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News Sheet for March 2002 Last amended at 13-01-03 Earlier editions: Summer 2000, Winter 2000, Summer 2001, Current issue
KENT COUNTY ATHLETIC NEWS MARCH 2002 MAGGIE FORMAN When Maggie breezed into the October Committee Meeting (a little late nothing unusual) she did not appear in the best of health. Little did we, on the Executive Committee, realise that this was to be her final meeting. Shortly afterwards she entered the London Clinic for the last time. She was ever optimistic and even booked places for herself and Dave at the Annual Dinner in November - but it wasn't to be......... When she joined the Committee as Secretary some four years ago we were immediately impressed with her efficiency, her forthright no-nonsense manner and the way she kept our Chairman in order. She will be sadly missed and we send our sympathy and best wishes to husband Dave, and his family. An appreciation from her Club, Dartford Harriers, follows: The recent death of Maggie Forman (aged 58), after a long battle against cancer, will be keenly felt by many at Dartford Harriers. Her association with the club began in 1980 when her daughter Nicki joined. Maggie was soon helping at race meetings and giving characteristically vocal support to Nicki and the rest of the Harriers teams. Typically she would be found at the top of a hill, yelling the runners on as they came up towards her. Her forthright comments were always positive. However it was after her retirement from work that the club really began to feel the benefit of her talents. In 1996, persuaded by Nicki, she became Ladies Team Manager. In this role her encouragement and determination ensured that athletes were always prepared to turn out for her, giving of their best and where necessary, competing in events where they lacked any experience to gain points for the team. She was caring and supportive to all her athletes, young and old. She also served on the club committee where her down-to-earth viewpoint and sense of humour considerably enlivened the meetings. In all of this work she was supported by her husband David. They really worked as at team in the club and in their lives. The Harriers extend their sincerest sympathy to David, Nicki and the rest of the family. Maggie was a special person and we shall all miss her. SECRETARY'S ANNUAL REPORT Unfortunately the Secretary was admitted to hospital towards the end of October and we now know was sadly never going to return to us. She had therefore no time to contact the various section secretaries for information, nor to prepare a report for the AGM in November. The Chairman was also without specific information, and felt all he could fairly do, to the many people involved in the County, was to give a brief report of the various sections. A report of what he said follows:- Ian Smith gave a summary of the year. He said he felt the year was as successful as most other years. The Cross Country at Sevenoaks was enjoyed by most who attended. Road Running was handled throughout the year by Rob Bright. Track and Field was under the guidance of A. Beaumont who had taken on the job of T & F secretary. N. Cannody had taken on the race walking secretary post and although there were not as many meetings as we would have liked Kent were doing quite well, with the Dartford Harriers people well up in the rankings. G. Freeman's first year as Officials secretary had gone smoothly as had M. Davies' first year as Development secretary, and he is soon to produce a five year development plan for the County. C. Newman had continued with the Coaching secretary's job. The winter sessions had not gone as well as hoped and he was looking to restructure them. M. Sawyer, Medals & Trophies, had arranged for 2,000 medals and trophies to be presented through the year. J. Duffin had taken over as Sportshall secretary and this seemed to be progressing well. M. Rowbottom had kept the Team Selection committee moving forward. This is a job he has been doing successfully for some years. IS went on to say that the County still did not have a Press & Publicity person and he had been posting items to the KCAA website and reported that this had received 1200 hits since September 2000. He went on to say that Maggle Forman had been looking after the County newsletter but he did not think she would be able to get the next edition ready for some time. IS went on to say that county athletes had been doing well both individually and as a team in Inter county events. Incidentally, if anyone would be willing to take on the job of Association Secretary the Chairman would be very pleased to hear from them. Indeed if anyone has any thoughts along these lines do please have a word with him. DEVELOPMENT UPDATE KCAA 5-year Development Plan The new KCAA 5-year Development Plan has finally been approved by the County's Executive Committee. While implementation of the plan will be prompted and monitored by the Development subcommittee, it will be the many members of committees, subcommittees, clubs and other workers for Kent athletics who will make it work. Many things have changed since the previous development plan was produced. A KCAA Development Officer has come and gone, UK Athletics has emerged (with a vengeance), coach education has undergone profound changes, AAAE Regional