AVAC achieves new status!

We are now registered as a Community Amateur Sports Club with the Inland Revenue.

We can now re-claim basic rate tax on any donations you make to the club under the Gift Aid scheme. So, for every £1 you give, we can claim an extra 28p if you are a tax-payer. All you need do is give some money as a gift and complete a Gift Aid declaration form. If you are a higher rate tax-payer, additional relief is available in your self-assessment tax return.

Would your company like to support the club?

Companies can usually claim a deduction in computing their profits for either formal sponsorship of a sports club or for payments to enhance their standing in the local community.

Did you know?

Individuals can obtain relief from Inheritance Tax for gifts to Community Amateur Sports Clubs. The gift does not form part of the donors’ estate for inheritance tax purposes.

For further details on any of the above please speak to Jane Rogers (Club Treasurer) either at a training session or email us.

Planning Application for track at Charles Hill
 

One of the milestones for getting a track at Charles Hill is for the planning application to be approved.

This is expected to be a straightforward process and the application has been submitted and is awaiting the decision of the Amber Valley Borough Council planning committee.

The planning application can be viewed at the following page on the AVBC website where anyone can register comments. So, if you want a track at Charles Hill and wish to register a supportive message then go the AVBC site and submit a short message - it can only help.

Click here to register your support!

Derbyshire Schools Year 7 Miniathlon

Congratulations to Jordan Martin and Alexandra Turner who came in the top 3 at this heavily contested competition.

Attracting year 7's from all over the County, each athlete had to compete in 3 out of the 4 events on offer.

Jordan finished 3rd overall, and Alexandra went 1 better for 2nd overall, both out of over 80 entrants.

Young Athletes League, Solihull, 27th June.

A somewhat depleted team competed at Solihull in the third out of 5 Young Athletes League fixtures. With several strong team members either on holiday or on County duty it was always going to be difficult to match Solihull who are in the top 3 in the league.

The final points total gave us as equal 2nd with Nuneaton, but sadly we were awarded less points for not bringing a full quota of officials which cost us dearly - causing us to slip to 3rd place as a result.

However, as usual, some of our athletes gave sparkling performances, with crucially, many 2nds and 3rds across the A and B strings to bolster the team total.

Special mentions go to:

• Danni Alldread who was awarded Female Track Athlete of the Match for her U15 800m.

• Hurdlers Emma Komocki, Sam Stone and Claudia Rogers who can always be relied on to win their events.

• Alexandra Turner got a double first in the U13 150m and 800m, getting a new club record for the longer distance.

• There were A and B wins for Gareth Griffith and Sam Stone in the U15 javelin with seasons bests.

• Another A and B win in the U13 1500m for Chris Dawe and club newcomer Ben Conner, and likewise for the girls equivalent race, the 1200m, for Tamara Armoush (getting another new club record) and Charlotte Noonan.

Midlands Schools Combined Events Championship Stourport-on-Severn, 26 & 27th June

5 club athletes represented Derbyshire Schools at the Midlands Final. David Feeney and Richard Szarkowski competed over Saturday and Sunday in the Inter-boys Octathlon, Louise Feeney also competed over both days in the Inter-girls Heptathlon. Ricky Kiggins and Katie Noonan did the one-day Pentathlon.

The best performance came from David who won the Octathlon and now goes through to the English Schools Combined Events Final in September in Exeter. This will be a double for David as he has already been selected for the individual English Schools Final in a fortnight.

Richard finished a pleasing 7th overall, contributing to the 2nd team place for Derbyshire.

Louise finished in 12th place, Ricky in 8th and Katy 13th, all recording some good performances during difficult weather conditions and against some strong opposition.

AVAC achieves it's first qualifiers for the English Schools championships

Five Club athletes who have been selected for The English Schools Championships on 9th and 10th July at Gateshead.

