Weekly Updates Saturday 25th July

The outdoor track is still on schedule to open from Monday 3rd August. It is still the case that all Swansea Harriers UK Athletics qualified coaches will have the opportunity to use the track during August, regardless of the “ability” of athletes they coach. At the request and in support of Swansea University, for the first week only, as a test run the maximum non negotiable coaching ratio permitted per qualified coach is 2:1. If week 1 is successful with the new usage systems in place working and that they are also adhered to, the coaching ratio will then increase week by week up to whatever the permitted maximum track capacity is at that point in time. The capacity currently stands at 30 (NB the club has over 600 athletes and over 60 coaches) with eight time slots set for exclusive use for Swansea Harriers each week, no matter how good at maths division you are, you can see that we will not be able to re commence coaching with all athletes immediately. Please be patient as the coaches try to cater for as many members as they can. Hopefully government regulations on athletics track capacity is increased to more than that of a grass pitch in the near future.

In addition the following week from Monday 10th August there will be track times you and non club members can book directly with Swansea University outside of dedicated club nights if you wish to do so. These time slots will be before 5pm Monday to Thursday inclusive and Saturday mornings. Booking procedures for these will go on the club website on Saturday 1st August. (NB, Saturday 8th August will be available to book – coaches/athletes will need to contact University staff on 07870 244761, or [email protected] to book). Self coached athletes will need to utlise these time slots rather than the main club nights.

With so many individual and team sport coaches wishing to use the pitches, and for the purposes of test, track & trace, another significant change will be that for coaches who wish to utilise the university owned grass pitches below the outdoor track, from Monday 3rd August these will also need to be pre booked and paid for, direct with the university.

What has our covid-19 sub committee been doing?

• Documenting covid-19 risk assessments for each event discipline.
• Documenting risk assessment for each event discipline.
• Documenting the club covid-19 protocols and procedures plans.
• Appointing covid officers to patrol the outdoor track on club nights, ensuring that all protocols and procedures are being followed. We have three in place so far but need to reach eight (2 per club night) please get in touch if you can help us out, we need you one night a week from 5pm to 8.30pm.
• A total of 40 pages and rising!

Athletes must only attend a club session upon direct invitation from their coach and must confirm their attendance not less than 24 hours before the session is due to commence.  This is to ensure that the limited track allocation of users is used to its fullest extent. Unfortunately coaches will have some tough decisions on who to coach, if, and it is likely the coaching ratios are very low initially. Social distancing means Swansea Harriers and Swansea University cannot permit just turning up, as we will exceed the maximum track capacity.

It has also been agreed by the club trustees/committee, to help us control university maximum track capacity numbers during August and maybe beyond, that only paid up, and therefore insured members can use the facilities, this will also assist coaches in deciding who is able to be coached. You can print a membership renewal form here 2020-2021 Membership Application for New Members & Renewals.pdf

Results:

We finally one non virtual event result to report on for you! Not from within the UK though, U15G Hannah Kinane making her 400m debut came close to breaking a minute finishing in (60.69) on 5th July at Stockholm, Sweden and a week later on 11th July she sets a PB of (4.52.92) over 1500m again in Stockholm, very well done Hannah! Hopefully in a month or so we will have some UK based performances from our members to report on.

Webinars on this week and a bit:

Welsh Athletics have coaching webinars on this link for; Javelin, Nutrition part 2, 200m and more. Don’t worry if you miss them or any previous webinars, you can watch them all back on the Welsh Athletics You Tube channel.

England Athletics have coaching webinars on this link for endurance, throws, pole vault and more. Only licenced coaches can watch these back if you missed these or any previous webinars, by using your URN to login on athletics hub.