Site last updated: 23rd February 2010
Latest News
Mansfield Harriers Open Graded Meeting
Please find attached an entry form
for the Mansfield Harriers Open Graded Meeting to be held on Sunday 4th
April at Berry Hill track Mansfield.
All track races will be graded on predicted standard / performance. E.g.
all 100m runners with predicted time of sub 13 seconds will go in the
same race regardless of age group.
All ages and all standards are welcome. Any questions please speak to
one of the coaches at training or email us as
info@avac.org.uk.
Clothing Officer Urgently Needed
One of the 'backroom' jobs in keeping the club ticking over is the role of the Club Clothing / Kit Officer. The present officer is giving up this role and the club urgently needs a replacement.
This is a vital but straight forward volunteer role - receiving orders for vests, hoodies etc from members, sorting orders and getting them to recipients (usually at a training session), receiving money (sometimes) and keeping track of who has paid, and placing new orders with mostly local stockists and manufacturers when we run low. A place to store boxes of kit would also be needed. The Kit Officer also handles the club T-shirts that go to new members.
This is not a time consuming role but there are busier periods, particularly in the run up to a new track and field season where everyone needs new vests, or at Christmas time. Some attendance at committee meetings would be required as this is a Club Officer role and the flexibility to attend training sessions when necessary to receive and give out orders would be required.
It's a brilliant little job and if you fancy finding out more please speak to either Judy Payling, Nicola Newton or Julie Feeney (all past post holders) or email us at info@avac.org.uk.
Amber Valley Regain Sportshall Title
Match 6: Well the athletes didn't let their team down, there were yellow t-shirts everywhere you looked, lots of good performance's across all age groups and we won the u11 boys, u11 girls,u13 boys and u13 girls relays.
Maisie Knighton won Speedbounce, Molly Mee and Megan Bruce teamed together to win the 8 lap parlauf & Molly also won the Speedbounce. Jethro McGraw won the Speedbounce and the 2lap race, Jethro also teamed together with Jack Norbury to win the 8 lap parlauf. Jack Alien won the shot Putt, Jessica Turner won the 4lap race, Kelly-jay Payling won Speedbounce and came 2nd in shot putt with a huge new PB of 9m94. Tom Bridge won the shot putt and Dominic Hare won the Speedbounce.
Three of our athletes won athletes of the match t-shirts and shields, they were George Coutts for his 2lap race in which he set a new record, Imogen Cresswell for her Triple Jump and Tom Bridge for his shot putt - he broke his own record twice this season and he also still holds the record for shot putt in the u13's, so well done to you three.
This was the last match of the season, Amber Valley won 5 out of the 6 age groups - u11 boys, u11girls, u13 boys, u13 girls and u15 girls, this is the first time we have won this age group, sadly the u15 boys missed out by 2 points and of course AVAC also won overall.
Well done to everyone who has taken part this season, I would also like to say thank you to, Nigel Smith, Tony Trace, Rob Bruce, Mat Bridge, Dave Turner and Trevor Jolly, who have all helped out with officiating also to Nicky Newton for team managing the boys and Judy Payling for team managing the girls.
GOODBYE !!!!!!
There is one group of athletes who we will not be seeing next year in Sportshall, so its a sad goodbye to Jessica Turner, who's been doing Sportshall since being in the u11 girls she represented Derbyshire on many occasions; this year at the regional's she came away with two gold medals and a bronze for coming 3rd in the u15 girls all rounder competition.
Its also a sad goodbye to Kelly-jay Payling who has been doing Sportshall since the age of 9 and has never missed a match, she has also represented Derbyshire at the regional's and nationals on many occasions, she has two bronze and one gold medal to show for this.
Its goodbye to Tom bridge who started at u13's he will always be remembered for his shot putt, he has been unbeaten in this event at Chesterfield he holds the record in u13's and u15's he also has represented Derbyshire at the regional's and Nationals on many occasions, at u13's he went to the UK finals came away UK champion in shot, in 2008/09 u15's regional's he came away with 3 gold medals and in the UK finals he came away with silver in shot putt, and in the 2009/10 u15's regional's he came away with 2 gold, 1 bronze, and he also won the u15 boys all rounder competition.
I would like to say good luck for the UK finals because all three are part of the Derbyshire team again.
