January 2006

 In spite of the muddy conditions on the Leamington course, Stephen Parkes produced one of his best cross country performances to place 7th in the under 13 boys race in the Midland Counties Cross Country Championships where he was ably supported by Nathan Christian

56^th, Robert Farrell 89^th and Adam McGee 91^st.

   The Tamworth AC representatives in the under 13 events were running in their first area championships and they all performed well in very competitive fields. In the girls’ race Lauren Mann was 72^nd, Sariah Maughan 84^th and Leanne Lewis was 105^th.

   Steve Deeley maintained his current good form in the under 15 boys event when he completed the course in an excellent 13th position .Sadly the team were severely depleted by illness but they still finished 10^th overall with Simon Watson in 87^th, Sam Micklewright 92^nd and Craig Farrell 94^th who all ran well in difficult conditions.

   The under 17 ladies finished a team for the first time for many years. Megan Jacobs is bouncing back to her form of 2 years ago and her 23^rd place was her best result for some time and Marianne Pritchard wasn’t too far behind in an excellent 30^th place with Joanna Snowden in 37^th.

   The under 15 girls all have another year in this age group and they ran well considering their inexperience. Elyse Jinks came 54^th, Amy Williams 75^th and Laura Lewis was 77^th.

   Simon King was the club’s only competitor in the under 17 men’s race and after a very slow start he found it impossible to make up ground on the other athletes, eventually finishing 42^nd.

   Tamworth only had one competitor in both the under 20 ladies’ and the under 20 men’s races; Kat Snowden finishing in 32^nd and Michael Pierpoint in 41^st.

   The senior men’s race was a gruelling 7.5 miles. Team manager Tom Orton had his worst race for some time in 94^th but Paul Tasker had a solid run in 110^th. Dave Williams is in his first season of cross country  seemed to be enjoying himself in 137^th.

   Steve Deegan and Mark Wapplington were neck and neck for most of the race with Deegan eventually getting the upper hand in 159^th and Wapplington in 162^nd.

   For information on training and competition at Tamworth AC please email tamworthac@aol.com

Seven Tamworth AC young athletes were selected to represent Birmingham U11’s team in the Sportshall Regional Final which was held at the Chase Leisure Centre, Cannock.

The Birmingham boys team were runners up and the very young girls team did well to finish in 3^rd place especially as two of the Tamworth athletes had competed for their club in a cross country meeting in the morning.

The Tamworth AC youngsters were cross country athletes Kristian Edwards and Eloise Redfern, Francesca Hughes, Louise Facchino Stack, Lauren Whitehouse and Aliyah Reid. Anthony Parkes, also a member of the cross country team, was selected but unable to attend.

The next Regional Final to be held in Worcester in February is for the under 13’s and under 15’s when six Tamworth AC young athletes have been selected to compete for the Birmingham team. They are Tom Challis, Millie Kellyman, Danielle Norton, Stephen Parkes, Sophie Taylor and Ted White.

West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country

The 3^rd meeting in the West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country series was held at Nuneaton where Tamworth Athletic Club were attempting to consolidate an excellent start to the season.

The first race was the under 11 girls’ and the club edged closer to 4^th with a solid team performance. Elly Redfern had a good race in 18^th in spite of twisting her ankle half way around the course with Alison Livermore running exceptionally well to finish in 28^th place in her first cross country for the club. Jasmine Oliver 64^th and Samantha Lawton 68^th have been having a private battle all season but Chloe Williams 71^st and Sophie Oldfield 74th were hot on their heels^..

Nicole King 48^th was Tamworth’s first competitor in the Under 13 Girls’ section with Lauren Mann close behind in 54^th. Emma Farrell 73^rd, Leanne Lewis 81^st and Gina Heseltine 93^rd were the remaining members of the team which stays in 10^th place overall.

Unfortunately the Under 13 Boys’ team was depleted by injury but Luke Roughley had his highest finish of the season in 4^th and Nathan Christian, who is ostensibly an 800m runner, was 40^th. The club is 8^th position in this category.

