October 2007

Tamworth AC’s pole vault coach Mick Showell , who has  coached and volunteered in a number of roles at the club for two decades, retired from coaching this autumn.

Showell believes that after 21 years at Tamworth AC, it's time to have a rest from coaching even though he still enjoys working with the athletes.

A builder by trade, Showell coached the pole vault squad for the past 20 years with several of his athletes, including his son Gavin, winning County, Midland, English Schools , National and Schools International Championship titles .

Mick joined the club in December 1986 when his son Gavin showed an interest in athletics and he soon found himself assisting with coaching, officiating at track meetings, team management , taking on the role of Officials Secretary, being a member of the Supporter’s Club and he even competed in local road races, the latter only ceasing through knee problems.

Following a visit with his son Gavin to pole vault summer training at Northwood Stadium, Stoke, Mick was invited to get involved in coaching pole vault by Dave Young the then national event coach for the pole vault.

After almost 2 years of training and coaching under the guidance of Dave Young  Mick entered the world of coaching where he eventually trained for his Level 3 coaching award and took on pole vault coaching at Tamworth AC. Mick who  has has coached at Tamworth AC ever since. maintained  contact with Dave Young who is now the Facilities Manager for UK:Athletics.

According to Showell the pole vault is one of the most exciting disciplines in the sport of athletics, requiring the athlete to be a sprinter and a gymnast, and a bit of a ‘dare devil’. When considering potential athletes for the vault Mick would look for confidence and would always ask young athletes ‘ do you like climbing trees?’

Mick’s support for Tamworth AC didn’t begin and end with coaching. As a graded official timekeeper Mick  has given many hours to the club, travelling far and wide, and on many occasions he has acted as chief time keeper at athletic meetings. He served as a member of the committee for over 10 years  and acted as team manager for the Young Athletes Track and Field League and Midlands Men’s Leagues, the latter gaining promotion 3 years in succession.

Showell and his company , Ridgewood Builders, were also responsible for the building of Tamworth AC’s clubhouse which opened up the potential for development of the club and eventually led to the laying of the all-weather track at the Marlborough Way stadium.

Club pole vaulter Ricky Hallam, who has been coached by Mick Showell for several years,  will be taking over the reigns.

Hallam, who is a home grown Tamworth AC athlete and coach, has served as an assistant coach for the pole vault squad as well as coaching with the junior multi-discipline squads and on the annual Star:track programme at Tamworth Town Stadium.

The club is most fortunate to have Ricky to take on the pole vault coaching at Tamworth. He is keen to encourage other qualified coaches to share the twice weekly sessions which include training at Tamworth’s track, gym work and training at Loughborough as part of the winter training programme set up by Mick Showell.

Showell will continue as a member and supporter of Tamworth AC and is not yet retiring from building. He will be able to spend more time with his wife, Maureen, his son, who is a competitive member of the club,  daughter in law and his two grandchildren and who knows they might follow in their grandfather’s footsteps in the future.

Check out the new News section on the front page of the England Athletics website at http://www.englandathletics.org and whilst you are there have a look at what is happening in your region.

Here is a full list of the various sponsors and supporters;

Pickerings Solicitors, The Sandwich Factory, Fottocompli, Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent, Carphone Wharehouse, Ace Sports, Heads and Threads, Chauffeurs, Neil Roach, Start Fitness, Up and Running  and Aldebaran Print & Design.

RESULTS

Thanks to Simon King for working on the results that met the Athletics Weekly standards and which have now appeared in the same magazine. The quality of athletes and performances at the meeting can be seen by the large number of AW standard results recorded. Well done to everyone!

Teenage athlete Nathan Woodward (17) has been named Midlands Regional Winner of the prestigious 2007 OCS Young Sports Person Awards.  A member of Tamworth Athletic Club, Nathan is the Inter-county Schools under-17 400 metre hurdles champion.  At the World Schools under-18 championships in Greece he took a bronze medal in the 400 metre hurdles, achieving a second place on the all-time outdoor British rankings.  Nathan went on to set a new Amateur Athletic Association of England under-17 400 metre hurdles record at Birmingham in August this yeaThe OCS Young Sports Person Awards celebrate sporting achievement and support young athletes across the UK.  This year is the tenth anniversary of the scheme, and Nathan will be travelling to London to collect his Award at a celebratory event in the OCS Stand at the Brit Oval.  Apart from Nathan, there will be eight other regional winners, and a disabled winner, each of whom will take home a cheque for £2,500, and a ‘Young Star’, who wins a £500 award. 