Mini League Cross Country
The third and final match in the Derbyshire Cross Country Mini League took place on 13th February at Derby. Overall, the team trophy went to Derby AC for another year, with AVAC in second place. However, both the U11 girls and the U15 boys teams won their age groups overall and individual medals went to several AVAC runners.
Niamh Emerson completed a hat-trick of wins in this league to take the U11 girls title. Likewise, Jethro McGraw was also unbeaten over the series and took the individual gold medal for the U13 boys. Josh Rae managed to hang on for gold in the U15 boys title despite finishing third on the day, and Andrew Fenwick who gave consistent team support, was rewarded with a bronze overall.
Daniel Jones was AVAC's only other medallist with an individual silver in the U11 boys age group.
AGM
AVAC's annual round-up AGM takes place at Charles Hill Sports Centre, Flamstead Avenue, Loscoe on Monday 1st March at 8pm.
All members and interested parents are invited to attend the informal meeting to hear reports on club activities over the past year and thoughts for the future twelve months. Election of the Committee and Club Officer roles will also take place.
Schools Cross Country
AVAC's young endurance runners were in action at the weekend in the East Midlands Airport-sponsored Derbyshire Schools Cross Country Championships at Mount St Marys College. Four girls have made it through to represent the county at the English Schools cross country finals in a few weeks time. Tamara Armoush won the senior girls title again, as she did last year. Emily Allsop finished 4th in the intermediate girls with Jessica Turner not far behind in 6th. In the Junior girls race Jenny Lockwood finished in 7th place.
Year 7's have their own separate races though they have to wait until they are a year older before they can compete in the national finals. Jethro McGraw continued his local winning form by taking the boys race, whilst Jessica Lockwood and Suzanne Allsop didn't let their older sisters keep all the glory by having strong runs in the girls race to finish 8th and 10th respectively.
All existing and aspiring cross country runners are reminded that the final match in the Derbyshire Mini League Cross Country series is on Saturday 13th Feb at Moorways, Derby. All U11, U13 and U15 athletes can take part regardless of ability or experience.
For further details scroll down the page to an earlier posting.
Feeney in Form for Sheffield Flames
David Feeney took his place in the Sheffield Flames team at the weekend in the McCain Indoor City Challenge at the EIS, Sheffield.
The McCain City Challenge is a nationwide, City Team based athletic competition. 8 Teams from Glasgow to London and Newcastle to Cardiff compete across 2 League matches to fight for the title of MCC Champions 2010.
A rich mixture of established international stars and aspiring Juniors line up together in the same team as they compete for individual and team points that will hopefully guide them into contention for the title. The Sheffield team draws its squad from athletes based in Derbyshire, West and South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Staffordshire.
David competed in the Combined Events Challenge element of the fixture where some of the countries top decathletes lined up to do a shortened version of combined events - shot, long jump and 60m hurdles.
Points earnt from these 3 events placed him in 2nd place overall, finishing ahead of three established senior GB internationals. He lowered his lifetime best in the hurdles again to 8.15. He recorded the exact same time as the athlete later judged to have just pipped him for the first place. David won the combined Eventers long jump and finished third in the shot.
Sheffield Flames won the match overall, with the second fixture due on 27th February at Lee Valley.
Sportshall Athletics
Young athletes from Amber Valley AC pulled off a stunning result at the annual Aviva-sponsored Sportshall Athletics East Midlands Regional Final in Grantham at the weekend.
All four Derbyshire teams - U13 girls, U13 boys, U15 girls and U15 boys, won against county teams from Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire. This comes as a repeat performance of last years result when Derbyshire achieved the first ever clean sweep of victories.
Their winning performances exceeded all expectations and all four teams now go through to the National Finals at the NEC on 18th April where they will compete against the best young athletes in the country.
All athletes, aged 11 to 15 years were selected for the Derbyshire team from their performances at the county Mini League competitions that have been on-going over the winter months. The 17 AVAC athletes made up the 36-strong Derbyshire squad with team-mates from Derby AC, Chesterfield DAC, 2DASH and Blackwell & District Young Striders.