Elyse Jinks finished in 40^th place in the Under 15 girls after a heavy fall during the race but she was well supported by Amy Williams in 56^th, Laura Lewis 65^th and Rebecca Pate 72^nd. This result leaves the girls in 10^th place.

The Under 15 Boys are in second place to Birchfield after Sunday’s performance with Steve Deeley running his usual solid race in 4^th but Steve Harris had his best race this season with 10^th place. Joe Saddington ran a sensibly paced race to take 18^th; Sam Micklewright was 37^th, Ben Horsley 50^th and Jacob Hughes 51^st.

The Under 17 ladies are having an excellent season and are in 7^th place in a very competitive age group. All the girls are improving with every race with Megan Jacobs finishing in 13^th, Marianne Pritchard 20^th and Joanna Snowden 30^th.

Simon King was the club’s only competitor in the under 17 Men’s race and he too had his best run of the season in 10^th.

The most impressive performance of the day belonged to the Under 11 Boys. The club consolidated its second place in the league despite athletes being absent with heavy colds. There were outstanding runs from all athletes but the achievement of the day belonged to Kristian Edwards when he took 1^st place, the first time a member of the club has won a race in this league for over 10 years. Kristian had brilliant support from the other boys who all had their best finishes of the year with Oliver Wood 14^th just beating Robert Stroud 15th who showed tremendous maturity at 9 years of age. Ricky Hawkes has improved to 27^th, Grant Ottewell 42^nd, Toby Jobburns 45^th, Tom Richards 48^th, Andrew Brittain 55^th and Riece Bruton 56^th.

The final meeting is at Wolverhampton on the 5^th March where the club has the opportunity of achieving its best result for many years.

For information on training and competition at Tamworth AC call Chris on 01827 287177 or email tamworthac@aol.com

You can now check the prices and order TAC's official track suits, warm up tops, t shirts, polos etc  by downloading the Ace Sports order form from the 'Club Kit' section of the website.

Kit will still be available to order on Tuesday and Thursday training nights.

The date for the Annual Presentation Evening has been confirmed as Friday 24th March 2006.

Numerous awards, trophies and Shine Award certificates will be presented and there may even be a surprise or two! A limited number of tickets will be available in late February and sold on a first come first served basis. So book this date NOW!

We want to hear from all those Tamworth AC members  currently away at University or College who take part in athletic competitions during term time. Keep us up to date by sending us your competition details , results etc to tamworthac@aol.com

The popular Tamworth AC Quiz Night organised by Sharon and Mick is making a come back at last.

The next Quiz,  in aid of Club funds, will be held in the clubhouse on Friday 27th January when you can take your seats from 7.30pm for an 8pm start.

At £5 for a team of 4 adults or 6 children this represents good value for an enjoyable night out and includes the chance of winning the coveted 'wooden spoons' award.

Tickets are available from the club on training nights.

Well known TAC club member and javelin coach Phil Owen is recommending Daz Hales' programme on Radio WM for all those interested in athletics and especially Tamworth AC.

The weekly Thursday night programme features Tom Mc Cook and can be found at 95.7 FM  between 9.40 - 10.00pm.

Happy listening!

Staffordshire County Cross Country Championships at Leek on January 14^th

Tamworth Athletic Club had their most successful day ever at the Staffordshire County Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

The event was held at Leek in the Staffordshire Moorlands on what is arguably the most difficult cross country course in England. The testing course is exceedingly hilly with sheer drops falling away from the sides of the course and boggy areas at both high and low levels. Fortunately the weather was kind for January and was warm and dry.

The most successful event for Tamworth was the under 15 boy’s race with 8 boys finishing in the top 26.

Pride of place goes to Steve Deeley who became the club’s first individual winner for many years with a powerful piece of running. He took the lead after a mile on one of the extreme climbs, never looked in trouble and was always in control eventually winning by nearly 10 seconds.

Team mate Matt Wood has improved beyond recognition this year and he fully deserved his 9^th place some 24 seconds in front of Steve Harris in 13^th position. These 3 boys collected the bronze medal for third team place and were only 10 points off the gold medal.