Development Coordinators have appeared, electronic communication has been transformed and "Active Athletics" is about to take off in the County. The new plan seeks to keep our eyes on the ball and take advantage of these and other changes, for the benefit of Kent athletics. Times move on and plans rarely work perfectly, so this development plan will be reviewed regularly to ensure that it remains relevant and exerts a positive influence on the development of athletics in Kent. So, where can you read it? It will appear in the updates to the KCAA handbook, which means that it will be sent to about 600 people and organisations, and it will also be put on the KCAA website. Active Sports - Athletics Athletics development in Kent is to be enhanced by approximately £125,000 over a five-year period due to a recently approved lottery bid for a Sport England "Active Sports" programme. It will fund afterschool coaching, assistance with club development, talent identification leading to development squads, and two part-time paid positions plus hourly payments for coaches on the scheme. The major appointment will be a Development Officer employed for 16 hours per week to drive the whole scheme. Also required will be a Head Coach, at up to £1500 a year, to lead the talent identification and development squad parts of the programme. Inter-schools trophy competitions - The annual inter-schools boys' and girls' trophy competitions will be held on Saturday 22 June at the Norman Park track in Bromley, in conjunction with the Kent County AA u13 championships. The competitions will follow the popular format used in recent years where teams of between five and eight boys or girls compete in ten events between them, with some flexibility in the choice of events. Points tables are used rather than finishing positions, to ensure fair scoring between more popular and less popular events. Winning teams will carry off trophies and the first three in each event will receive medals. Details will be sent to secondary schools in good time, but teachers wanting to be sure that they receive their own set of application information, when available, may send their e-mail addresses to mike@mikeidavies.fsnet.co.uk Mike Davies COACHING Active Sport - What is it ? Will all coaches please note that there will be a Coaches Forum on Wednesday, 27th March at BAE Systems Works, Rochester Airport, at 7.30pm. It will be held in the usual room but note access is via a door at the end of the building not via the glass-fronted entrance. This forum is also for Club Secretaries to enable Paul Eales, Regional Development Co-ordinator South East, to talk on Kent's successful bid on Active Sport, and the need to appoint the various people, i.e. a PADO (Partnership Athletic Development Officer) on a 5-year contract, a Head Coach, probably a Level 4 or possibly a Level 3 Development Coach, a Statistician with an Honorarium and paid coaches. The post of PADO was advertised and post of Head Coach details were sent to Level 4 and known Level 3. This is a great opportunity for the Sport to make this Lottery Funded partnership a success. Coaching Courses Coaches and clubs should be aware that any coach carrying a BAF qualification who has not transferred to the UK Athletics coaching scheme will no longer be insured. Such held BAF qualifications will not be recognised by UK Athletics. However, as UK Athletics has no wish to see experienced coaches lost to the sport there will, for a period not yet determined, be an opportunity to transfer through a home study option. Details of this can be obtained from Ray Thompson who is the South East Region Education and Training Administrator UK Athletics. His telephone number is 01737 554450 or email raythompsonslh@btinternet.com. There is a proposal for a further two level one coaching courses to be held at The Broadbridge Heath Leisure Centre, Horsham on the 31st March 2002 and at the Julie Rose Stadium, Ashford on 7th April 2002. Application forms can be obtained from the UK Athletics website by clicking on development. Application forms should be sent to the person named above. Pilot courses for the new level two have been held in each of the UK regions and are now almost complete and it is expected that such level two courses will be launched in September 2002. Meanwhile level 3, 4, and 5 modules are in preparation and are due to begin appearing during the 2002/2003-coach education period. It is almost certain that there are people coaching with no qualification or insurance; a situation that is unsatisfactory for athletes, clubs, and good coaching practice. In many cases they are likely to be ex-athletes or parents who have become interested in coaching but for whatever reason have never taken the opportunity to take a qualifying course. The sport and clubs need these people. UK Athletics are offering an opportunity for such persons to go directly onto a level two coaching course. A requirement for this procedure will be the submission of a detailed statement that indicates the experience; length of time in athletics; what coaching practice has or is being undertaken; and the signature and a short statement from a UKA qualified coach or club coaching coordinator. For further information relating to this opportunity again please get in touch with the person named above. County Squads