Despite some last minute team changes the U13 boys had individual success with Jethro McGraw winning the 6 Lap time trial and coming 3rd in speed bounce, and Rory McColgan winning the triple jump. Jack Allen was a surprise package in the 2 Lap sprint winning with ease and taking a further medal in the shot for third place. Ben Michell was surely one of the youngest athletes in the competition, yet he beat athletes up to two years older than himself in the high jump with a personal best of 1.38m. Jethro, Jack and George Coutts teamed up with Theo Stuart (Chesterfield) to take gold in the 4 x 2 Lap relay in fine style.
In the U13 girls events Molly Mee tackled the gruelling 6 Lap event with a confident piece of front running to take the gold in this event. Later she teamed up with Derby's Katherine Molyneaux to also win the 8 Lap parlauf. In her first time at regional Sportshall Georgina Trace took a well-deserved silver in the shot putt, Megan Bruce won gold in speed bounce and Imogen Cresswell bronze in triple jump.
In the U15 age group the athletes contest team, individual and 'all rounder' titles and AVAC athletes figured in all areas.
The trio of Kelly-Jay Payling, Emily Heappey and Jessica Turner had a brace of medals between them and with their Chesterfield and Derby team-mates won the U15 girls team event from a strong Leicestershire team. Jessica and Emily combined in superb style to win the 8 Lap parlauf, with Jessica also medalling with gold in speed bounce and silver in the 4 Lap. Kelly-Jay repeated her third-place finish of last year with bronze in shot putt with an indoor personal best throw. In the all-rounder category Jessica capped off an eventful day finishing in third place overall.
The U15 boys team tasted success several times over with Tom Bridge taking the all rounder title in emphatic style. He threw a personal indoor best in the shot and took bronze in standing long jump. Dominic Hare finished in third place in the all rounder and demonstrated a determined run in the 4 lap time trial to take equal gold in this event. He later put his speed endurance skills to the test again when teaming up with Derbys Jay Raradza to record an emphatic win in the 8 Lap parlauf. Perhaps the most exciting race of the day came during the last event of the day - the U15 boys 4 x 2lap relay. Jack Newton was in contention with the leaders on the first leg until he almost pulled up with a pulled hamstring. He valiantly carried on to hand over to Chesterfields Will Stockton who clawed back a place or two but a win at this stage looked impossible. On third leg Tom Bridge powered his way through gaining a further place to hand over to Chesterfield athlete Rory Chambers who had the race of his life to claim a memorable victory by the width of a vest over his Leicestershire rival.
An exciting relay to cap a historic day.
Full results can be found on www.sportshall.org
Derbyshire Cross Country Championships, Markeaton Park, Saturday 30th January
The Derbyshire Cross Country championships were held on Saturday on a bright and sunny but cold late January day in Markeaton Park for all ages from U11's to vets.
Amber Valley runners featured prominently in the younger age groups with Niamh Emmerson winning the U11 girls 1.5km race and the U13 races won by Molly Mee and Jethro McGraw. All three events were hotly contested and our young runners had to fight all the way around the course to win their gold medals.
Newcomer Daniel Jones very nearly made it a complete set in the younger age groups with a silver medal in the U11 boys race after a very exciting sprint finish. Amber Valley also took 1st team place in the U11 girls with Tamsin McGraw and Emily Coope backing up Niamh in 4th and 5th positions.
In the U17 women's race Emily Allsop finished 2nd with Tamara Armoush having her expected easy victory in the U20 women's race.
For the U13 age groups and above, Derbyshire team selection for the
televised Inter-Counties Championships in March was up for grabs. The
Amber Valley runners below have gained team selection.
Jethro McGraw, Molly Mee, Jess Turner (7th U15 girls), Josh Rae ( 6th
U15 boys), David Narborough (7th U15 boys), Scott Slowick (7th U13 boys)
Emily Allsop and Tamara Armoush.
Well done also to the other Amber Valley runners (full results can be found on the DCAA website).
Francis Chatto (10th U11 girls), Scott Ram (5th U11 boys), Hannah Brown (11th U13 girls), Jennie Lockwood (9th U15 girls), Andrew Fenwick (13th U15 boys), Alex Harker (10th U17men), Michael Bosworth (11th U17men)
Email update
Our club email address info@avac.org.uk is now up and running again, sorry for any inconvenience.
Updated Fixture List
Please check out the updated Events Calendar to see which competitions are coming your way soon.
