SHAFTESBURY BARNET HARRIERS, BANK : HSBC, ACCOUNT NUMBER : 41308378, SORT CODE : 400426
The publication itself features a range of nostalgic contributions from athletes, committee members, team managers and officials. Olympic champion and President of World Athletics, SEBASTIAN COE said: “The competition has been of constant high standard and I remember fondly my own competitions as a member of the Haringey team that were not only important for the club and its status but were important stepping stones to championships later in the season.”
There are great stories of feats that will impress, surprise and amuse you, from exhausted athletes doubling-up to score points, to guitar sing-alongs on team buses. Liverpool Harriers’ MIKE HOLMES has provided a fascinating series of archive reports that bring the piece to life, as do images by MARK SHEARMAN and MELISSA GRESSWELL. Statistical information has also been compiled by PETER MATTHEWS, with a club-by-club directory of every team to compete over the last five decades put together by MIKE HEATH.
Please note that orders will be satisfied on a first come first served basis. No booklets will be sent until payments have cleared so allow please allow seven working days between order and delivery.
DAVID STONE, FROM 2018 TO LOCKDOWN – The following was written by ROSALIND ZEFFERRTT.
DAVID STONE will always remember the dramatic conclusion to the 2018 national cross country championships. As one of the youngest competitors in his age group, he would have been content to finish anywhere in the top 10. “Then I started leading and only one other person came with me,” said DAVID, now 18. “I held on and won by one second. It’s the proudest moment so far in my running career.”
But for athletes, sometimes running a strong race without ending up on the podium can feel pretty good too. Not long after the nationals, DAVID suffered an injury which, added to his asthma, severely disrupted his 2019 season. By the time the English Schools championships came along this March – one of the last events before lockdown – he had not competed for four months. “It was my last ever English Schools so, even though I didn’t think I was in good shape, I thought it would be fun to do and I’d just see how I felt,” he said. “I probably started a bit too slowly, but I gradually moved up and in the last 500m I went from 12th to fourth place, four seconds off a medal, so I was really happy.” Photograph of DAVID at the English Schools.
DAVID, a member of Raleigh Close shul, originally played Maccabi football for Hendon, but after joining a training group at nearby Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers he discovered how much he enjoyed running. “Although I’ve had more success at cross country, I enjoy track and field just as much,” said DAVID who, despite his injuries, still ended the 2019 season high in the U20 UK rankings for the 1500m (39th) and 3000m (60th).
He is now back to full fitness and in a routine largely unaffected by lockdown, other than the cancellation of his A Levels at JFS school which allows him even more time to train (and to draw – he is also a talented artist). He runs four days a week supplemented by faster track-type sessions and, at home, core work. DAVID plans everything himself, in conjunction with Harriers’ JEREMY SOTHCOTT who also coaches GILAD NACHSHEN, OLIVER GREENSTEIN and ADAM CAHN.
All being well, DAVID will be studying geography in the autumn at a university chosen for its sports facilities as much as for the degree course. “It’s a good setup at Birmingham and there’ll be a group there I know from races,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
Footnote from ALAN WELLER – My first recollection in meeting DAVID was at the National Young Athletes Road Relays at Sutton Park, Birmingham on Sunday 13 October 2013. It was a foul day and prior to the start of the races the Shaftesbury tent was bursting at the seams with athletes and parents. The Under 13 Boy’s race was early in the timetable, NATHAN FERNANDES was on Leg 1 and completed his leg in a not to distant 9th place (14.13), DAVID took over on Leg 2 and moved through the field to complete his leg with a 19 second lead (14.04), I was standing at the switchback section some 800m from the handover, and when DAVID passed me his determination was apparent. The final Leg was given to JAMIE HARPER who took up the challenge and extended our winning lead to 41 seconds (14.01). The team finished 1st (42.18), 2nd was Team Bath (42.59) and 3rd Charnwood (43.14). JAMIE was 6th fastest time of the day and DAVID 8th fastest.