At the time of writing County Coaching Squads are in operation and appear a success with over 90 athletes in Squads for the winter. I also wrote to Clubs asking if they required any events they could not cover. This brought forth only one reply. Currently the South East Region are planning an U17 and U20 training weekend in Northern France in April for athletes who obtained a Grade 1 standard last season. Science Support The amount of time we get from Christ Church University College Canterbury has been cut but I have been able to put 5 U20 endurance athletes on the scheme again this year. Event Provision At a recent Track and Field Sub-committee meeting the Relay Champs came up for discussion, and there are thoughts for dropping all the 4x200m relays, but it was agreed to sound out the coaches' views. It is an event rarely held and often means a lot of competition on the day. That and lack of practice with the track markings makes it an event perhaps we could do without. 1 will take your comments to the Track and Field committee from the forum or write to me with your views. Chris Newman SPORTSHALL ATHLETICS NEWS The 2001-2002 Sportshall season is now well under way. This season's first competition, held at Swanley in November, was very well supported with 19 U11 teams taking part. At St. Johns, Tunbridge Wells in December, over 230 entries were received, easily the highest number that has been encountered in Kent so far. There were 23 U11 teams and the U15 section had more competitors than ever before with 12 U15 boys and 18 U15 girls. The standard is also rising with several county records being broken. More recently, a third County competition was held at Dover in January where the number of entries was down on the previous two, but still well supported. The venue for the regional final on 3rd March has changed this year to Guildford, slightly easier to get to than Newham. As well as Essex and Middlesex we have to contend with Surrey and Sussex this year. The Kent team for Guildford will be picked after the county Championships in February at Larkfield. There is a final county competition at Canterbury in March that unfortunately clashes with the Regional Final. It was not possible to reschedule the county match. Sportshall Athletics has really taken off within the county. Many clubs are keen to utilise this branch of athletics as part of the winter training for their younger members. This makes the county competitions much more competitive (and more noisy!) to watch and officiate at. There is constant movement of athletes from one event to another and the activity going on makes for a lively atmosphere. There are several initiatives in progress across the county to bring more young people into the sport. One such is at Tunbridge Wells where a Sportshall Athletics course for 8-10 year-old children is due to commence in April with taster days being held in some Primary Schools and at the St. Johns' Sports Centre. This is being run in conjunction with WASP (Wells Athletics in Schools Project). This has been masterminded by Paddock Wood A.C. and funded by a grant from Awards for All. The club's coaches will be cooperating with the Sports Centre to make sure the scheme runs well. Janet Duffin OFFICIALS REPORT (But you don't have to be an Official to read it) This is a plea to all clubs, to Officials on a sabbatical, or those who only do club fixtures. At the county Champs, we are getting very thin on the ground, which makes it increasingly difficult to do justice to these meetings. Also, it presents a health and safety issue apart from it being unfair to the athletes, who deserve to have a well run Championships that doesn't over-run nor devalue what should be good, fair competition. Officials at these meetings are often so stretched because of lack of numbers that they rarely get a break and this is where health and safety becomes an issue. I am fully aware of how some people view the 'Blazer Brigade', but without us there would not be any Championships for your athletes to compete in. 1 am therefore asking that all Club personnel encourage more people to become Officials, and that those who are qualified will help out at championships. After all it is your athletes who will benefit. Now onto a much lighter note, I am very pleased to report the upgradings of the following Officials: Grade 1 Dave Holder (Field) Grade 2 Martin Burley (Field) Grade 3 Graham Acott (Track) Warren Alderson (Field) Iain Baugh (Timekeeper) John Court (Field) Linda Court (Field) Laurie Rand (Field) Dick Sharp (Field) Each year the Hennesey Trophy is awarded to the new Official who does well in the preliminary Exam and works throughout the season for the county. This year it was awarded to Laurle Rand. It is with new Officials in mind that it was decided to have another development day. It is a chance for interaction between the disciplines, those longed for questions to be answered and to catch up on rule changes. I am sure that all attending will find it beneficial to their progression as an Official. My thanks to all who delivered the workshops and well done. Gill Freeman To Club Secretaries in particular, but anyone else is free to read and pass the information to any likely candidates: - The County Association were approached by Kent Sports Development Unit regarding a new imitative