Please be aware that some dates have changed - mainly owing to the recent bad weather.
Regional Sportshall Finals
16 AVAC athletes have been selected for the Derbyshire Sportshall Team to compete at Grantham on Sunday 31st January.
They are Tom Bridge, Jack Newton, Kelly-Jay Payling, Jessica Turner, Emily Heappey, Molly Mee, Ben Michael, Megan Bruce, Georgina Trace, Imogen Cresswell, Dominic Hare, Catherine Ross, Jethro McGraw, George Coutts, Jack Allen, and Rory McColgan.
Derbyshire will be competing in yellow so get those yellow and gold accessories sorted!
Mini League Cross Country
The third and final match in the Derbyshire Mini League is on Saturday 13th February at Moorways Stadium, Derby. First races start at 11am working their way through the age and gender groups, youngest runners first. Runners need to report to team managers no later than 10.30am.
Club vest or T-shirt required. £1 payable on the day. All club members in U11 , U13 and U15 age groups welcome, regardless of ability or experience (minimum 9 years of age on the day) including first-timers.
Presentations of medal and trophy winners will be made in the clubhouse as soon after the last race as possible. Refreshments available from the Derby AC clubhouse.
North Midlands Cross Country League
The last fixture in this league took place on Saturday 16th January
at Wollaton Park, Nottingham.
Although suffering a rare defeat on the day, young Niamh Emerson clearly
took overall 1st place in the U11 girls event with a 3 wins out of 4
record. This adds to the U11 girls title that she also won last season.
Josh Rae finished 5th on the day in the U15 boys race but it was enough to give him a well deserved 3rd place trophy overall .
The U15 boys team took 2nd place overall with Josh, David Narborough, Andrew Fenwick and Luke Turner all contributing to the team effort throughout the winter.
Silver for Tom at Northerns
Tom Bridge was AVAC's only medallist at the Northern Indoor
Championships at the EIS, Sheffield, 16 / 17th January. Competing for
the first time in a major championships as an U17, Tom took silver in
shot putt with a lifetime best putt of 12.94m. This is also a new club
record beating the previous best held since 2004.
Just missing out on medals were fourth-place finishers Emily Heappey and Michael Feeney. Making it through the heats and semi's Emily had excellent races in the U15G 60mH, just being pipped on the line for bronze in the final.
Michael competed in the Jnr Mens 60mH where he also came 4th.
New Volunteers On Board
Parents and older athletes are among the 7 new Level 1 coaches who completed a training course at the Rutland Sports Park just before Christmas. T
hey will now start to become familiar faces at our training sessions, assisting Level 2 coaches with athletes of all ages. In addition a further 4 people attended a training course to become Level 2 officials in track and field judging.
The club always welcomes parents or older athletes to train to become volunteer coaches and / or officials, without whom the club could not run, nor competitions take place.
If you would like to coach or officiate we would love to hear from you. Contact Julie Feeney, Dave Turner or Paul Smith, for details.
Derbyshire Cross Country Championships
These re-scheduled Championships are to take place on Saturday 30th January at Markeaton Park.
They will now be run as the Derbyshire Championships only as Nott's are going it alone on 23rd Jan (which clashes with the Northern cross country event).
It is now essential that we get even more offers of help to stage this event - marshalling, course building etc. All help gratefully received, no experience necessary.
Please contact Julie Feeney ASAP at training or via email:feeney@mailbox60.freeserve.co.uk
Sportshall Report Match 3
A good turnout again for us, yellow t-shirts were everywhere and there was lots of wins for us.
U11 boys: Ben Mitchell had a hat trick of wins with 1lap, 2lap and vertical jump. U11 girls won the 4x1 relay, in the u13 boys George Coutts won the 2lap, Jethro McGraw won the shot & Jethro McGraw also paired up with Rory McColgen to win the 8lap parlauf.
The U13 Boys won the 4x2 relay & U13 Girl Imogen Cresswell won the standing triple jump. U15 Girl Jessica Turner won the 4lap and U15 Boy Tom Bridge won the shot putt.
Overall Amber Valley AC won match 3 overall on the day, so well done to everyone who competed.