The athletes are:

Nathan Alfors Junior Boys 1500m
David Feeney Inter-boys 100m hurdles
Richard Szarkowski Inter-boys triple jump
Rob Love Jnr boys 800m
Abby Wood Jnr girls Shot

English Schools is, for most young athletes, the highest level competition that they will take part in. The qualifying times and distances are set at a high standard so that only the very best in the country take part.

This is the first time that our club has had any qualifiers in it's 5 year history and to get 4 athletes going is excellent news. It's a just reward for David and Richard, two lads who have been with the club from day one, and shows that hard work, dedication and  perseverance pays off.

Club coaches always knew that Abby could get to English Schools almost as soon as she joined the club 2 years ago with her talent for the throws. Rob Love was the surprise selection but given the excellent run he had at the weekend, and the fact that he has just got better and better on the track this season in middle distance, selection is his reward for his efforts.

Good luck to all of you and do your very best in Gateshead!'

Mini League Sat 19th June
 

AVAC athletes just managed to scrape victory in a closely fought match at the weekend, and still hang onto the overall lead after 2 matches. With many U15 athletes across all clubs competing elsewhere for Derbyshire schools it gave the chance for others so show what they can do. Generally all athletes found it quite hard going in the showery and cold conditions and the times sometimes reflected this.

However Andrew Szarkowski ran a blistering 56 sec to win the U15 400m, Danni Alldread ran a strong 200m in first place and Emma Komocki easily won the U13 70m hurdles, consistently running a Grade 1 time again. Alexandra Turner won the U13 high jump, Leila Armoush won the U15 1500m with a long awaited new PB, and Matt Selfe stormed down the home straight at the end of his 1500m to record the same time as the Derby athlete but sadly just judged out of the winners position.

Tamara Armoush had the usual gritty tussle with Chesterfields Abbie Vernon, Tamara taking 2nd this time round but can be justifiably proud of her new PB and female athlete of the match award. Kelly-Jay Payling (80m and turbo javelin) and Jessica Turner (long jump and 150m) dominated the U11 girls by taking 2 wins each.

The next Mini League match is on Sat 24th July. Details will be out soon. Remember that all athletes who are club members aged 9 - 14 can take part.

Schools Inter-Counties Match - Leamington Spa, Sat 19th June

Derbyshire County Schools Championships - Moorways, 12th June

Twenty one AVAC athletes took part in the County Schools. This is one of the main high lights of the track and field season with both club athletes and talented school athletes representing their district. The top 2 in each event go on to represent Derbyshire at the Inter-Counties match next Saturday at Leamington Spa.

The interesting thing about the County Schools is that each athlete can only do 1 event, and some tactical decision making goes on to improve chances of selection and victory. It's also so good to see those athletes who don't belong to a club at all doing some very respectable performances, and, of course, it's another chance to try to achieve the high standard English Schools qualifiers.

 In the warm sunshine it was good to see Moorways very busy with athletes, spectators and officials, but a very strong head wind down the home straight did make fast track times difficult to achieve.

Seven AVAC athletes excelled by winning their events with good distribution across the disciplines. Hurdlers Sam Stone and Louise Feeney won their Jnr Boys and Inter Girls 80m races, Tom Alldread won his Inter Boys 800m comfortably and Nathan Ahlfors was untroubled in the Jnr Boys 1500m. In the field events Abby Wood, as expected, won the Jnr girls Shot, Richard Szarkowski took the Inter Boys Triple Jump and Ricky Kiggins just won the Jnr Boys High Jump on count back.

Joining the above at Leamington Spa with 2nd places are Josh Cartledge (100m), David Feeney (100m H) and Nick Coombs (Shot). Special mention goes to Rob Love with a silver medal and PB in the Jnr Boys 800, breaking the club record that had stood since 2002. It's an indication of the progress the club is making, with our U15 boys systematically going about rewriting the record books in the track events this season.

Missing out on County selection but gaining bronze medals were Danni Alldread (Jnr Girls 800m), Charlotte Turnbull ( Inter girls Shot), Cara Peplow (Inter Girls 200m), Rebecca Herring (Inter Girls 3K) and Katie Noonan (Jnr Girls Long Jump).