DAVID BRADLEY REMEMBERS THE EARLY BRITISH LEAGUE DAYS – Many thanks to DAVID memory on the downfall of one of the UK’s athletic icon. DAVID joined the club in 1972 was a regular for many seasons in the BAL, competing in the 400m. In his final few years he moved onto the 400 hurdles, and represented the club regualrily. DAVID is a club Vice President, served as General Secretary from 1997 to 1982, and currently Clerk to the Council and Promotions Secretary.
Back in the 1970’s the British League attracted the attendance of many top athletes which added extra spice to the competition. And so it was that DALEY THOMPSON turned up at the match at Haringey. He was well known there because in those days it was an excellent training venue that he regularly used. DALEY came to the BAL matches to get good competition at the less frequented events like the Pole Vault and High Hurdles as well as doing several events as in a Decathlon. And DALEY was good at all these events – something he let the other competitors know. In his usual cheery manner DALEY won events, and scored well in others. He revelled in his performances and thereby did not endear himself to his fellow competitors.
In the mid-afternoon, it was time for the High Hurdles which DALEY was going to contest.
Shaftesbury was represented by JACK MORGAN – an excellent hurdler who had won the Southern Championships the previous year. JACK had a lot of experience – he was well into his thirties – very well into his thirties. DALEY made a point of mentioning this, asking JACK if he had his Bus Pass, and whether he had his Pension Book with him, and would he be using a walking stick. All this was taken as good humoured banter as the athletes got on their blocks. DALEY ran well, but JACK ran to real form and won the race.
At the finish a perplexed DALEY suddenly found himself surrounded by concerned “well wishers”. There were Long Jumpers, Vaulters, High Jumpers, all of whom were confounded by this awful turn of events.
“Hey DALEY tell us there has been a mistake – they say you got beaten by this old guy.
He used his Bus Pass, and he stopped to get his pension.”
“So DALEY what went wrong – seems like you got beaten by this old guy using a walking stick”.
“Oh dear DALEY, I used to think you were good but you can’t even win a league race.”
Meanwhile JACK had attracted a crowd of admirers who were congratulating him.
“JACK you are a star, you beat the great DALEY”.
“JACK, can you coach me, you know how to beat Daley and I want to learn how to do it too.”
“JACK you beat the Olympic champion – you got to go to the Olympics now”.
Certainly, JACK was smiling more than DALEY – as was everyone else. DALEY always had tremendous confidence – it was his strongest competitive asset. But sometimes you just have to rein it in, otherwise it can be an embarrassment.
GEOFF WILLIAMS FOUND THIS PHOTOGRAPH – Many thanks to GEOFF who sent this photograph of a fit looking JOHN KELLY in the 1981 Southern Cross Country Championships at Trent Park.
KINGSTON MILLS VIEW ON IMMUNOLOGY – The following article was published on the Athletics Weekly website and photograph taken by MARK SHEARMAN.
Former athlete Professor Kingston Mills says that with some innovation, running is a sport which could soon get back on track following the coronavirus pandemic. Former Irish international runner and immunology expert Professor Kingston Mills believes there is no reason why athletics competition might not be able to restart within weeks or months, but says event organisers will need to be innovative. Kingston ran for Ireland in the 1987 world championships marathon (pictured, 556) and is now professor of experimental immunology at Trinity College Dublin and head of the Centre for the Study of Immunology at Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, currently co-leading its Covid-19 immunology project.
In his view, running training is a low-risk activity when it comes to transmitting the coronavirus but the issue comes with the mass-participation and spectator elements of the sport. That’s not to say an athletics calendar will not be possible in the late summer and autumn, it may just look rather different. “Certainly (running) training is a low-risk activity. There’s no question about that,” says Kingston, who ran for Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers and appeared in the pages of AW in the 1980s, winning the Irish marathon title in 1986 and setting his PB of 2:13:55 in Berlin later that year. “Two or three people going for a run in the mountains or on a river bank is not a dangerous activity. “The virus is transmitted by aerosols when you cough and sneeze so if somebody has the infection and doesn’t know they have the infection, they could pass it on to somebody if they are sitting in the same room as them, within a close proximity. But out running, the wind is going to blow away the virus very quickly and the chances of you picking it up are very slim.