Sportshall Report Match 4
There were lots of 2nd and 3rd places in all age groups, we dominated the relays with wins in all age groups, and we also had wins in Speedbounce with u11 Niamh Emerson 53 bounces, u15’s Kelly-jay Payling and Jessica Turner with 81 bounces.
George Coutts won the u13 boy’s 2lap race, he also set a new record with 18 seconds, Kasey Pearson won u13 boy’s shot putt with 7m16 and Tom Bridge won the u15 boy’s shot putt with 12m30. Amber Valley AC won match 4 overall on the day, well done to everyone who competed and also thank you to all the parents who helped officiate on the day.
Sportshall Report Match 5
Due to the bad weather all teams were very short on athletes; we had the most there and they came in with some really good performances. U11 boy Ben Mitchell with a hat trick of wins once again with 1lap, 2lap and ball throw, u11 girl Niamh Emerson won vertical jump and u11 girls won the 4x1 relay.
U13 boy Jethro McGraw won 2lap and 4lap, Jack Allen won shot putt and vertical jump, Rory McColgen won standing triple jump the u13 boys also won the 4x2 relay, U13 girls Molly Mee won vertical jump and Imogen Cresswell won standing triple jump the u13 girls also won the 4x2 relay.
U15 girls Jessica Turner and Emily Heappey came joint 1st in the 2lap and they paired up to win the 8lap parlauf U15 boy Tom Bridge won the shot putt with a throw of 14m28 which is a new record - this is the second time Tom has smashed the shot record this season.
Well done to everyone who competed, Amber Valley AC won overall on the day.
It’s looking very exciting going into the last match, we are leading 5 out of the 6 age groups and we are winning the league overall.
Let’s see if we can get even more of you there at the last match which is on SUNDAY 7TH FEBUARY 2010, at Queens Park Leisure Centre Chesterfield.
Meet up stairs in the cafe at 1 O’clock to start at 1:30 pm, come along have some fun and support your club, also remember your NUMBERS and PINS please :-)
North Mids Cross Country League
Match 4 at Wollaton Park on Saturday 16th January appears to still be ON. Athletes should check the website for changes www.northmidsxcleague.co.uk
Note that races usually start from end of the park nearest to Sutton Passeys Crescent (using a local school as the car park and base).
Race start times can be found on the website but please note that another website www.athletics-leics.com is giving slightly different start times. Athletes should arrive in plenty of time to be on the safe side.
County Cross Country Championships Update
The date for this is now re-scheduled for Saturday 30th January. Please refer to www.dcaa.org.uk for further details
County Schools Cross Country
Athletes who have been selected to represent their district in the schools championships should note that this takes place on Saturday 6th February at Mount St Marys College, Spinkhill. PE staff at your school should have further info.
Derbyshire Sportshall
The team to represent Derbyshire in the East Midlands Regional
Sportshall Final at Grantham Meres Leisure Centre has been selected.
AVAC has 16 athletes selected initially and these athletes will be
notified by Judy Payling as soon as possible. Further details will be
given out soon.
Derbyshire Cross Country Championships, Jan 9th
Unfortunately, due to the bad weather, the decision has been taken by organisers of Saturdays race to cancel the County Championships. Please see www.dcaa.org.uk for further information.
Helpers Needed
The Derbyshire Cross Country Championships take place at Markeaton Park, Derby on Saturday 9th January.
Offers of help would be gratefully received (from AVAC parents, athletes etc, or indeed any Derbyshire club) in setting up the course (from 8am onwards meet in the car park) or helping with the results.
Please email us at info@avac.org.uk if you are available.
Sportshall Match 5
The next Mini League Sportshall match is at Queens Park Leisure Centre, Chesterfield on Sunday 10th January, starting at 1.30pm.
This is the last chance for U13's and U15's to get performances for consideration for the Derbyshire Sportshall Team, which will be selected shortly after this match. Currently leading the series, we need all available athletes to compete to keep us pressing ahead to win this years overall trophy.
Winter Weather
With the snow and ice looking set to continue, all athletes and parents should be aware that the Rutland Sports Park will cancel all bookings for the track and astro-turf if there is, or likely to be, snow or ice on the ground.
Please check with RSP (0115 9302033 or rutlandsp@erewash.gov.uk) first before making a journey as it is impossible for the club to inform everyone personally. Wednesdays indoors in the Tennis Centre are unaffected and training continues as normal.