Full results can be found on www.derbyshireschools.co.uk

Also have a look at the updated Club Records.

Website hits 5k!

June 11th saw the 5000th visitor to www.avac.org.uk - and it is on course to break 10,000 by the end of the year.

Many thanks for your support over the last year or so, and also thanks to all those who contribute to the site.

Remember if there is anything you want to see included on the site or anything you spot that is incorrect or out of date please email us and let us know

Mini League

Selections to represent Derbyshire in the Northern Inter-Counties match (21st / 22nd August tbc, Cudworth, U15's upwards) will be made from County Championships performances and the Mini League. This is in addition to County selection for the young athletes Inter-Counties for U13 and U15's on 11th Sept.

The only way now to show the selectors that you should be in the County teams is to get to as many Mini Leagues as you can (19th June, 24th July and 14th Aug).
 

Young Athletes League, Tamworth

We've had confirmation that we finished in 2nd place on Sunday which will definitely keep us well in the top half of our division. Also, 3 of our athletes were awarded 'Athlete of the Match' for their performances and will receive a special YAL T-shirt.

Tamara Armoush won the girls track category with her 800m time, Alex Turner, the girls field for her high jump, and David Feeney, the boys field for his long jump. These are in addition to Emma Komocki who won the girls track athlete of the match in the first fixture at Corby with her 70m hurdles.

Well done to all of you.

New Tuesday training times start 8th June 2004.

Please note that the 6.30 - 7.30 is  for all Recreation Group/primary school- age children - except those who have been specifically told to come to the 7 - 8.30 session. If you are not sure of which session you should attend please contact us.

Charnwood Opens.

These are mid-week informal competitions open to all age groups, where each athlete is put in a suitable heat or group according to their ability. No points or prizes, just a chance to get a time, get some competition experience, try a new event etc.

First events 6.45pm - remember to get there in time to register and pay (£2 / event).

They are easy to find at Loughborough University, just go straight through the main entrance. The next one is Thursday 10th June. Events available include 100m, 200m, 400m, (300m U17W), 1500m, Triple Jump, Long Jump (males) High Jump (Females) Discus and Shot.

Young Athletes League - Tamworth 6th June 04

Some excellent performances again which gave us 2nd place overall, after Bridgenorth / Shrewsbury 1st, Leamington 3rd and Burton 4th.

The organisers couldn't give us the exact scores so we'll have to wait for those in the post.

You can monitor our clubs position in the league (Midlands Div 1 East) on the YAL website www.natyal.co.uk.

Amongst those who turned in scorching wins to match the weather were Richard Szarkowski, David Feeney, Ricky Kiggins, Abby Wood, Nicholas Rowton, Kayleigh Chapman, Nathan Ahlfors, Emma Komocki, Tamara Armoush, Alexandra Turner, Louise Feeney, Charlotte Hobbs, Chris Dawe, Michael Feeney and Jordan Martin taking the 100m & 200m.

There were many more, including those who won very valuable team points in the 'B' string. Great team effort, fabulous team spirit!

Mini League Saturday 19th June, Moorways

Entries for this must be in to Julie Feeney by Thursday 17th at the latest. All members should have received their yellow info sheet which gives the days events (ask at training if you need another).

Equally good for those new to the sport and for those trying for last minute English Schools qualifiers.

A County U13 and U15 team will be selected from the Mini League performances so the more able athletes should be going all out to prove themselves.

There is no training at Charles Hill on this day.

Heart of England League Match 1 30th May, Banbury

The overall standard was good but not outstanding and you could not say that our athletes were outclassed by any means. However with many first team athletes not available through holiday or being at the North of England Championships it was inevitable that we might struggle, points-wise.

Out of 8 teams we finished 7th equal. The way that the league scores are calculated means that only a full complement of athletes across the age groups produces higher placings.
 

In the actual age groups we finished:
8th U17 men (we only had Richard Szarkowski!)
8th U17 women
8th U15 girls (only 3 girls available)
6th U13 boys
1st U13 girls
1st U15 boys

Not surprising that our U13 girls won. As usual they proved unbeatable in many events. The surprise is to see the U15 boys doing so well - great team performance lads!