“But a mass marathon, something like the London Marathon where there are tens of thousands of people congregating together, that’s a huge risk. “Right now, mass marathons are not on. I think championship-type (elite) events could very well be run without any problem and sprint events up to 400m where you’re in your own lane on the track is not a major issue. I think the issue is around spectators.”
“Certainly (running) training is a low-risk activity. There’s no question about that” Some events would be more feasible than others in that respect, he adds. “Clearly right now we can’t have spectator events where there are thousands or even hundreds of people congregating, so if we are going to get back to competitive athletics I think it’s going to be initially non-spectator, which is easier to control in track and field than it is in road,” he explains. “Although, in the days when I ran the 12-stage road relays down at Wimbledon Common, there were precious few spectators watching and we did it for the love of it! The spectators were the other club members that were watching you, so that wouldn’t pose a great risk. “But something like the London Marathon, you can’t envisage the numbers that you get watching the London Marathon ever happening in the present circumstances. So, I think the mass participation marathons are still a long way off but I do think that championship running is something that could return sooner rather than later. “Even the most informed scientist has absolutely no idea where this pandemic is going to be in two months’ time.” The Virgin Money London Marathon is among many events to have been postponed until later this year because of the pandemic. Having originally been set for April 26, the 40th edition of the race has been moved to October 4, while the World Half Marathon Championships in Poland has been moved to October 17. World Athletics also this week announced a provisional Diamond League calendar of track and field meetings for August through to October.
“Obviously, from the financial perspective, the mass participation is necessary for the organisers to make it a viable success financially,” recognises Kingston. “I think that there is a very strong case to be made for some of these bigger city marathons to become elite marathons only in the short term.” Travel is another major problem, he adds: “The big issue with the mass participation city marathons is the international travel to them. “There is absolutely no doubt that the most dangerous activity you can take part in (when it comes to virus transmission) is flying. You are in a very confined space, you are in an area where the air is very low in humidity. High humidity represses transmission so in an area of low humidity, it is going to transmit easier. The other issue is that the air in aircraft is recirculated. It is filtered but unfortunately the size of the coronavirus is quite small and it is not guaranteed that the filters will take out something as small as coronavirus. So, there is a real risk that you’re actually breathing in air if there is any one person in an aircraft that is infected. “So for the London Marathon or other big city marathons, the big issue is travel as well as the congregation at the start of the race.”
In a recent interview with AW, sports manager JOS HERMENS explained how he believed creativity would likely be necessary if an autumn road race season is to become a reality, with the former Dutch athlete offering ideas such as elite-only or time trial events. Kingston also believes that staggered start time trials could be a good option. “It might not work on the track so easily, but I think it might work in road races – you could have a system whereby athletes go off at different stages,” Kingston says. “In cycling, when you do a time trial, you allow each rider off at an interval. In running it could be 20 seconds. “I think it would make for a great spectacle, in fact. To put the highest-ranked runner off last and the lowest-ranked off first, then you would have the best runner trying to catch the weaker runners in front of them. I think it actually might turn out to have very good times. They obviously wouldn’t be allowed for record purposes, but it would be one way of social distancing the start of a race and putting an interesting additional element that would normally not be there.”