Groups who use the track on Saturdays will be offered alternative training in the Tennis centre such as throws and jumps indoors, fitness work etc if the weather affects availability of the track.
Christmas Training Break
Athletes and coaches can take a well-earned break from training over the Christmas period.
There is no training on Saturdays now until 9th January (Sats 19th, 26th and 2nd cancelled).
Tuesday 22nd is ON for the usual groups, no training on 29th, and recommences on 5th January. The last Wednesday session before Christmas is on 16th December and recommences on 6th January.
The Thursday track and Belper endurance groups will train for the last time on 17th December and recommence on 7th January
Merry Christmas to one and all!
Cross Country Reminders
The closing dates for two forthcoming cross country events are fast approaching. The Derbyshire Championships are on Saturday 9th January at Markeaton Park.
Entries for this must be with Julie Feeney by 11th December. The Northern Championships are on Saturday 23rd January at Blackburn. All entries must be received by Jim Feeney by 9th December.
See below for more details about each event.
Mini League Cross Country
The second match in this winters series was hosted by our club on 28th November at the Rutland Sports Park.
Niamh Emerson sits comfortably at the top of the U11 girls leader board after another win over her local rivals. Tamsin McGraw (4th) and Fran Chatto (9th) helped the team to first place overall so far. In the U11 boys race there was strong running from Alex Knibbs finishing 2nd, Daniel Jones 3rd and a fast finishing George Dave in 7th.
Molly Mee finished 2nd in the U13 girls race with Jessica Lockwood in 6th. Jethro McGraw made it two wins out of two with an easy victory in the U13 boys race. Jennie Lockwood was the first AVAC U15 girl home in 7th place.
The top 3 in the U15 boys race was a repeat of match 1 with Josh Rae nudging victory in a thrilling 50m sprint finish to the line after a neck-and-neck tussle all the way round with his Chesterfield rival. Andrew Fenwick (4th) and David Narborough (6th) packed well to give the AVAC lads the overall lead so far in the U15 boys team competition.
Full results can be found HERE.
Thank you to all those AVAC volunteers who helped set up the course, marshall and team manage a well run event. Thank you also to the visiting officials from the Derbyshire Athletics Association and to Stella Jolly for results.
The third and final match in this series, along with medal and trophy presentations is on 13th February at Moorways, Derby.
Updated Events Calendar
Freshly updated please click here to see which events are coming up over the next few months.
Taking part is great fun so if there is any event that you want to do please speak to a coach at training or email us for more details at info@avac.org.uk.
North of England Cross Country Championships.
A reminder to all endurance athletes in the U13 age groups and above that the Club will need to finalise entries for the North of England Cross Country Championships within the next couple of weeks.
This is the first of the major championship races which are the highpoint of the cross country season. The 'Northerns' will be held this year at Blackburn on 23rd January and those wishing to enter need to get their entry slips with £3.50 payment to Jim by 9th December at the latest.
Depending on demand we may be sharing a bus with Derby or making our own way by minibus.
Training on Saturday 28th November
All athletes and parents need to be aware that our use of the tennis centre on this day has been cancelled due to a national karate event taking place there.
All athletes will be registering, paying and training on the track. This includes our youngest athletes in the Recreation Group who will need to bring appropriate warm clothing. However, if it is raining or likely to be raining on the morning, training for Recreation Group will be cancelled as we don't think it is appropriate to have little ones outside in the rain for 2 hours.
Training for non-Recreation Group athletes however will go ahead in all weathers.
Mini League Cross Country Comes to Ilkeston
The second match in this local club league is on Saturday 28th November and AVAC is hosting it. The course will be run on the playing fields, cricket pitch and parkland at the Rutland Sports Park.
All club members can take part in U11, U13 and U15 age groups (must be 9 years on the day). You don't have to have done match 1 nor be selected to run. Easy to do - just turn up before 10.30am, register with an AVAC coach / team manager, pay £2 and run.
First events 11am starting with the U11's then working through the age groups. This event will go ahead for all age groups regardless of the weather.
As the host club we urgently need offers of help from parents or non-competing older athletes to help set up the course and marshall. No experience required. Please report at the Pavilion 9 - 9.30am.
