January 2007

The first England Athletics East Region Coaching Conference is about to take place on Saturday 17th February 2007 at the Lee Valley High Performance Centre.

Keynote speakers are Danny Crates, Tom McNab, Callum Orr (Head of Coaching at UKA) and Chris Jones.

Workshops include 'Javelin Fundamentals' and 'Shot and Discus in a Spin'  led by Wilf Paish, 'New ideas in strength and conditioning' with Malcolm Fenton and 'Triple and Long Jump' with Tom McNab amongst many other oprtions.

Application forms and further details are available on the club noticeboard and registration table in the clubhouse.

A First Aid course suitable for coaches , team managers and club volunteers will be held on Saturday10th March 2007 at Langton Grange Medical Centre, Eastern Avenue,
Lichfield from 9am - 4pm.
The cost, which is good value for money, will be £15 per person provided 12 people attend the course.

If you wish to participate contact Jackie by phone on 07890743369 or at the club on training nights or email tamworthac@aol.com for more information.

Midland Counties Cross Country Championships

This year’s Midland Counties Cross Country Championships were held at Stafford Common in very heavy conditions after the recent rain.

A small number of athletes were representing Tamworth Athletic Club with the remainder saving themselves for the schools championships and the final fixture of the men’s league.

Samantha Lawton and Sophie Oldfield were the club’s entrants in the under 13 section and both girls ran well to complete the course in 92^nd and 93^rd respectively.

For Oliver Wood it was his first race in the under 13’s as he usually races as an under 11, but he coped well with the extra distance to finish 64^th with Aidan Blythe not far behind in 69^th.

Elyse Jinks was 77^th in the under 15 girls race with Laura Lewis in 87^th, both girls finding the heavy conditions difficult.

Matthew Wood ran his best race for many years when he completed the under 15 boy’s race in 15^th position with Luke Roughley finishing strongly in 33^rd and Jacob Hughes in 56^th.

Steve Deeley lost both of his shoes during the under 17 men’s race and he did remarkably well to record a position of 36^th.

Tom Adams is improving with every race in the under 20 men’s and he beat many athletes for the first time when he finished in 21^st over the 8km course.

The final race of the afternoon was the senior men’s and Tamworth’s athletes had good races in the 12km race with Paul Tasker in 115^th and Steve Deegan in 201^st.

For all information on training and competition for cross country and track and field please contact Chris on 01827 287177/260897 or email tamworthac@aol.com or visit the club website at tamworthac.co.uk

Coventry New Year Open Five Mile Walks Held by Coventry Godiva Harriers At Warwick University, Coventry Monday 1st January 2007

Tamworth Ac's Mark Williams kicked off the new season with an impressive victory on New Years day at Coventry's 5-mile Open Walks, with the event being held on a multi lap circuit around the Warwick University campus, in Coventry.

The annual event is held in conjunction with an open 5-mile run
giving the walkers the opportunity to race against some of the area's top road runners, a challenge that always inspires the Tamworth man, with him finishing well up amongst the runners as well as being the leading walker home.

The twisty course around the campus and lakes, although not ideally suited to race walkers, proved to be a great success and produced some great competitive races for both the running and walking events -even with the athletes having to battle against the cold, blustery conditions.
The Welsh International athlete was delighted with his performance, recording a time of 37 minutes 20 seconds in taking victory, more than a minute quicker than he went in last years event, but his charge for victory came under serious challenge at the half way mark.

Williams had put in a fast opening mile, planning on putting daylight between him and the field, although easing off slightly in the second mile the Tamworth man thought he was well clear of his nearest opponents and so was surprised to be passed by
Nuneaton's Steve Arnold at half way. The Nuneaton man opened at 10-metre gap before Williams closed him down and walked on his shoulder until the 3-mile mark, where the Tamworth man again started to up the pace pulling well clear of the closing stages to take the win, ahead of Arnold, in 37 minutes 58 seconds, with his Nuneaton team mate Simon Hambridge taking third place.
Williams was pleased with his early season pace.

2006 was his best season to date, with his biggest collection of titles, in addition to his four British, and two European records, so to kick off the new season quickerthan last year is promising for the Tamworth man.
Baxterley's Ann Wheeler made a successful return to competition after injury, winning the Women's 5-mile event, recording a time of 51 minutes 5 seconds, taking victory ahead of Halesowen's Kate Percival, and Leicester's Sue Rey. Wheeler had been suffering from a long term hamstring injury and so was pleased to be competitive whilst not suffering any reaction to the old injury.