“I think the mass participation marathons are still a long way off but I do think that championship running is something that could return sooner rather than later” Some countries have already announced a planned return of athletics action, including Ireland where limited club activity will be allowed from May 18. Putting himself in the shoes of current elite athletes, Kingston adds: “One thing I would be doing if I was an athlete right now, I’d be still training. “I think that running actually is in a much better position than a lot of other sports because you can continue to train and keep a level of fitness. Obviously, what you haven’t got is the race sharpness, but that is going to come back with the first competitions that will be reintroduced. “I would be hopeful that the race organisers should be looking at innovative ways within the rules of their country to get racing back within weeks or months.” Waiting until a vaccine is available to resume sporting events is a “dangerous” principle, Kingston believes. “We have heard it said that the Olympics may not happen if we don’t have a vaccine,” he says. “I think it’s a dangerous principle in which to base the resumption of the Olympics on. “We may never have a vaccine. The chances are we probably will but there’s no guarantee. If we don’t and we have got rid of the pandemic by other means, such as suppression, why would we not have the Olympics? So, I don’t agree with the philosophy of wait for a vaccine. “I’m a huge believer in vaccines, that’s what I work on, but I don’t think it is the correct thing to say that you’re only going to resume a sporting event once you have a vaccine.”
THE STORY OF COACHING – The following was written by TOM MCNAB, part 2 of 2.
Q What was happening in the USA after the Great War?
A College sports scholarships arrived after 1920, though only for white athletes. Coaches like Dean Cromwell, Lawson Robertson and Dink Templeton thrived in this environment, one enhanced by an intense competitive system. But it is worth observing that these coaches rarely worked outside the college environment, since the USA had no club-system equivalent to ours.
Q And was this reflected in the literature?
A Yes, primarily in the Spalding series in the mid 1920s. These were thick, chunky, practical booklets written by ex-athletes or coaches like the great Dink Templeton. They were heavily-illustrated and often had more than one writer. The Spalding series were excellent works, probably the best specialist practical guides written until the AAA booklets of the 1950s.
Q What about film?
A One might have expected the Americans to be ahead in this area, but I have as yet seen no evidence of American instructional film in the 1920s period. Pathe have a 1924 British news film of Mussabini and Abrahams in training, showing the latter attempting a ludicrous cross-arm action and forward lean, but that seems to be the sum total, though it could hardly be called an instructional film.
Q So this was the dawn of technical coaching?
A Yes, but more than that, it was the dawn of coaching that went beyond technique and conditioning, to that in which coaches developed strong personal bonds their student-athletes, becoming shapers of youth.
Q Why did this take root in the USA?
A Because a highly-competitive society produced equally competitive universities. This was the ideal environment in which ambitious coaches could operate. Unlike professional running, it covered the technical events, thus engaging coach and athlete in learning complex skills.
Q And over long periods of time?
A Yes, at least three years, 2-3 hours a day, working with intelligent, ambitious young men, in educational contexts. The influence of these coaches often extended well beyond athletics. They were shapers of youth.
Q And what was happening in coaching here?
A Very little. Our governing bodies saw their role as being to regulate and administer, not to increase participation or quality of international performance. To be fair, this also applied in the USA, but they had strong school/ college programmes, in contrast to our harrier-based environment. This was enough to create a corps of professional coaches, and sufficient senior athletes to dominate at Olympic level until the middle of the century.
The big development came in Nazi Germany, who applied hothouse methods in preparation for the 1936 Olympics. In three years, they went from zero Olympic medals in field events to eleven, seven more than the USA.
Q How was this done?
A Simply by creating a core of semi-pro athletes, and exposing them to the best of German coaches. The Germans simply changed the landscape, just as the Soviet Union were to do twenty years later.
Q What was happening here?
A in 1934, we had Webster’s first AAA Summer School at Loughborough.
Q Who attended it?
A Mainly teachers from the public schools and Armed Service personnel. It was a practically-based programme, and there is Pathe footage of it on Google, with commentary by Webster himself. And remember that in the Public Schools and Oxbridge athletics was a WINTER( March-April) sport, to make way for summer cricket. In 1935, Webster created the Loughborough School of Sports and Games, and was soon joined by an ex-army apprentice, Geoff Dyson.