North Midlands Cross Country League Match 2
A small number of AVAC athletes made the long trip to Corby for match 2 in the league on 14th November. In wet and windy conditions the athletes furthered their team and individual progression with some excellent performances.
Niamh Emerson made it 2 wins out of 2 in the U11 girls race and with such a race pedigree she naturally tops the leader board. Alex Knibbs made his cross country debut for the club this season with an excellent run to finish 3rd in the U11 boys. Jethro McGraw ran well to finish 3rd in the U13 boys race, taking him to 3rd equal overall in the very close individual standings.
The AVAC U15 boys increased their overall first place team standings with 3rd from Josh Rae, 16th from Andrew Fenwick and David Narborough in 17th. Andrews finishing position doesn't tell the full story of what was a strong run as he was up with the leading runners until he unfortunately took a wrong turn on the course. Josh's fine run took him to 2nd overall in the individual standings.
The next fixture in this league is a little closer to home on the magnificent course at Berry Hill Park, Mansfield on Saturday 5th December. All runners welcome.
See www.northmidsxcleague.co.uk for further details and race start times.
Happy Birthday to Us!
What a good time was had by all at our annual Presentation Evening. Over 150 athletes, parents, coaches an guests enjoyed an evening where we high-light the athletes achievements over the past year, not to mention indulging in lots of food, drink, dance and chat.
This year was slightly different as we were also celebrating the clubs 10th birthday. It was great to welcome back some 'old faces' who had been significant in the clubs early years.
Julie Feeney gave a brief review of where the club started and some of the clubs major milestones (and difficulties) over the years .How far the club has come since the first training sessions back in April 1999.
Our special guest was former Olympian and World Champion Daniel Caines and he presented a variety of awards to the athletes for performance, achievement and dedication. We even had room for some slightly less-serious awards as voted for by the athletes which proved to be lots of fun.
Thanks to Nicky Newton for organising a splendid evening. Here's to the next 10 years!
Derbyshire Cross Country Championships
Entry forms and details are now available to
download here.
Please note the closing date of 11th December.
Help AVAC? Become an Official
The club urgently needs interested parents, coaches and older athletes to train to become track judges, timekeepers or field judges.
All track and field competitions need officials and cannot run without them for you or your children. Put simply the club only currently has around 7 active and qualified officials across all disciplines - not nearly enough for next summer.
In club league matches we have to provide officials and points are often deducted if the club cannot field its required team. It's interesting stuff, enjoyable and social!
A Level 2 Officials' Course is being held at Nott's AC Clubhouse, Harvey Hadden Stadium, Nottingham on Saturday 5 December covering all Field, Track, and Timekeeping.
Free of charge for anyone connected with AVAC provided you can give a commitment to put the skills you learn into practice. Chose which discipline you are interested in.
You do not need to have done the Level 1 to do this course. To book a place on the course please contact either Paul Smith, Julie Feeney or Dave Turner at the club or send us an email to info@avac.org.uk to ask what it's all about.
Sportshall Report
Sorry it’s a bit late, but there’s been a problem getting the results out to everyone.
We’ve had two matches now, had good turnout for both. In the first match we finished second overall with some good performances, our u11 Girls won on the day, Niamh Emerson who won the 2lap race, 2nd in the 1lap race, Cara Brown 2nd in the 2lap race, 3rd in Vertical Jump, Amber Smith 2nd in the Ball Throw.
U11 Boys also won with Ben Mitchell having a hat trick of wins with 2lap, Vertical Jump and Ball Throw, George Dave 2nd in the 1lap race, Adrian Newton won Standing Triple Jump and Scott Ram 2nd in Standing Triple Jump.
(remember, just click on the thumbnail images to see a larger version)
Under 13/15 Girls and Boys finished second on the day with Imogen Cresswell winning the Standing Triple Jump, 2nd in the 2lap and shot, Molly Mee came 2nd in the 6lap race, Jethro McGraw won the 6lap race, George Coutts came 2nd in the 2lap race. Jessica Turner came 2nd in the 4lap race Kelly-Jay Payling 3rd in the shot, Tom Bridge won the shot and Dominic Hare came 2nd in the 4lap race.