the Unit was developing in attempt to get more volunteers into sport. We were invited to take part and asked for our observations. We stated that we doubted it would add to the numbers joining us, but that anything was worth a try. So the details are now with every Volunteer Bureau in the County of Kent, but not as yet in the London Boroughs part of our region. We have entered details of KCAA and the following notes into all these offices, through the KSDU. We hope clubs can go to their local bureau, through Carla Sands, with specific needs and such details as are requested. We do ask however that you work with Carla Sands of the Kent Sports Development Unit where her address is: Co-ordinator, Volunteers in Kent Sport, Kent Sports Development Unit, Commercial Services Building, Gibson Drive, West Malling, Kent, NE19 4QG. Her 'phone number is 01622 60505 8 if you wish an informal chat first. Should the system work to the point of you successfully appointing a volunteer please also let her know. It may interest you to know that the KCAA are currently advertising for someone to take over a press and (or) publicity role. Essentially we need our newsletter to appear on a regular basis, but also wish to have one person in contact with the press. So this is our published general 'oh description any part of which you may use, and/or modify or completely ignore, when using the system! VOLUNTEERS IN ATHLETICS The area covered by this association is the entire County of Kent plus those parts now of London which in the 1020's were still part of Kent, best described as the London Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham. There are almost fifty clubs affiliated to the association. Currently all volunteers come from the sport, where they may have been, or may still be, competitors or which they may have come to as caring parents with their children. Quite a number of parents stay on even after their children have either grown up or left the sport. It might be thought that in actually helping to run athletics those who have been competitors have a big advantage over "just" parents, but in fact even they often have no real idea of what is required of them. Tasks volunteers tackle are very varied, and no one has to be tied to one particular task. There is always a need for technical officials and most people are able to do this, under guidance at first but basically only common sense is necessary at the first stage, and only team leaders need to know precisely what may or may not be done. As one takes on some task so gradually the knowledge increases. What type of tasks are required? Well a track judge, working as one of a team, may write down the order of finishers (each competitor will wear a number of letter for identification). It sounds easy but everyone gets it wrong sometimes, though hopefully less and less often as the years roll by! Maybe you will be asked to "check lanes", that is to watch the runners to see they stay in the allocated lane, or maybe to check that where runners break from lanes they do not do it before the mark on the track. The most difficult of these decisions is watching that batons in a relay race are changed between the designated lines, but any one can only do their best, we don't have instant replays nor still photographs of what occurs. Of course it is not only track events that occur and in field events you will be allocated to a particular series of events in a group of between 2 and 6 people where you might be asked to retrieve the Shot, Discus, Hammer or Javelin and to carry it to the throwing region, you might be asked to judge where the implement lands (usually two people are doing this together), maybe you will hold the tape at the throwers end for a measurement to be made, or once you have varied experience be asked to read and record the measurement. Alternately you might be allocated to one of the jumping events where you may be asked to rake the pit after reach jump or to help measure the jumps. However any time you feel you're being asked to do something beyond your capability you can always say you'd rather not do it. Starters, marksmen and timekeepers need training first, though anyone who later felt like trying these activities would be welcomed. A track meeting needs more help than the jobs listed above, and while a knowledge of athletics will make things easier to achieve, anyone can be briefed on how to do the various tasks and be gradually brought to understanding exactly what is happening. Even experienced track athletes have things to learn here, but the only way to learn is to start somewhere and progress. In this area I am thinking of recorders to score matches and to have the result within as little time as possible of the last event finishing, and of announcers who if they start by assisting an announcer by the end of the first meeting will be doing some actual announcing. Well that covers track athletics, and of course Road Races and Cross Country Races are similar to track with the addition of people out on the course to direct the competitors to the right route. For the latter a fairly confident person, willing to shout if need be, is required. With all the above events most will make some mistakes, but anyone can only do their best and experienced officials are helpful and friendly as they too were