November 2006

Alf Stokes' 80^th Birthday

Tamworth AC’s race walking coach and top race walking official Alf Stokes celebrated his 80^th birthday at a surprise party held in the clubhouse at the Marlborough Way Stadium. Over 100 club members , family, friends and fellow race walkers and officials from across the Midlands attended to celebrate the occasion.

Alf  is the only founder member of the club from 1974 who is still an active member and who  coaches weekly at the club and regularly officiates at race walking competitions in the Midlands and further afield.

It is more than 30 years since Alf Stokes, who was the captain of Birmingham Walking Club in 1974,  became a member of a steering committee that was elected on 15th March 1974 by a Public Meeting to draw up a constitution and set into motion the formation of a local Athletics Club in Tamworth. Tamworth AC was formed by a number of like minded people following on from Dave Black’s Commonwealth Games success in the 10,000m.

The inaugural meeting was held on 26th April and Alf was elected as Vice Chairman of the newly formed Club's Management Committee.

Over 50 athletes were at the first training night in May 1974 and were welcomed to the club by Alf who was one of the three coaches at this first training session. The club reached a membership of 283 in the first two years, a figure that now stands at almost 400, with Alf very active during this time. In April 1976 Alf was again elected as Vice-Chairman and in June moved up to Chairman when the existing Chairman left the District.

Over the years he has continued to coach at the club producing some very good walkers including Welsh International Mark Williams and at a personal level competed in cross country, cycling and race walking competitions. Alf, who is a life member of Tamworth AC, is one of a select band of ‘Centurions’ which means he has competitively walked 100 miles in 24 hours in Great Britain: a tremendous feat of endurance.

Alf Stokes has shown over the years his dedication to the club and race walking in particular and the club is sure this will continue well into the future.

Thanks to Kevin Wood, Mark and Karen Williams and everyone else who was involved in the organisation of the 80th party. Keeping it a secret from Alf required all the guile of an MI5 officer!

West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country League Perry Park

The second race in the West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country series took place at Perry Park in Birmingham and Tamworth Athletic Club maintained their strong position in the league when they finished 5th overall from 19 teams only a handful of points behind Birchfield in 3^rd place.

The performance of the day once again was from the under 13 boys’ team who extended their lead at the top of the under 13 section with excellent races from all the athletes. The first boy home for Tamworth this time was Kristian Edwards who finished 2^nd in the race with Anthony Parkes in 5^th. They were ably supported by Richard Mahoney who was 12^th.  Only 9 seconds separated 2^nd from 12^th in a very close race. 

Sam Greenbank was the next athlete home and he ran well in his first race for the club when he completed the course in 44^th. It was Aidan Blythe’s first race as well and he too performed admirably in 48^th with Jack Childs 51^st and Ricky Hawkes 52^nd and James Thacker 58^th. Jack must be congratulated on finishing the race as he suffered severe breathing problems whilst in 10^th position but was able to complete the course so that the team gained valuable points.

Antony and Kristian are both tied in 1^st place in the overall placings in this section.

The under 11 girls also competed magnificently and are in 4^th place overall just behind the second placed club. Newcomer to the sport Jessica Hirst ran superbly when she finished 6^th one place ahead of Eloise Redfern. Jessica was 15 places higher than in the first race and shows great promise for the future. Bethany Puffett, still relatively new to the event, ran well to record 27^th with Chloe Williams in 64^th, Rebecca Bradford 68^th and Sam Lawton 70^th. Sam Brady was 86^th and Roseanne Childs, just returning to running after a major operation in 91^st. Second place is certainly within the grasp of this team if they continue to perform in this manner.

The under 11 boys are lying in 5^th place but once again only just behind the second placed team. Ellis Cross came out on top for the club on this occasion with an excellent 3^rd place just in front of Oliver Wood in 5^th. Robert Stroud was carrying an injury and he finished in 25^th with Ryan Christian in 52^nd and Oliver Williscroft completing the team in 62^nd. Cross country is a team race with all members of the team counting in the final placings and it is good to see so many athletes producing good performances for their team.

The under 13 girls’ team has been hit by injury this year and haven’t yet been able to field a full team but the athletes that have turned out have ran well for the club. On this occasion Leanne Lewis was the first home in 66^th with Lauren Bignall in 79^th and Sophie Oldfield in 96^th. If more athletes turn out to support the above in this section, the club would move up the tables considerably.

It’s a similar story in the under 15 girls with only 3 athletes representing the club but all 3 recorded good finishes in difficult circumstances. Nicole King, improving with every race, was 43^rd and Elyse Jinks 62^nd winning the personal battle with Laura Lewis 64^th on this occasion.

