March 2006

There was an excellent turnout at Tamworth Athletic Club’s Annual Presentation Evening

when Cllr Terry Dix, the Leader of Staffordshire County Council accompanied by his wife Pat ,  presented  trophies and medals for performance, achievement and service to  a number of club members.

    The first award of the evening went to Brian Sumner who was honoured for all his many years of service to the club as both athlete and coach. The prestigious and rarely given award of Life Membership was presented to Brian by Terry Dix and young athlete Jasmine Oliver presented Beryl Sumner with a gift of flowers.

    The athletic achievements of Meghan Beesley and Nathan Woodward could not be split and both were named as joint winners of the President’s Cup for  ‘Athlete of the Year’ and both went on to win another award each. Beesley won the Jennifer Lloyd Trophy for the Best Performance in the English Schools Competition and Woodward the Tom Adams Shield for his excellent performances in the National Junior League

    Promising athletes Ben Jones, Hollie Owen, Juan Padmore and Ted White were all rewarded for their achievements over the past year. Jones and Owen were named Best Male and Female Sprinter respectively, Padmore won the Mick Sanderson Trophy for Best Field Athlete for the second year running and White received the N.J. Williams trophy for the Under 13/15 Highest Ranked Athlete.

    Liz Checkley was chosen to receive the Girls National Junior League award with Laura Taylor and Steve Harris taking the trophies for the Young Athletes League ‘Athletes of the Year’ awards and Craig Farrell and Faye McCabe picked up the Heart of England League trophies.

   This year it was necessary to award two trophies in the Sportshall section due to the quality of the athletes and their performances. Tom Challis and Hannah Sargeant went away with the Indoor Athletics Trophies for their performances in Sportshall Athletics.

   Both Kat Snowden and Adam Smith won their trophies for their performances and reliability when competing in many events for the club throughout the whole season in the Women’s and Men’s leagues respectively.

   Kristian Edwards and Eloise Redfern were the well deserving winners of the awards for the West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country League as was Stephen Parkes who took the Richard Thornton trophy for the Cross Country ‘Young Athlete of the Year’. In the senior cross country league section the Graham Lovell trophy went to worthy winner Tom Orton.

   Once again the club’s very successful race walkers won awards with senior athletes Mark Williams and Sheila Owen winning the Cincinnati Cup and the Agnes Mary Williams Cup respectively. Veteran category honours went to another race walker Ann Ashton and track and field stalwart Jim Bartlett.

   The prestigious Chairman’s Award was won by 17 year old Sarah Williams who was rewarded for her tremendous contribution to volunteering at the club through competition , coaching , officiating , team management and organisation throughout the year.

   Young athlete Bethan Roach won the Powell-Davis Trophy for the most attendances by an Under 11 at training sessions throughout the year and Chris Graves was awarded the Keith Martin Cup for ‘Best Club Member’ which is voted on by committee members.

   John Jenkins received the RAF Cosford Challenge Shield on behalf of the Tamworth AC Men’s team which won the shield for the first time and was indeed the first time the club had won any age group in the match. The competing teams were Tamworth A.C, The Air Training Corp National Team, Shropshire County Team and Dudley & Stourbridge A.C.

   At the end of the presentations a bouquet of flowers was presented to Pat Dix by young athlete Chloe Williams.

  For more information on Tamworth Athletic Club phone 01827 287177, email tamworthac@aol.com or visit the website at tamworthac.co.uk.

Tamworth AC race-walker Mark Williams shook off an illness to pick up a bronze medal at the UK Athletics Inter-Counties National Championships at Warwick last Sunday.
   Williams has had a busy last few weeks, claiming county, Midlands and a national title, and setting a new British indoor 3km record. He was again amongst the medals for Staffordshire in the 10km event.Williams joined a six-man breakaway group over the first few kilometres before losing touch with the leaders.But he then recorded the fastest 2.5km of the race to catch the pack and claim third place in 46.41mins.

The Herald has unveiled the Sports Awards winners of 2005 after a lengthy judging process involving the editorial sports team.

Tamworth AC winners are Meghan Beesley, Nathan Woodward and Mark Williams in the 'Athletics' section and the TAC Junior Cross Country team in the 'Junior Team' section.
   There will be a record number of awards handed out by the special guest speaker, Premiership referee Jeff Winter, at the special ceremony at Drayton Manor Park on Monday, April 10.
   Forty-four award winners will be invited to attend one of the biggest nights in the local sporting calendar, where they will be treated to a four-course dinner and an entertaining speech from Winter before being invited to receive their award.
   The Herald's overall Sportsman, Sportswoman and Young Sportsperson of the Year will be announced on the night.
   Winners will be sent confirmation letters, which include details of how they can become part of what promises to be an unforgettable evening.