They were ably supported by superb runs from Sam Micklewright in 19^th, Joe Saddington 22^nd, Jacob Hughes 23^rd, Craig Farrell 25^th and Simon Watson 26^th. 5 of the team are young enough to be in the same age group next year making the performance  even more impressive.

The performance of the under 13 boys was almost as impressive. Whilst only 3 boys from Tamworth took part, all of them left Leek with medals. Stephen Parkes had a superb tussle with an athlete from Stoke throughout the whole race but eventually had to settle for second place and the silver medal by only 4 seconds.

Luke Roughley is getting stronger with every race and he came through strongly during the second part of the race to take 3^rd place and the bronze individual medal.

Nathan Christian, who prefers 800m on the track, took part to complete the team for his mates and ran above himself to finish in 27^th position and thereby clinch the bronze medal for the team, only 1 point away from silver.

The club hasn’t fielded an under 13 girl’s team for many years but 5 athletes ran for the club this year. It was Lauren Mann’s first race for the club and she showed that she has tremendous potential with a 10^th place.

 It was also Sariah Maughan’s first race of the winter and she ran well to record 17^th place with Nicole King not far behind in 20^th, Leanne Lewis 24^th and Gina Heseltine in 27^th.

The efforts of the girls were rewarded with a 5^th place in the team competition.

The under 15 girls team also finished in 5^th place in the team event with Elyse Jinks having an exceptional run in 15^th place finishing almost a minute closer to some athletes who were beating her 3 months ago. Amy Williams wasn’t far behind Elyse in 21^st and Laura Lewis ran bravely to record 24^th.

Two Tamworth ladies began the under 17 Ladies’ but Marianne Pritchard injured herself on the first hill and had to withdraw. Megan Jacobs ran strongly to take 5^th place in a very strong field.

There were also two Tamworth entrants in the under 17 men and Tom Adams ran well after many months of injury to take 11^th place with Simon King not far behind in 13^th.

Nineteen year old Martyn Naunton showed his strength by finishing 17^th in the senior men’s race and was the 4^th junior counter. This after having worked all night on shift work and getting virtually no sleep.

Paul Tasker showed he has lost none of his strength, even though he has been concentrating on coaching a sprint group at the club,  by finishing 33^rd just in front of Adam Bache in 37^th. Adam was 9^th junior.

The final athlete from Tamworth was Steve Deegan who completed the course in 54^th position.

The excellent performances by all athletes was just reward for the many months of hard work that has taken place in Hopwas Woods in preparation for this event and they are to be congratulated for not just their performance on the day but for the dedication they have shown over many months.

The race was part of the selection for the Intercounties and World Championship Trials at Nottingham in March and several Tamworth athletes have put themselves in contention for the Staffordshire team.

Steve Deeley, Steve Parkes, Luke Roughley, Martyn Naunton and Megan Jacobs have all been selected unconditionally because of their high finishing positions whilst Adam Bache, Tom Adams, Matt Wood and Lauren Mann are all awaiting the outcome of a selection meeting early in February.

For information on cross country training and competition at Tamworth AC please contact Chris at tamworthac@aol.com  

Birmingham Men's Cross Country League Division 3

Tamworth AC’s first cross country race of 2006 was held at Malvern Common on January 7^th in atrocious conditions. It snowed until just before the start of the race and the course soon became a quagmire with athletes unable to keep their footing even when wearing spikes.

Tom Orton was feeling confident after his performance in the previous race and he sped off at the front of the field, closely followed by junior athlete, Martyn Naunton. They paid for the impetuous start as the heavy conditions began to take their toll and the more cautious, experienced athletes began to wear them down.

Andy Wright started more sensibly and worked his way though the field as other athletes tired eventually finishing the race in an excellent 6^th place. He was closely followed by Naunton in 12^th, 3^rd junior athlete, with Orton in 13^th.

Howard Bush has been consistent in his racing this year and gave his usual solid performance in 34^th.

Perhaps Tamworth’s performance of the day came from Mark Wapplington who finished much higher than usual in 46^th position after a titanic struggle with Dave Williams in 47^th.