Tamworth had 6 runners in the under 17 ladies’ section and this in itself must be a first for the club and consequently they are in 5^th place in the league just behind the third placed team, Birchfield Harriers. Megan Jacobs 22^nd won her personal battle with Jade Lepla 24^th on this occasion. These 2 athletes were well supported by Clare Hedderman 37^th, Joanna Snowden 41^st, Alyson Byrd 39^th and Katie Barker in 40^th. It is gratifying to see so many athletes willing to turn out for the club in this age group, an age at which most clubs are finding it difficult to retain athletes. Thank you ladies.

The under 15 boys race was the usual battle between Stephen Parkes, Luke Roughley and Matthew Wood but this time Matt was the first home for the club in 10^th with Stephen 11^th and Luke 13^th. Jacob Hughes had his best race since joining the club and he was 34^th with Adam McGee completing the team in 52^nd.

The team are lying in 5^th place overall once again just behind the second place team.

The under 17 men turned out in force and consolidated their 5^th position with  all athletes improving on their performances in the last race. Steve Deeley moved up to 9^th but was chased hard on this occasion by Steve Harris in 12^th and Joe Saddington 18^th. Sam Micklewright was some 17 places higher than last time in 30^th and Jackson Green running well to finish 43^rd in his first race on the country for the club.

If more athletes would turn out in the club’s weaker age groups the club would fulfil its promise of becoming one of the major forces in cross country in the Midlands and so if anyone is interested in cross country and would like to help the club achieve this aim please contact Chris by emailing tamworthac@aol.com or visit the club website at tamworthac.co.uk. Weekly induction sessions take place every Tuesday and Thursday evening in the clubhouse at the Town Stadium at 7pm. All juniors are welcome to attend but must be accompanied by an adult.

There has been a change to the 6pm sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays for younger athletes.

John Graves' squad have now all moved up to the later session at 7pm , as is the custom at this time of year, but there has been no change to Jonathan Christian's squad which will continue training at the early session of 6pm as usual.

New, younger athletes entering the club through Induction will usually join Jonathan's squad at 6pm as usual.

Coaches and coaching assistants who help out at the early sessions should support Jonathan's squad throughout the winter and spring after which at least 4 more squads will be opened up for the summer.

Please contact Andy or Chris is you have any questions regarding these changes. See us on club nights or email tamworthac@aol.com

Can you help out behind the bar on a temporary basis on the following club nights ?

The dates are:

November 2006 - Tuesday 21 ,28  - Thursday 23, 30

December 2006 - Tuesday 5 - Thursday 7

Please contact Chris or John on tamworthac@aol.com, or speak to them on club nights. Thank you.

Two of Tamworth AC's most promising young athletes , Meghan Beesley and Nathan Woodward, have been nominated for the prestigious BBC Midlands Sports Awards.

The awards evening will be held at the National Motor Cycle Museum in early December when all the finalists including both Meghan and Nathan will find out who the winners are. Both TAC's athletes have been nominated in separate categories so they each have a chance of winning an award.

Well done to both athletes, their coaches and their families and the message for all our younger athletes is train hard, persevere, enjoy your athletics and this could be you one day.

Bookings are now being taken for the  Annual Athletics in the UK Congress on Sunday 26 November at the NEC, Birmingham.

Olympic medallists Steve Backley and Katharine Merry have confirmed they will be attending the Annual Congress. They will be taking part in a Chat show entitled ‘Once in a lifetime opportunity - London 2012’ with some of Britain’s rising stars dreaming of success in London. Journalist and Broadcaster Sybil Ruscoe will host the session.

 Other speakers for the Annual Congress include Dave Moorcroft on ‘Leaving a challenge’ and representatives from the Celtic nations and England Athletics will talk about ‘Accepting the challenge’. Discussion groups will include Power of 10, Competitions and World Class Coach Development

 Tickets for the Annual Congress on Sunday are £15 . For further information and to request a booking form, e-mail congress@ukathletics.org.uk or phone 0870 998 6798.

Following the Regional and Celtic National Awards made earlier this year, the shortlist for the 2006 UK Awards has been decided and two volunteers from Tamworth AC, Sarah Williams (Young Volunteer of the Year) and John Graves (Strategic Leader  of the Year) are on the list.

 The UK Award winners for 2006 will be announced at the UK Awards Dinner at the NEC, Birmingham on Saturday 25 November. These awards recognise and reward Clubs, Volunteers, Officials, Coaches and Partnerships for their contribution to athletics throughout the preceding 12-month period and reflect the dedication of thousands of people working in athletics across the UK.

Tamworth AC won the following categories in the West Midlands Region earlier in the year:

Club Innovation Regional Winner Junior Volunteer of the Year - Regional Winner - Sarah Williams Strategic Leader - Regional Winner -John Graves Club Officer of the Year - Regional Runner Up -Chris Graves Junior Club of the Year - Regional Runner Up

The Annual party for Volunteers and Supporters will be held on Friday 12th January 2007.

The Presentation Evening will be held on Friday 23rd March 2007.

The Shine Awards Evening will be held on Friday 1st June 2007.

ACE SPORTS AUTUMN SALE

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