The Tamworth Herald hosted a presentation evening at the Assembly Rooms to recognise and reward the community’s unsung heroes through the Herald ‘New Year’s Honours’ awards.

Tamworth’s Volunteer Centre took part in the awards scheme and made four awards: Volunteer of the Year, Young Volunteer of the Year, a Long Service Award and a Special Recognition Award.

Back in December organisations that involve volunteers in their work were asked for their nominations for this year’s awards and for the first time nominations were awarded to two volunteers from a sports club.

The Volunteer of the Year award nominations were for achievement or extra commitment and the winner is this category was Club Secretary Chris Graves, nominated by Bob Askey of Sport Across Staffordshire for her work at Tamworth AC .

Bob said “Chris is one of the key volunteers in developing and getting Tamworth AC to being one of the highest regarded athletic clubs in Staffordshire. Chris has worked hard to achieve the Sport England Clubmark accreditation on behalf of the club, the first athletics club to achieve accreditation in Staffordshire. As a club committed to the development of young athletes, Chris has worked with local schools to generate an interest in athletics and has organised athletics coaching reception groups and has introduced many young athletes who are new to the sport of athletics”.

The Long Service Award recognises volunteers who have shown commitment over a long period of time and was awarded to Tamworth AC’s Club Chairman John Graves, who was also nominated by Bob Askey for his contribution to athletics over a number of years.

Tamworth AC are pleased to announce that they have received £1,000 following a successful bid to the Clubs:Future grants programme. The funds will be used to purchase small items of athletic equipment , such as turbo javelins, skipping ropes, footwork ladder etc, for use by mainly junior athletes at the club throughout the year.

Inter-county Schools indoor match
   Hollie Owen won the 300m in 42.27secs and was second in the 200m in 26.67secs.
   Nathan Woodward won the long jump with 6.08m and was second in the high jump with 1.85m, while Beasley won the long jump with 5.60m.
   Nick Crawford was fourth in the 60m in 7.92secs and the same position in the 200m in 25.38secs.
   Making good debuts for Staffordshire were Kellyman and Taylor.
Taylor was second in the under-15s girls' 200m in the personal best time of 28.99secs, while Kellyman was third in the 60m in a personal best 8.50secs.

The Birmingham Games
   Tom Challis followed up his win in the Midland Combined events a fortnight ago with three personal bests at the NIA.
   He was second in the 200m in a personal best time of 24.89secs, the long jump in a personal best of 5.29m and finished third in the 60m in another best time of 7.89secs.
   Adam Smith picked up a medal in the senior men's triple jump. His leap of 13.02m saw him finish third.
   Claire Free was second in the 200m in 28.82secs and Nick Spargo was fourth in the senior 400m in 54.11secs.

West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country League, March 6^th, Wolverhampton

The final race of the season consolidated Tamworth Athletic Club’s position in the league and provided the club with its highest ever individual positions as well as some outstanding team positions.

The club had 10 under 11 girls in the youngest age group and all athletes have improved over the year, especially as they are all still eligible for this age group next year.

Eloise Redfern had her highest finish in 13^th place and was ably supported by Alison Livermore 36^th, Rebecca Bradford 52^nd, Samantha Lawton 66^th, Abbie Louise Malin 69^th, Beth Hughes 74^th, Jasmine Oliver 78^th, Rosanne Childs 83^rd, Chloe Williams 84^th and Sophie Oldfield 85^th. The team finished in 6^th place at the end of the season and is the club’s best ever finish for this age group.

The remaining girls’ teams were decimated by illness and Leanne Lewis was the only athlete from Tamworth to take part in the under 13 girls section, finishing in 80^th place.

The three girls in the under 15’s ran well to maintain their 9^th team place with Elyse Jinks returning to her best in 29^th, Amy Williams 50^th and Laura Lewis 55^th.

The under 17 Ladies eventually took 6^th team place with Megan Jacobs 12^th and Marianne Pritchard 19^th having their best races of the season.

Simon King had a good run in the under 17 Men’s with a 17^th place with Tom Adams not far behind in 23^rd.

The under 13 boys were hit by illness too although individually the athletes ran superbly producing outstanding performances.

Stephen Parkes was 2^nd and Luke Roughley 4^th only 12 seconds behind Stephen. Richard Mahoney was in his first race and he ran remarkably well to take 45^th.

In the final positions for the season Luke took the trophy for 3^rd position overall.

The under 15 boys have performed strongly all year and eventually took a trophy for finishing second in the league. Steve Deeley had his best race in 3^rd place and the other members backed him up superbly. Steve Harris took 14^th, Matt Wood 27^th, Joe Saddington 31^st, Sam Micklewright 35^th, Simon Watson 42^nd, Jacob Hughes 45^th and Ben Horsley 52^nd. All eight boys received silver medals for the team position with Deeley also collecting the trophy for completing the league in 3^rd place.