We took 4 U11 girls for their first taste of away club competition. Whilst they don't count towards the overall score they gain valuable experience. Pity we had no boys though. Any boys in school years 4 and 5 who would like to compete next time (at Tamworth in July) please tell your coach.

With 2 more fixtures we have the opportunity (and the talent) to climb up the league. The bottom 2 teams get relegated - we don't want that, we've only just got here!

Abby gets Gold again!

13 year old Abby Wood continued a successful season so far by winning the U15 girls shot at the North of England Championships at the weekend, in Wigan. Her best throw of 10m 71 was enough to easily take the gold medal to add to the one she won in the same discipline during the Indoor track and field season in January. That throw of 11m 30 is still enough to currently put her 3rd in the national rankings.

Andrew Szarkowski (pictured right at the recent Derbyshire Track & Field Champs) took advantage of there only being 2 competitors in the U15 boys triple jump and jumped a PB of 10m 62 to take the silver medal.

David Feeney added another North of England medal to his collection with a bronze in the U17 mens 100m hurdles with a time of 14.07sec.

Josh Cartledge and Richard Szarkowski also competed in the 2-day event but were unable to get into medal positions.

Derbyshire County Track and Field Championships 15th & 16th May 2004

Check out the new photos from last weekends action in the photo gallery - can you spot yourself?

Derbyshire Schools Combined Events Championships

26 / 27th May, Moorways.

Congratulations to David Feeney, Richard Szarkowski, Louise Feeney, Ricky Kiggins and Katie Noonan who all finished in a medal position in the County Schools Combined Events Championships. They now go on to represent Derbyshire Schools in the Midlands Final in 4 weeks time at Stourbridge.

David Feeney amassed a huge total of 4454 points (a Grade 1 performance) in the Intermediate Boys Octathlon to win comfortably. Performances of note came in the long jump where he jumped an excellent 6.29m, and the 100m hurdles where he smashed his PB to get an easy English Schools qualifier.

Richard Szarkowski finished in silver medal position with 4132 points (a Grade 2), breaking his personal best from last season by over 1200 points. Richards best events came on day 1,so much so that he was leading after the first days events.

Ricky Kiggins did well to finish in 3rd place in the Junior boys Pentathlon (5 events completed in 1 evening) against some tough competition. He took PB's in the 80m hurdles, shot and long jump.

Louise Feeney also took 3rd place in the Intermediate Girls Hepthathlon (7 events over 2 evenings), and Katie Noonan also took 3rd in the Junior Girls Pentathlon. Katie had to fight for every point against a huge field of over 40 girls.

New Training Times

Due to the popularity of the Tuesday evening sessions outdoors it has become necessary to split the session. 

As from Tues 8th June the Recreation Group will be from 6.30 - 7.30pm, £1 all athletes (£1.50 non-members), to be coached by the normal Recreation group coaches.

The older group will be from 7pm - 8.30pm with the prices as above.

Please note that the minimum age for Club athletes has always been 8 years old and this will have to be enforced more strictly due to the growing numbers attending.

If you are not sure which group you are part of please ask one of the coaches or email us.

Derbyshire County Track and Field Championships 15th & 16th May 2004

The Derbyshire County Track and Field Championships at the weekend, often the pinnacle of early season expectation for the County's athletes, did not disappoint.

The glorious weather, large appreciative crowd and some stunning performances gave Amber Valley AC athletes their best Championships in their 5 year history.

The statistics speak for themselves: 36 athletes across the U13, U15 and U17 age groups set 75 PB’s, 15 new club records and a grand total of 67 individual medals.

The outstanding crop of U13 girls dominated their age group with Alexandra Turner and Emma Komocki taking 5 out of the possible 9 individual titles between them.