Q Was this a period of rapid growth in coaching throughout the world?
A No. Coaching always relates directly to the social/ financial context within which it exists. It developed to some degree here in pedestrianism in the 19th century, because there was money at stake, but even then it is doubtful if the number of 19thc. professional coaches ever went far beyond double figures. In the “professional” Highland, Southern and Lakeland Games there was never enough cash to stimulate the development of paid coaching. Men simply used the fitness they secured from their work, and worked out techniques by trial and error. Only in the USA was there the competitive culture and the scholarship-based incentive for coaching to flourish.
Q So world technical development was slow?
A Very slow-remember there wasn’t any TV, film or Youtube to transfer visual material across the world at a flash. Thus, the 1936 Olympics featured at least five different high jump techniques, and even Olympic shot-putters were still using pretty much the same technique as 19thc. Scottish farmers.
Q What about sports science?
A We had Muybridge with his sequence-photography back in the 1880s, Morehouse had investigated somatotyping, A.V. Hill the physiology of distance-running. By the end of the 1930s Gerschler had produced interval –training. But sports science was still in its infancy, and was not linked directly with coaching.
Q So most change was happening in the USA after the Great War?
A As I have said, college scholarships arrived in the 1920s, though only for white athletes. Coaches like Dean Cromwell and Dink Templeton were therefore exposed to the cream of white American talent and developed their expertise.
Q So coaching at world-level was pretty static?
A Yes. Remember that the 1936 Olympics had only 49 nations, about a quarter of the present number. There were no state-funded national teams (apart from Nazi Germany), and the only change in the USA was an increase in the late thirties in the number of negro sports scholarships. The essentially experience-based nature of coaching had not changed, and the literature of the time therefore simply expressed the experience of athletes and coaches.
The best book of the period was Dean Cromwell’s “Championship Track and Field” in 1941, an outstanding piece of work. His book is significant, not merely at a technical level, but because Cromwell is one of the first coaches to stress that coaching is not simply a technical process, but one of relationships. This is probably the book which gives the most three dimensional account of coaching at this time.
Q What was happening in the coaching of women?
A Outside of Nazi Germany, very little. Women’s athletics developed rapidly after the Great War, but was enveloped by the IAAF in the late 1920s. Their five-event Olympic programme in the Amsterdam Olympics of 1928 reflected only a fraction of the events in which women had competed in the 1920-8 period. There were no American sports scholarships, and in 1932 their women’s association was actually against competing in Los Angeles. Fortunately, the AAU overrode that decision, and fielded a very successful team.
Q But things changed for British coaching after the War?
A Yes. In 1946, Geoff Dyson became Chief National Coach, with the brief of “teaching the teachers and coaching the coaches”, funded by the Department of Education. By 1950, he had been followed by Denis Watts and John le Masurier, and Tony Chapman had arrived in Scotland. All of these men had taught in schools and served in the Army, (Dyson as a Major), and most had attended Webster’s Loughborough School of Sports and Games in the late thirties.
Q So Dyson was very much a legacy of Webster?
A Very much so. Indeed, almost all of that first tranche of National coaches were. Webster died in 1949.
Q Was this now fertile ground for coaching?
A Yes and no. Many working-class servicemen had returned from the war having experienced organised sport and exercise for the first time, and were eager to get involved in it. P.E. was being pursued vigorously in the state sector (I was getting four hours a week), and after-school sport grew massively in the post-war period. Spectator sport was immensely popular and in Scotland the annual Rangers Sports drew over 60,000 spectators.
Against this, the harrier brigade which ran most clubs and dominated our governing bodies was not much interested in coaching, and there was also resistance to the influence of professional coaches at the top of the sport. In Scotland, our National coach was not allowed to speak unless first spoken to at committee meetings! Our Blazerati insisted on keeping Dyson and his colleagues on a tight rein, rather than letting them get on with creating a coaching scheme, and even in the 1948 London Olympics we had no coaches with our Olympic team.