In the second match we won, with a lot of our Athletes missing due to illness. There were some good performance coming from: Lydia Gilliver who won Speedbounce & came 2nd in 1lap race, Standing Long jump, Niamh Emerson came 2nd in the 3lap race, Imogen Cresswell won Shot and Standing Long jump, Rory McColgen came 2nd in the 2lap race, Jack Newton came 2nd in the 2lap race and Standing Long jump.
Best performance of the day was from Tom Bridge who set a new record in the shot with a throw of 13m.98, he also won the Standing Long jump.
I would like to say well done to everyone who has taken part so far, after two matches we are joint first with Derby AC, our u11 Girls are winning their age group and all the other age groups are 2nd overall.
Match 3 is Sunday 22nd November with a morning start of 10:30am, so you need to meet your team managers upstairs in the cafe at 10:00 o’clock.
Judy
Join Our Coaching Team
Fancy getting involved instead of sitting watching? There is a great local opportunity to gain an athletics coaching qualification. A Level 1 course is being held at the Rutland Sports Park, Ilkeston on Saturday 12th December.
The club is always needing additional people to join our coaching team. Your commitment need not be massive - just a willingness to help out on a regular basis, be it once or twice a week, or month.
The Level 1 will qualify you to assist at training sessions with
whichever group or discipline you are interested in, from our youngest
athletes to our oldest.
Course details: UKA/EA Level 1 course
This Course is an introduction to coaching skills with a major emphasis
on the ‘how to coach’ skills rather than the ‘what to coach’ skills.
Despite this there is a large practical element with the coaching theory
element of the course being taught and then put in to practice alongside
technical sprint, endurance, jumping and throwing activities.
Minimum age: 16 years
1 day course, Taking place on Saturday 12th December, 9am start – 5pm
finish, Rutland Sports Park, West End Drive, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, DE7
5GH
The course is free to parents of AVAC athletes or older athletes provided they can commit to a regular coaching commitment. Please speak to Julie, Jim or Dave to discuss.
Booking details:
Complete the
downloadable application form and return along with passport sized
photograph to Julie, Jim or Dave at training.
Deadline for bookings – Friday 4th December.
PLEASE DISCUSS WITH JIM OR JULIE FEENEY OR DAVE TURNER PRIOR TO BOOKING
Coaches will receive a coaching manual with complete notes from the course and following completion of a CRB check through UK Athletics the coach will receive a coach pass and license (usually within eight weeks). At Level 1 a coach is qualified and insured to coach under the supervision of an athletics coach qualified to Level 2 or above.
Any questions please do not hesitate to contact Steve Moore, England Athletics Club & Coach Support Officer on 07920 078548 or smoore@englandathletics.org or speak to Julie or Jim Feeney or Dave Turner at training or pass on a message via our website
New edition of Trackline now available
The latest club newsletter is now available to download by clicking here.
You can also see the updated Events Calendar by clicking here.
Mini League Cross Country
The first match in this years league got underway on Saturday at Mount St Marys College, hosted by 2DASH.
Overall in the team competition AVAC stands in second place, just behind Derby AC. Notable performances came from Niamh Emerson winning the U11 girls in a close race and Daniel Jones finishing 2nd in the U11 boys race. Jethro was a convincing winner of the U13 boys as was Josh Rae in the U15 boys.
The next match is hosted by ourselves on the grass and park land at Rutland Sports Park on Saturday 28th November. Offers of help from parents to set up the course and marshal would be very welcome, no experience needed. Please see Jim or Julie at training. Results can be downloaded by clicking here.
North Midlands Cross Country
The next match in this league is on Saturday 14th November at West Glebe Park, Corby. Directions and details are on www.northmidsxcleague.co.uk.
All club members can take part from U11 to Seniors. Remember that that those athletes and teams who are in the running for team and / or individual titles it is particularly important to make the trip to Corby. Details from Jim if needed or via email to info@avac.org.uk.
Indoor Track & Field
The popular Northern Athletics Indoor Opens have made a welcome return this year with two fixtures for athletes to get used to competing indoors before the major regional and national championships in the New Year.
Go to www.northernathletics.org.uk for details. Entries can be made online. Remember that any club member can enter as this is not a team or league competition.
If you fancy having a go then do it! Both events are at the EIS,
Sheffield on 21st November and 12th December.
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