Weekly Update Friday 15th January

Belated happy new year, and 2021 can only be better than 2020! We are awaiting guidance from Welsh Government to filter down regarding return to training and competition details. Watch this space for details when regulations are released. In the meantime here are some snippets of news and information that may be of interest to you.

Welsh Athletics Annual Awards 2020:

Club members won two awards. Joshua Griffiths won Senior Male athlete of the year after a very successful 2020 where he set a lifetime best in the Marathon of (2.13.11) won Bronze at the British Marathon Championships and as a result is now placed 6th on the Welsh All Time Rankings! Our other recipient was Nigel Jones who won endurance official of the year. If you’ve ever run in an off track event on the road or country its a fair bet Nigel has been one of the key officials or organisers to make it happen for you. You can read more about Nigel as well as Beyonce, Boris Johnson & Mother Teresa on this article.

British / Welsh Athletics Funded Athletes & Ron Pickering Fund:

British Athletics & Welsh Athletics have both released their funded athlete lists for 2021, and we are most pleased to see a sprinkling of Swansea Harriers athletes amongst them, testament to their ability and hard work:

British Athletics World Class Programme: Dewi Griffiths.

Welsh Athletics Commonwealth Games Programme: Joshua Griffiths

Welsh Athletics Commonwealth Games Potential Programme: Jonathan Hopkins & Joseph Brier

Welsh Athletics Futures Programme: Hannah Brier

Welsh Athletics Associate Athletes: David Greene

In addition congratulations again to U23M Joseph Brier who has been awarded a Ron Pickering award for being one of the UKs most promising U20/U23 athletes.

Results British Masters Virtual 10km:

Congratulations to our Masters who competed in the British Masters Virtual 10km between 27th December to 3rd January. Some great performances were achieved as you can see, especially the GOLD medal run by Ifan Lloyd! Hopefully it won’t be too long until they can race for real.

Edward Cullen (36.07) 7th M35; Ifan Lloyd (36.16) M60 GOLD!!Owen Davies (39.37) 27th M45; Simon Coombes (41.30) 32nd M40; Brian Stevendale (42.13) 15th M55; Rob Falconer (43.45) 15th M60; Heath Brett (44.27) 30th M50; Julie Hartley-Green (46.29) 15th W45; Jenny Mcadie (48.24) 15th W40; Tina Gabb (54.23) 28th W45 and Tony Clements (57.19) 14th M70. Click here for the full results.

UK Athletics Level 1 Field Judge Qualification:

The more volunteers we can get signed up to this free qualification, the more opportunities we can create for our athletes when normality returns.

This 4 hour, practical course is split over 2 days online on Tuesday 9th Tuesday 16th February 6pm to 8pm and will introduce candidates to the key roles, responsibilities and duties of a field official, including how to follow a duty sheet, complete a results card, application of the rules in field events and how to provide a safe environment for athletes to compete.

Who should go on this course?
Anyone who is interested in officiating the field events:

Shot (including seated throws for disabled athletes)
Discus (including seated throws for disabled athletes)
Hammer
Javelin (including seated throws for disabled athletes)
Club Throw
High Jump
Long Jump
Triple Jump
Pole Vault

What will I learn?
Follow a duty sheet
Be able to list field events and the various roles covered
Understand and describe Health and Safety issues in Field Officiating
Application of the rules surrounding field officiating
Ability to present the result card accurately

Is there an assessment?
There isn’t an assessment but after the course candidates need to complete at least 4 competition experiences to become licensed. The experiences must cover both horizontal and vertical jumps and both shot and long throws. This may require candidates doing more than 4 experiences. Candidates must have completed the Health & Safety course for Officials.

What do I do after the course?
It is essential you complete a DBS.
Ensure there is a passport quality photograph.
Complete a minimum of 4 experiences for Level 1.
Complete the Level 1 Application for Accreditation.
Send your completed Level 1 Application for Accreditation to Welsh Athletics.

Health & Safety Online
This FREE online course should be completed for anyone training to become a Track and Field Athletics Official. The course will need to be completed before a licence can be issued at Level 1. The course will need to be undertaken by officials every three years.

Duration: The course will typically take around 90 minutes to complete with a multi choice assessment exercise upon competition. Note: To complete the course candidates will need to achieve a pass mark of 75% or above.

Webinars for coaches:

Over lockdown three there are now additional event specific and generic webinars available to watch or watch back.

Welsh Athletics cover:

10 & 14/02 Non perfect parent/non perfect coach series.

For the full calendar of webinars click this link. A library of previous workshops can be viewed on their you tube channel here.

England Athletics cover:

21/01 Mastering the fundamentals of shot put throwing in clubs.

22/01 Coaching the high jump an overview

30/01 Let’s Start With: A Question of talent, the coaching conundrum

for their full webinar calendar click this link.