Q What did Dyson see as his first priority?
A To create a corps of voluntary coaches in our clubs, and to train teachers to coach in their schools. But he also saw that a critical test of the coaching scheme would be to succeed early at Olympic level in the technical events. As he put it to me in 1968, his aim was to get rid of the British inferiority complex vis a vis field events.
Q How early did this begin to produce results?
A In 1948, his wife to be Maureen Gardner took silver in the Olympic 80m.hurdles, and in 1952 he coached Shirley Cawley to an Olympic bronze in long jump and John Savidge to 5th in the shot. His colleague John le Masurier took Mark Pharoah to 4th in discus in Melbourne in 1956.
Q So early success?
A Surprisingly early. Many National Coaches were created in other sports in the 1950s, but athletics’ big advantage was that we were the only sport to allow them to continue to coach. This meant that everything that Dyson and his colleagues learnt was immediately ploughed back into the coaching scheme.
Q What was happening outside Britain?
A In the USA, not much, but they were now reaping a rich harvest of black athletes which they had begun to receive in their colleges in the 1930s. Their Olympic success masked a lack of formal coach-training or government support.
But things were now happening fast in the Soviet Union., even though they had lost 26 million of their 200 million population in the War. The Russians rather surprisingly turned up at the 1946 European Championships, but not at the 1948 Olympics. But their satellite Hungary had brought the great Emil Zatopek to London, a taste of things to come.
The Russians arrived in Helsinki in 1952 with high jumpers performing the Eastern Cut Off, but by 1956, they had taken the event apart and produced a composite of all of the best elements of the past. By 1956 they had a bronze in Kashkarov and by 1960 a gold with Shavlakadze.
Q Had they moved into sports science?
A Undoubtedly, and had linked it up to practice Thus they brought in approach-run speed (Carlson 1920), free-leg swing (McNaughton 1924), double- arm swing (McNaughton, 1924) and the more advanced clearance-lay-outs which a 1938 change of rules had permitted. That, and specific conditioning.
Q This applied in every event?
A Pretty much. I had noticed it with Russian triple jumpers as early as 1954. They had already understood the need for active landings, and had added the double arm-swing and specific conditioning. The Russians haven’t been given much credit for it, but they were the fathers of applied sports science. And they developed the training of women at a rapid rate.
Q And here?
A Dyson was in constant conflict with the Blazerati, headed by Jack Crump and Harold Abrahams, officials who until his arrival had been seen as the fount of all athletics wisdom. And the WAAA insisted on having a sort of “shadow” coaching scheme, with an under-funded programme. There was nothing for performance-coaching, nothing for research, nothing for the training of our National Coaches. And behind it all, the Blazerati wanted to control coaching, an area in which they had no experience.
Q But the coaching scheme was successful?
A No question of it, it gave great bang for the buck, and during the 1950s our AAA scheme led the Western world
Q Did it vary from region to region?
A Yes. Very strong in the South, in the London area, very weak in the North and in the Celtic nations. Indeed, in Scotland in the mid-1950s, qualified practicing technical event coaches barely reached double figures. Much of the problem lay in the fact of a mass of harrier-clubs, and a weak, handicap-based competitive programme, a poor environment for the development of coaching.
Q Was a lot of coaching done in the schools?
A In the 12-15 age-group all of it, and most of the 15-17 coaching. In those days, few clubs had athletes in the 15-17 age group, and none at all in the under 15 age-group. So, boys arrived at clubs at 15/16 having already shown ability at school. And very few girls.
Q And when did you arrive as a National Coach?
A 1963, a year, alas, after Dyson had left.
ENGLAND ATHLETICS DRAFT COMPETITION PROGRAMME – England Athletics have just published May 2020 version 9 of The Draft Competition Programme for the period w/e 19 July to w/e 27 September. This sets the structure for joint men/women meetings which SBH hopes to follow.