On the day OCS will announce one overall winner, who will receive a further £10,000-worth of support over three years – with £2,500 of that going to their club or school.  Previous OCS Young Sports Person Award winners will be at the event, including Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle and future double Paralympic hopeful Nathan Stephens. Plus many more top sporting stars will be giving their support including, Mark Butcher, Iwan Thomas and Alec Stewart.

“I was ecstatic.”  Nathan said of winning the OCS Award:  “To win out of all the people that were given the opportunity to go to an interview was amazing. It’s great recognition for all the hard work that I’ve had to put in to achieve what I’ve achieved so far.  Next year my aim is to go to the World Junior Championships in Poland.  Then in 2010 it’s the Commonwealth Games, and then obviously, 2012 is the London Olympics.   The support that comes with this Award will help me hugely.  It will help with getting the equipment that I need, and with my travel expenses.  I’ve actually upped my training this year, so this will be a massive help.”

A member of the World Class Talent Programme, Nathan trains four or five times each week – comprising track, weights, general conditioning and hurdle technique – and he is fortunate to receive technical assistance from 1968 Olympic Champion David Hemery.  Nathan also helps to train other young athletes too.  He has successfully completed his Level 1 Coaching exam, enabling him to assist in coaching athletes aged 8-13 each summer.

OCS chief executive Chris Cracknell explains that the property services company’s award will be a direct help:  “OCS, although a large international company, is still a family firm, and we pride ourselves on a decade of searching out talented young athletes who could really benefit from a boost in the early stages of their career.  Nathan lives with his mother and younger sister. He relies on his mum to cover all his athletics expenses and, as he has improved and competed in more and more major championships, this burden has increased.  We believe some real support at this point in his career will ease that pressure, and enable Nathan to achieve his full potential.”

Santa Fun Run, Jog, Walk 2007

Sunday 16th December

Tamworth Stadium

Starts 12 midday

Club members ONLY

Age groups:

U9 - 2 laps, U11/U13 - 3 laps, U15/U17/Seniors - 4 laps

Mums, Dads, Grannies, Grandads - any distance

Medals to all entrants

Fancy dress optional (prizes in each age group)

Entry fee £2

Closing date is Thursday 1st November

(no late entries)

Entry forms available from Registration and completed forms & money to Trevor Stevenson or Pat Wileman

Here is a message from Catherine Pendlebury regarding the Staffordshire Sportshall League.

"Apologies for the very late notice but a urgent meeting regarding arrangements for the Staffs Sportshall League is being held this Monday 8th October at Stafford Borough Council offices - 7pm.

As you may be aware the league this year will be run through the teams entering the league / volunteers and anyone wishing to help!!

Please let me know if you are able to make it. If you / a representative are not able to make it but intend on sending a team again please let me know - it would also be great if you could confirm which age groups you will be entering teams for (if you know) I can then inform the group.

Obviously if there is anyone else who needs to know this info please forward it on.

If anyone from Tamworth AC wishes to attend the meeting and /or wishes to be considerd for the role of Tamworth's Staffordshire league organiser please contact John Graves at the club or via email at tamworthac@aol.com.

Remember that the Birmingham League is our main league and takes priority over the newly formed Staffs league.

Race walker Mark Williams managed to struggle through three races inside 24 hours last weekend - taking two victories and a second place.

The Tamworth man was on the start line at Coventry's Annual Autumnal Five Mile race last Friday, claiming a comfortable win in a time of 39.11mins.

On Saturday, Williams competed at the Annual Leicester Open 10km walks, held in Abbey Park, Leicester.

Problems before the start of the race saw Williams begin the race at the back of the large field.

However, he gradually increased his pace and began working his way through the field, going through 5km in around 26 minutes.

As he continually upped the speed, the leaders were beginning to suffer from their early pace, his closing 22 minute 5km put him into second place on the last lap and quickly closing down on eventual winner Andy Penn.

A quick trip down the M69 then saw Williams join his Tamworth AC team-mates and just make the start of the men's 2km walk at the Midland Master League Cup Final in Nuneaton.

Williams was only one of a number of excellent athletes representing the club at the final.

To complete his hectic weekend, he led the five lap race from start to finish.

2nd item

Tamworth Ac race walker Mark Williams produced two fine performances against quality opposition while continuing his rehabilitation from injury.