Two of Tamworth AC’s young athletes took top places when they competed in the Barton Under Needwood Fun Run over a 4 mile course near Burton on Trent.

Not only was Robert Stroud the first junior boy to run through the tape but he was also the second placed athlete overall in a race that included both junior and senior competitors.

Eloise Redfern made it a double victory for Tamworth AC when she produced a fine finish to cross the line in first place in the junior girls section of the race.

The Tamworth pair picked up their trophies at a special evening ceremony held at Barton Under Needwood.

Meanwhile Tamworth AC’s winning Under 11’s who competed during the summer in the Heart of England Track and Field League were presented with their medals during a recent club training session.

The winners were Robert Stroud who won gold in the 600m, Eloise Redfern for gold in the long jump and silver for her performance in the 600m and Jasmine Oliver for a bronze in the 75m. Sam McDonald won a silver for the 75m but was unable to attend for  the presentation.

The 400m hurdles National Squad led by UK Event Coach Nick Dakin met at Pickets Lock, Lea Valley Stadium, London for the country’s best prospects in the Under 20’s to Seniors age range.

    UK:Athletics invited Tamworth’s well known promising athletes Meghan Beesley and Nathan Woodward and their coaches to attend and train with the national coaches and established internationals like Dale Garland and Matt Elias as well as other up and coming athletes from around the UK.

Both Tamworth AC athletes, who have a serious chance of being selected for the European Under 20’s or Under 23's Championships or the World Youth Championships later this year, have their sights firmly set on the London Olympics in 2012. 

   During the full days’ programme the two 17 year olds managed to cover hurdles session analysis, fundamental movement skills and a series of theoretical and practical sessions and much more.

Matt Hargreaves, Tamworth AC coach to Woodward, commented on the day “Nathan got a greater sense of both his immense talent, but also more of an insight into the sheer hard work and dedication that will be required in the coming years to bring that talent to fruitition”.

   Both athletes and their coaches were impressed by the superb new facilities at Pickett’s Lock, which include a 200m indoor track with a 110m straight built over the top of the stands and underneath a 110m straight , gym, changing facilities and meeting rooms and outside an 8 lane track with a good sized stand.

Hargreaves added  “We need more of these facilities to make
athletics the sport it should be. This was a grand scale, but even so it really got me excited about what we can do once we have our more modest indoor facility at Tamworth AC”.
   Attendance at National Squads training is nothing new to Meghan Beesley who recently attended the Multi-Events National Squad in Sheffield and found both that experience followed by the Hurdles National Squad training invaluable.

   Beesley, who is coached by Tamworth AC’s experienced coach

Trevor Marsay, and Woodward both intend to keep up their

attendance with the National Squads which hold the next training days in the spring and the summer.

   Beesley’s next competition is the AAA Combined Events which is on the 14th of January and Woodward is expected to compete in the Indoor Championships in Birmingham in February .

Photos of the Sportshall athletes who take part in the Birmingham and Staffordshire leagues are gradually being added to the photo gallery.

The club is looking for a new team manager to be considered by the committee to run and organise the National Junior Athletic League (Track and Field) to take over from Rob James who is retiring from the role after several years.

Rob and the committee will be very happy to support the new team manager and to 'show them the ropes'. Please contact John or Chris Graves, Andy Day or Rob directly on training nights or email tamworthac@aol.com

The Level 1 coaching course takes place at the Marlborough Way Stadium on Saturday 27th January from 9am to 4.30 pm.

Facilities Manager Kevin Wood will be on duty all that day including a bar stint at an evening function so he is looking for someone to give him a break from 12 noon to 3pm . If you can cover for him please contact him at the club on training nights or email tamworthac@aol.com.

   The conference will provide an opportunity for both experienced and newly qualified coaches to develop their skills.  Delegates will be able to choose two generic taster sessions in the morning and a sport specific or generic workshop in the afternoon. 
   Networking opportunities will be available on arrival and during the buffet lunch.  Many of the sport specific workshops are practical sessions and delegates should be dressed appropriately so that they can join in, if required.

SPORT ACROSS STAFFORDSHIRE COACHING CONFERENCE 2007

SUNDAY 29TH APRIL 2007

Sir Stanley Matthews Sports Centre

Staffordshire University

Stoke-on-Trent

Morning taster sessions (theory based workshops to support coaches)

Long Term Athlete Development

Injury Prevention and Management

Field Based Fitness Testing

Effective Teaching & Learning in Physical Education

Developing Power and Speed

What is high quality coaching?

Improving Practice and Skill

Making Coaching Your Business

Afternoon Generic Workshops

Long Term Athlete Development

Injury Prevention and Management