once beginners (and have been known to make mistakes). There is a National grading system and the County do provide (free) courses to advise how to pass through the various tests. These courses are open to anyone, male or female, of any ethnic background, of any age from around fifteen or sixteen up and there are some who are still officiating beyond eighty. All will however advise that first some experience should be gained in athletics but after one season most will find the tests straightforward. There are many tasks that need to be carried out for clubs to survive and major post holders are usually elected at Annual General Meetings of members, but the post holders could often welcome help. The treasurer for example may be looking for some person to raise money for the club or to do some other small part of his job. The Secretary invariably has too much for one person to cope with efficiently, and once confidence is gained in a newcomer is likely to suggest all kinds of jobs. The Coaching system boss may need non-technical help on training evenings; they will need it every such evening but a volunteer for one evening or Sunday morning a week eases his problem! Team mangers may be looking for help, perhaps only phoning people to see if they are available and/or travelling to matches to help there where he may have 15 to 30 athletes in their care, all doing different events or be hiding away quietly to prepare for their event. To the best of my knowledge no club pays any member to do any job. Indeed they do not normally pay any expenses to helpers, but quite often may offer transport with another going to an "away" fixture. In general 1 believe individuals are most needed, and indeed will make best progress by being connected to a club. If the first they go to does not seem to be using them then try another. lan F. Smith COLTS AND BOYS LEAGUE OF KENT - 2001 The final meeting of the season was held at Deangate on 5th August. At the end of the third meeting Blackheath Harriers, Bromley were in the lead by 36 points, but a superb effort by the Medway team on their home track turned the deficit into a 12 points win to take the Primrose Trophy for the overall winners of Division One. Medway also won the U15 Boys Trophy, while Blackheath retained the U13 Colts Trophy. Medway's victory in taking the overall trophy ended best part of twenty years domination by the Blackheath club. The Maureen Gordon Memorial Trophy for the most improved club was awarded to Tonbridge A.C. who were promoted in 2nd place from Division Two last season and came equal 3rd with Bexley A.C. in this year's competition. In Division Two, the overall winners were Cambridge Harriers who finished the season 7 points ahead of Ashford A.C. (after a recount). Both of these clubs won promotion to Division One. Ashford won the Colts Trophy and Cambridge the Boys. Trophies were also awarded for the best Track and Field performances in each Division during the season. In Division One, the trophies were awarded to Edward Harrison (Maidstone & Rochester) for an impressive 11.9 secs over 100m and Chris Gearing (Medway) for a shot putt of 15.43m. The corresponding trophies for Division Two were awarded to two U13 Colts: to James Phillips (Ashford) for a fine 800m run in 2.20.5 and Joe Green (Cambridge) who cleared 1.50m in the high jump. It is difficult to speculate whether or not Medway's amalgamation with Maidstone & Rochester (formerly GEC) will make them an even stronger force. They hope to field two teams in next year's line-up, one in each division. Bromley A.C., who took part in two of the 2001 fixtures on a non-scoring basis, hope to fill the vacant spot in Division Two. Ron Sawyer S.E.A.A. INTER-COUNTIES CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS MEN UNDER23 UNDER17 UNDER 15 WOMEN SENIOR UNDER17 UNDER15 UNDER 13 Bury St. Edmunds FIXTURES FOR KENT ATHLETES 2002 February 3 Sun Kent
Fitness League at Oxleas Wood March 3 Sun Sportshall at Canterbury High School, Canterbury Parkwood League at Canterbury
(University) April 1 Mon Tonbridge
AC Open Meeting May 5 Sun KWL at
Bexley June 4 Tue Tonbridge
AC Open Meeting July 9 Tue Tonbridge
AC Open Meeting August 3/4 KWL at
Canterbury (or Ashford) September 8 Sun
Bradford 1Okm includes AAA & UK Inter-Counties Championships October 26 Sat AAA
National Men's 6-stage & Women's 4-stage Relays at Sutton Park Are you an IT person? One objective of the new county development plan (to be published in the KCAA handbook, or "blue book") calls for the development of effective and efficient computing and communication systems, with a target of developing "Championships entries to results package, including electronic communication, by 2005. Develop and supervise the website. Supervise e-mail". The county executive committee is charged with forming an IT group that will develop and maintain the systems and assist officers and subcommittees in their implementation. Benefits sought from these developments are later closing dates for entries to county championships and cheaper and wider communication. The county executive committee is therefore seeking volunteers with something to offer in any of these fields, who would be interested in joining the IT group. Please contact the chairman or development secretary.
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