Steve Deegan has been improving with each race and he made light of the tough conditions with 64^th place, 2 places in front of Adam Bache in 66^th. Adam had left his spikes at home and the terrain was almost impossible to negotiate in ordinary trainers. At times he resembled Bambi on ice. Adam was 4^th junior and has moved up to 2^nd overall in the junior championship.

Michael Pierpoint also ran without spikes and he too paid the price eventually completing the course in 100^th place and Michael is now 3^rd in the junior championship.

Tamworth’s final two competitors were Nigel Fisher and Mark Trigger. Both athletes are predominately road runners who are turning out to represent the club in conditions which are foreign to them and they exemplify the spirit in the men’s team. Both men were having their own private competition throughout the race with Nigel getting the upper hand this time in 116^th and Mark 122^nd.

These first 6 athletes made up Tamworth’s ‘A’ team and they completed this race in 2^nd position, a result which moves the club up the league table to 2^nd equal with three places available for promotion.

It is important that the club fields its strongest team possible at Castle Bromwich on February 11^th if the team is to clinch promotion to the second division.

For information on cross country training and competition at Tamworth AC email Chris at tamworthac@aol.com

The cost is £100 and applications forms can be downloaded from the UKA website and returned to Pat Cropper - details are on the form and the website.The course number is WM222.

For any further enquiries please email Chris, Club Secretary at tamworthac@aol.com

A second list of Tamworth AC athletes and the events in which they are ranked in the Top 10 Midlands Rankings will be on this site soon as amendments and additions are received. Keep watching this space!

A Happy and Prosperous New Year 2006 to everyone at Tamworth AC.

REMINDERS

Dont' forget the Annual Party for Volunteers on Friday 6th January. This is Tamworth AC's way of saying thank you to all those volunteers who have helped at the club over the past year. Invitations were sent out in early December.

Clubs:Future Awards  - 

Following the success of the 2005 clubs:future awards, the sport is again set to recognise and reward those individuals and clubs that have shown dedication, innovation and drive towards the development of athletics across the UK. A series of regional awards will be reflected nationally with categories covering the Volunteer, Club Officer, Coaches, Officials and Partnerships.

Tamworth AC won one of  the first West Midlands regional awards last year . Let's make sure the club wins at least two awards this year. It certainly deserves to! 

 The forms etc are on the UKA website at http://www.ukathletics.net/vsite/vnavsite/page/directory/0,10853,4854-171087-188305-nav-list,00.html

Tamworth Herald Sports Personality of the Year Awards of 2005

Which sportsman or team put the area on the map with their outstanding performances during 2005?

And which club stalwart proved to be an inspiration to those around them?

Once again, the Herald is launching its search for the top sports personalities of the year.
  This will be the award's 14th year but one thing that hasn't changed is that it's your chance to reward the local sports stars who you believe are deserving of one of our prestigious awards.
  For the fourth year running, local printing firm Tolput Keeton have pledged their support as main sponsors of the awards.
  We are calling on you to nominate who you believe should win an award in any of the numerous categories and our judging panel will pick the winners based on the information you provide.
  The winners will be invited to our special awards night where they will enjoy a four-course dinner before being presented with their award by our special guest speaker.
  The night has become one of the most eagerly awaited events in the local sporting calendar and last year was no exception.
  Our special guest at Drayton Manor was England's 1966 World Cup winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks - and what a night it was.
  We are launching the awards now to give you plenty of time to make sure the people you think should win are there. Remember that if you don't nominate them, they can't win.
  You can nominate any of the names that made sporting headlines during 2005.
You may also know someone whose achievement and hard work has gone unnoticed so now is your chance to make sure they get the recognition they deserve.
  The printed nomination form and a list of categories. will apear in the Herald each week. As well as the individual sport awards, you can also nominate your choice of team of the year and junior team of the year.
  And if that isn't enough, we will also be giving out special awards for Young Sports Person of the Year, Sportswoman of the Year and Sportsman of the Year, which will be decided by our panel.
  Send your nominations to Herald Sports Awards, CIN, Ventura Park Road, Bitterscote, Tamworth, Staffs, B78 3LZ.