Alex easily won the sprint 100m and 200m double and added the High Jump for good measure. Emma unexpectedly took the Long Jump title, and the two friends then had a battle in the 70m Hurdles where both girls were given the same time, but Emma was judged to be a vests-width ahead. The time for both girls was a new Championship Best Performance which they now share.

Team-mate Tamara Armoush had to be content with 2 silvers in the 800m and 1500m, succumbing to the form of her Chesterfield AC rival Abbie Vernon.

It is an indication of the fine state of middle distance running in the County in this age group that Tamara achieved times significantly faster than AAA’s Grade 1’s in both events (which no other AVAC athlete did) and that both Abbie and Tamara shattered the existing Championship Best Performance held since 1989.

Abby Wood, the North of England Indoors U15 shot putt champion was untroubled in taking all 3 throwing events at U15 shot, discus and javelin. She had her eye on breaking Junior International Rebecca Peakes shot record of 10.88m but on the day threw just 25cm short.

AVAC only had 1 medallist in the U17 women's age group -Louise Feeney’s hurdling skills over the years have given her County titles at U13 and U15 sprint distances, to which she comfortably added the U17 80m title too. She had to settle for a silver at the 300m long hurdles distance, a brand new event for her this season.

Louise's’ brothers and father added a further 14 individual medals for the family with younger brother Michael taking the Long Jump, High Jump and Javelin in the U13 age group. David retained his U17 titles from last year in 100m Hurdles and Long Jump and added the 400m Hurdles too.

Not to be outdone Dad Jim won the Vet Men's 400m.

Jordan Martin took the 100m and 200m sprint double as did Josh Cartledge in the U15 age group , also adding the Long Jump with a massive PB. Team-mate Andrew Szarkowski took silver in all those events to Josh’s’ gold’s, but eventually got the better of him in the U15 Triple Jump. Andrews brother Richard kept it in the family by winning the U17 Triple Jump and Pole Vault.

Other gold medal winning performances came from Rob Love (U15 1500m), Ricky Kiggins (U15 High Jump), and Nicholas Rowton (U13 shot).
 

Silver and bronze medals went to (U13) Ben Hawkins, Charlotte Hobbs, Charlotte Noonan, Claudia Rogers, Rory Dickenson, (U15) Gareth Griffith, Danni Alldread, Katie Noonan, Steven Bainbridge, Chloe Smith (U17)Tom Alldread

Many thanks to all those that took part and to all the helpers and officials on the day.
 

Athletics - the way forward?

A new report has been published, commissioned by Sport England and UK Sport, with recommendations for the way Athletics should be run in the future.

You can view the Executive Summary (shorter) or the Full Report (longer) here.

(These require Adobe Acrobat Reader, if you don't have this programme click here to download free of charge)

Club Events Programme

Please check the Events page for the recently updated competitions, including change of venues for events such as our Club Championships.

Report on the Young Athletes  match at Corby

What a good day we had when we took our selected first team to the first of the National Young Athletes League fixtures this time at Corby.

Space doesn't allow for too many individual performances of note (and there were many) but special mention must be given to Abby Wood who easily won the U15 girls shot with the clubs first ever English Schools qualifying throw.

Nathan Ahlfors and Matthew Selfe, both competing for the club for the first time, ran themselves into the clubs records with wins for Nathan in the U15 1500m and a second place for Matt in the 3000m (and he's never run one before!)

 Although we were a good number of points behind Derby this was mainly due to their strength in depth at the U17 age group. An unofficial analysis of the results shows clearly that in the U13 and U15 age groups AVAC scored more points on the day than any other club! Our quality U13 girls team, as always, dominated every event, and encouragingly our U15 boys showed pleasing form too!

Well done to all of you who competed and thank you to Ruth, Richard, Dave, Paul and Jane who officiated for us, and to Paul N, Nigel, Jim and Julie for team managing. 

www.avac.org.uk to your Inbox

You can now receive AVAC updates directly to your inbox so you don't miss out on any information on events, training etc. Click here to send an email to register.