All the promotions listed below are subject to: –
1. Government lifting the present lockdown by 1 July so as to allow group gatherings
2. UKA issuing specific instructions to allow compliance with Government requirements
3. Obtaining a sufficient number of appropriately qualified officials from the participating clubs
4. Facility availability
5. Securing a suitable First Aid provision
6. Receipt of the appropriate licences from UKA
Saturday 25 July – LICC (1) – Allianz Park – all age groups, Sunday 26 July – U17/U20 Southern Premier Division (1) – Allianz Park – (Inter-Club competition featuring the 6 clubs which would have been the now cancelled YDL), Sunday 2 August – National Athletics League – Premiership Division (1) – Bedford – U20 / Senior, Saturday 8 August – LICC (2) – Allianz Park – all age groups, Sunday 9 August – U17/U20 Southern Premier Division (2) – Venue TBA – (Inter-Club competition featuring the 6 clubs which would have been the now cancelled YDL), Sunday 16 August – National Athletics League – Premiership Division (2) – Venue TBA – U20 / Senior, Saturday 22 August – LICC (3) – Allianz Park – all age groups, Sunday 23 August – U17/U20 Southern Premier Division (3) – Bromley – (Inter-Club competition featuring the 6 clubs which would have been the now cancelled YDL), Saturday 5 September – U15/U17 Southern Area Championships – Venue TBA, Sunday 6 September – National Athletics League – Premiership Division (3) – Venue TBA – U20 / Senior, Saturday 12 September – U20/Senior Southern Area Championships – Venue TBA, Saturday 19 September – U15/U17 England Championships – Venue TBA, Saturday 26 September – U20/Senior England Championships – Venue TBA
The British Championships are due to be held in Manchester on 8/9 August, however, they have not yet been confirmed.
A MESSAGE FROM ENGLAND ATHLETICS CEO CHRIS JONES – Which I received on the 12 May. Link to the message which includes a video from CHRIS JONES – England Athletics Message From Chris Jones 12 May
THE FOLLOWING SBH DOCUMENTS/INFORMATION CAN EITHER BE VIEWED, DOWNLOADED OR PRINTED
SBH 2020 Summer Fixture Card Front Sheet – Summer 2020 Fixture Card Front Sheet Final Issue 12-02-20
SBH 2020 Summer Fixture Card Fixtures, Updated 30-04-20 Showing Cancelled & Postponed Fixtures – Summer 2020 Fixture Card – Updated 30-04-20 Showing Cancelled & Postponed Fixtures
Track and Field Team Managers Details – http://sbharriers.co.uk/athletics/track-field/team-managers/
Road Running Team Managers Details – http://sbharriers.co.uk/athletics/road-running/team-managers/
THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION OF INTEREST CAN BE FOUND ON THE SBH HOME PAGE BY USING THIS LINK, THEN SELECT THE LEFT OR RIGHT ARROW – http://sbharriers.co.uk/
Allianz Park Membership, which gives SBH members 10% discount on entry to the Allianz Park stadium – Membership details and Form can be either printed or downloaded
Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers Club Hoody, information on how to purchase one, please go to the bottom of this Newsletter
SBH MIDWEEK JUMPS CLUB AT ALLIANZ PARK – Currently Suspended. POLE VAULTERS REQUIRED FOR 2020 – Currently Suspended. STEEPLECHASE TRAINING AT ALLIANZ PARK – Currently Suspended.
CAN YOU HELP PLEASE – During the period when all competitions are suspended, I will do my upmost in keeping the Newsletter information and other content going.
I would welcome any contributions From Yourselves, any impending marriages, or additions to the family, any running or competing incidents, also past warm weather training/holidays (No Club 24 please).
YOU CAN JOIN TY HOLDEN’S CIRCUIT SESSION ON ZOOM – TY will be holding a circuit session on Zoom, which is a conferencing platform, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6pm. If you wish to join, please email TY at dtyholden@yahoo.co.uk and he will email you an ID number for you to join in. Zoom can accommodate up to 100 users at a time.