Williams took the start line in the National 10km Race Walking Championships in Essex still struggling with an inflamed shin injury and, despite the lengthy drive down to Earls Colne, which aggravated his shin, he decided to have a go at chasing the title.

The Tamworth AC athlete took the field on from the start and was in contention after 3km. As the race continued Williams began to suffer from his shin injury, which caused his ankle and shin to swell and stiffen, and from a lack of fitness.

The Tamworth man slipped back into the clutches of the chasing pack over the following 6km and out of the podium positions but he was able to rally over the closing kilometre and secure fourth place in a time of 48.43mins behind eventual top three, Dan King, Dom King, and Redcar's Ben Wears, respectively.

The shorter journey to Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham seemed to benefit Williams in midweek when he competed in the Police and Civil Service 10km Championships.

Williams has always enjoyed competing on this undulating park circuit and approached the race in a more conservative manner.

Eventual winner Dan King took the lead from the start with Williams starting more steadily over the opening 500m downhill section to avoid aggravating his shin.

After the opening lap, Williams was able to up his pace and walk a controlled race to claim second place in 45.27mins with an impressive closing 5km, and more importantly, no adverse effect on his shin injury.

Jog England

@

Tamworth Athletics

Are you interested in:

Walking and Jogging                                               R

       Getting fit                                                       R

              Keeping weight down                                 R

                     Training for a fun run                          R

                           Training with a friendly group        R

Or all of the above?………….

Join us for an introductory Jog England session at Tamworth AC stadium. (Off Marlborough Way – Tamworth)

Date:       Tuesday 16th October 2007

Time:      7.00pm – 8.00pm

There will be an enrolment fee for the pilot (for insurance).

Thereafter, session fees will be £2.00 with the first two sessions being free.

All sessions will be led by trained jog leaders. A group photo of the jog leaders appears in the Photo Gallery in the 'Our Club' section.

The first session will be induction and introduction followed by a short session. Please wear suitable trainers and clothes.

For more details contact jogengland@tamworthac.co.uk

The 4^th and final match of the Midlands Vets League took place at Loughborough

 when two of the key athletes Matt Hargreaves and Carlton McDonald were unable to compete due to injury. Nevertheless they both still turned up to support their team and gave 100% in their support at trackside.

To get things started team captain Paul Tasker had two wins in the M35 200m and 800m age group in the space of tens minutes.

The winning streak continued with top UK race walker Mark Williams extending his unbeaten record to 4 wins in the league by winning the 2000km in 8mins 32 and in doing so beating his main rivals by over 3mins.

Tamworth AC stalwart Collin Green also showed his top form in the M60 high jump with a leap of 1m 35 and Jim Bartlett took a good 2nd place in the shot putt with 8m 77cm.

Chris Georgiou gave a good  account of himself in the M40 200m finishing equal 4th in 27.4secs and fellow team mate and cross country runner Nigel Fisher helped out on the points by doubling up and putting to use his distance training in the 800 and 3000m.

Relay quartet of Fisher, Georgiou ,Bartlett  and Tasker produced a thrilling finish to take 2nd Place against teams from Charnwood, Rugby, Market Harborough, Mansfield, Leamington, Nuneaton and Rugby.

Tamworth AC’s  Ladies Vets team were represented by Sheila Owen who had a well

 deserved 2nd place in the W45 2000km walk with 11mins39. The mild conditions suited athletes Muriel Storey and Cathy Lyon-Green who both had credable third places in the 200M with times of 34.1 for Muriel and 36.9 for Cathy.

The ladies captain, Fiona Meldrum, had her first race back following an injury and finished 4th in the 200M with 31.2secs in the W35 group.

Meanwhile at the 17th World Masters Championships in Riccoine, Italy Mollie Mills, a Tamworth AC top veteran lady, showed her capabilities when she took 6^th place in 16.70 in the W65 100m semi final and 5^th in 36.05 in the W65 200m semi final.

 The Vets Track and Field league is for men and women from 35 upwards who wish to Compete for Tamworth AC. All are welcome to take part in training and competition for track and field, that carries on throughout the winter, and we would be particularly interested in hearing from potential athletes in the 50 age group.

 Contact Paul Tasker on 07760298089 or Fiona Meldrum  via email at feefmick@tiscali.co.uk.

More details can be found at the club website at tamworthac.co.uk