Arguably the finest performance of the day came from the under 11 Boys who also took the trophy for finishing in second place with most of the boys eligible for this age group next year.

Kristian Edwards has improved throughout the season and he ran with a maturity beyond his years to pull back the early leaders and take the 1^st place he needed to win the league outright after the 4 races.

This was the first time in memory that a Tamworth AC athlete has won this league which is one of the strongest in the country.

Kristian isn’t the only member of the team though and the others have run superbly all year. On this occasion Anthony Parkes took 7^th, Ellis Cross 17^th, Oliver Wood 19^th, Robert Stroud 21^st, Ricky Hawkes 29^th, Thomas Richards 52^nd and Riece Bruton 59^th.

The aggregate scores from all age groups gave the club its best overall finish in 5^th after taking 10^th place last year out of 19 teams.

Training for the endurance events continues all year and anyone over the age of 9 who is interested in preparing for racing later in the season is welcome to come to the club on a Tuesday or Thursday evening. To find out more about training and competition phone 01827 287177, email tamworthac@aol.com or visit the club website at www.tamworthac.co.uk

Thirteen young athletes from Tamworth AC braved the cold weather with scores of other youngsters from across the Midlands when they recently took part in the Ivanhoe Challenge cross country races at Foremark Reservoir.

   Robert Stroud took an excellent first place in the Years 3& 4 race and this success was quickly followed in the Years 5 & 6 event where Tamworth AC dominated the race. First place went to Kristian Edwards, second to Anthony Parkes, fourth to Oliver Wood and fifth to Ricky Hawkes giving TAC the team prize. Thomas Richards and Riece Bruton completed the team line up.

   Eloise Redfern ran a determined race to finish 4^th and was the first Tamworth athlete home in the Years 5 & 6 race. She was ably supported by Rebecca Bradford in 10^th, Sam Lawton in 13^th and Jasmine Oliver in 16^th.

  Jordan Roach, in his first cross country race, took 6^th place in the Years 7 & 8 section and Georgia Oliver 21^st for the Girls Years 3 & 4 event.

   Phil Brown, who won a silver medal in the 400 metres at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, presented trophies and medals after each race.

   For more information on training, competition and coaching at Tamworth Athletic Club phone 01827 287177.

Meghan Beesley helped Great Britain to a tri-nations victory over host nation France and Spain at an indoor combined events international in Eaubonne.
  The 16-year-old Tamworth AC athlete was making her British debut on Sunday in the under-20s event and finished 11th with 3,268 points after stopping the clock in 9.18secs in the 60m hurdles, equalling her personal best of 1.57m in the high jump, throwing the shot 8.05m, leaping 5.50m in the long jump and completing the 800m in 2:38.45mins.
  The Great Britain squad won the event with 23,322 points ahead of France with 21,597 and Spain with 20,960.
  Coach Trevor Marsay, who used to guide Olympic bronze medallist Kelly Sotherton, said he was delighted with Beesley's performance considering she had picked up a foot injury.
  "Not only was she competing against much older girls, she hurt her foot in the high jump and had to have it taped up," he said."The physio taped it up and told her to run the 800m in trainers, not spikes."She could only trot round the track in the end and would have finished much higher than 11th.
"She didn't disgrace herself by any means and handled the whole occasion with great maturity."
   Beesley may have to miss the AAA Championships at the NIA this weekend because of the injury.
   However, the Herald Sports Award winner should be okay to take up an invitation from UK:Athletics to attend a special camp for the best prospects aged between 16-19 for the 2012 Olympics.
Beesley has been invited to the one-day camp by Paula Davis. Report by Rob Tanner, Tamworth Herald

Tamworth Ac race walkers Mark Williams and John Culshaw took gold and silver respectively at last weekend's Staffordshire County Race Walking Championships in Worcester.
  The pair, who teamed up with John Culshaw Snr, also claimed the team title for Tamworth. The Staffordshire Championships are held as part of the annual Four-Counties Combined Championships, which include Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and Northamptonshire.
  Williams led the 20-lap men's 10km race from start to finish to win in 46.42mins - a full two laps clear of the field - to claim both the Staffordshire and Four-Counties titles.
  Culshaw walked superbly to finish fourth overall and take silver in the County Championships in a time 1:00.14hrs.
  Multi-event athlete Culshaw has been concentrating his training on race walking over the past months and is beginning to reap he benefits with a fine walk.John Culshaw Snr finished in 1:14.05hrs.
  Beryl Chapman, Tamworth AC's only representative in the women's 5km walk, recorded a time of 39.40mins.