ENGLAND ATHLETICS CORONAVIRUS HELP FOR ATHLETES – Many thanks to TUNJI who as reported on the 19 March newsletter is the father of NIAH AKINTOKUN.
In these unprecedented times, I wanted to draw the club’s attention to some of the great resources available online. England Athletics is expanding its campaign to support Athletics and Running for everyone @home, with a focus on ‘Running @home’ support and advice. The homepage can be accessed here
There are many webinars, interviews and tips from top coaches and athletes on how to stay conditioned and focused.
In addition, there are some fantastic videos for 4-11yr olds on the Funetics webpage put together in conjunction with England Athletics. The videos demonstrate parents and children (aged 4-11) taking part in FUN activities based on fundamental core movement skills: running, jumping and throwing. Funetics is a programme that has been designed to reflect the requirements of the National Curriculum Key Stage 1 and 2. At this time when our children are currently schooling at home, we hope that these video activities will support the need for education to continue at home. You can access the videos here TUNJI AKINTOKUN MBE – Non Executive Director, England Athletics
TRAINING VIDEOS PRODUCED BY JADE LALLY – JADE has recently produced two videos relating to the basic fundamentals for Discus, this is the link to JADE’S first video on How To Hold A Discus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA9jyS4Wung&t=6s the second video is on Discus Basics: Foot Placement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8ahzDmrldk
PARKRUN 5K RESULTS – Currently Suspended
PARKRUN – Can you make sure that you are registered as ‘Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers’, as the link I use to select all results only shows SBH athletes. If anyone is also officiating can you please contact me, and advise me where and when.
UPCOMING SHAFTESBURY BARNET HARRIERS FIXTURES AND OTHER FOR THE NEXT 4 WEEKS – Due to the Coronavirus situation, all fixtures until the end of April and part May have been cancelled. We have also been advised that the Lee Valley Athletic Centre fixtures have been cancelled until the End of May
All fixtures have been Cancelled until the Tuesday 30 June, this is the link to the SBH Fixture Card updated on the 30 April – Summer 2020 Fixture Card – Updated 30-04-20 Showing Cancelled & Postponed Fixtures
PHOTOGRAPH’S – From time to time we have photographs of our members taken at meetings or presentations which we would like to use both on the website or incorporated within our report to our local newspaper. Can you please let me know if you do NOT want your photograph to be used. Also, I would appreciate if you could send me any photographs, which I can then publish on the website and newsletter.
CLUB EMBROIDERED RED HOODIES – Currently there are now over 750 Hoodies in circulation, this is the link giving details on how you can order your Club Hoody for £35, which includes having your name embroidered on the front Club Hoodies Updated 01-07-19
FACEBOOK – Photographs can be found on the SBH page.
CURRENT DISTRIBUTION OF SHAFTESBURY INFORMATION – Currently I notify members (by email) using “MailChimp”. The reason I changed, was in November 2017 “Gmail” put a limit of 100 addresses that users could send to in a 24-hour period, and currently I send to approximately 850 members each issue.
On seeking technical advice “MailChimp” was recommended as the best way for SBH to go forward. There is one thing you should be aware off is that when you receive an email from me, the footer at the bottom has 4 options, of which one is “Unsubscribe Me From List”. Could I ask you not to select this as if you do you will be automatically removed from my distribution list.
SBH PRIVACY STATEMENT – In becoming a member, SBH will collect certain information about you. Can you please read the attached ‘Privacy Statement’ which contains Information on General Data Protection Regulations – SBH Privacy Statement Final April 2018
ALLIANZ PARK – Main Switchboard telephone number is 0203 675 7250.
CHARGES FOR USING ALLIANZ PARK – Currently the stadium is closed for athletics until the 31 May.
ALAN