Kit Bell Memorial Open Meeting, Grimsby 3.5.04

15 athletes traveled to Grimsby for this annual Open Meeting, getting in a bit of extra early-season race practice. What a super event it turned out to be!

Early rain and dark clouds turned to warm sunshine, giving almost ideal conditions for what turned out to be a PB and trophy-winning extravaganza!

Michael Feeney was perhaps AVAC athlete of the day by getting 3 PB's. He smashed his Long jump PB by 20cm ( which also took his brothers U13 club long jump record) and won the event. He also won the U13 boys 80m hurdles, and took 5 seconds off his 800m time, finishing in 3rd place.
 

Richard Szarkowski increased his own U17 javelin PB and club record yet again this season with a throw of 41.28m to take first place.

Josh Cartledge had to be content with two 2nd place trophies in extremely close finishes in the U15 100 (PB) and 200m.
 

Charlotte Noonan knocked another 6 secs off her 800m time with a Grade 2 performance of 2.36.0 - that's a total of 11 secs improvement on last seasons best in 2 races in just 8 days. Emma Komocki won the U13 70mH with a fine display of hurdling.

Other PB's came from Nicholas Rowton (80mH), David Feeney (Jav and 400m), Andrew Szarkowski (100m), Tamara Armoush (100m and 800m), Amer Armoush (800m), Richard Szarkowski (shot), Katie Noonan (LJ), Claudia Rogers (70mH) and Louise Feeney (200m).

North of England U15 / U17 Championships at Wigan on 29th / 30th May.

Entries close on May 5th.   Click here for your entry form.

Happy Birthday AVAC!

It's our birthday on the 24th April 2004.

Exactly 5 years ago to the day we held the first club training session at Charles Hill.

There are still 10 young athletes who have been members from that first day still training, and Julie, Jim and Nigel from the first planning meetings 4 months before that.

In the first 5 years we have grown from a recreational club to a fully competitive one in national leagues and with nationally ranked athletes too. We have become probably the most successful athletics club in Derbyshire currently, for young athletes and the club is hugely influential in County athletics.

Happy birthday to us and here's to the next 5 years!

National Sportshall Finals, 18th April 2004, NIA Birmingham

Amber Valley athletes got the chance to meet their sporting hero at the weekend when they competed in the National Sportshall Athletics Final at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham.
Representing Derbyshire, the U13 and U15 athletes met Mark Lewis-Francis, GB International sprinter, who is himself a former U15 Sportshall All-Rounder gold medallist.

Now acting as the sports Ambassador, Lewis-Francis thrilled the athletes and the large crowd by presenting medals, signings autographs and doing his own display of some of the Sportshall events.

The Final of all the regional heat winners involved teams from as far a field as the Channel Islands, Northern Ireland and the north of Scotland.
Amber Valley AC and Chesterfield AC athletes made up the bulk of the Derbyshire team competing against some of the best athletes in the country.

Despite coping with several last minute team changes due to unavailability and injury, the girls team came a creditable 8th place (out of 12) and the boys team 7th place (again out of 12).
 

Individual performances of note came from Claudia Rogers (5th in standing long jump), Alexandra Turner (7th in indoor high jump) and Yvette Bowler (7th indoor shot) all out of 24 athletes.

The best relay performance on the day, featuring AVAC athletes was the girls 4 x 2 lap relay. Alex and Claudia were joined by Chloe Smith and Derby ACs Emily Buckley. Coming 2nd in their heat to make the final, they pushed on every leg, being in medal contention throughout.
However the judges, after lengthy deliberation, awarded the girls the bronze medal despite getting the same time as the team judged in silver medal place.
 

Also from AVAC were Emma Komocki, Gareth Griffith, Charlotte Noonan, Michael Feeney, Ben Hawkins and Jordan Martin.
 

Derbyshire Mini League Report 17th April 2004

Updated fixture list

The newly updated fixture list is now available - check out where you can test yourself this summer here!

Remember the events are there for you to compete in - make sure you take advantage of them and also support your fellow athletes.

Training on the 6th April.

Mini Newsletter