12. December 2012

Club Newsletter

CONGRATULATIONS
Well done to all of our athletes who competed in the National XC in Adamstown Co. Wexford last Sunday. With a lot of illness around we failed to fill most of our teams, but those who made it put in a valiant effort as always. Congratulations to Eoin Taggart, who finished just out of the medals in 14th place .
BRAY LAKERS SANTA RUN
A big ‘Thank You’ to Aidan, Neil and Fiona, who helped out with the Santa Run last Sat. in Bray. Congratulations to Gavin Maher, our sole competitor, who won the 3K event. Bray Lakers really appreciate the help given!
URGENT: training for older group only again this Fri due to XC League races in Rathdrum for our younger athletes!
XC LEAGUE
Round 3 of the XC league takes place this coming Friday 14th Dec. in the Rugby grounds in Rathdrum at 6.30pm. The courses are much shorter than the Championship ones. We had a reasonable turn out from our younger athletes in Round 2 and hope to see lots more making the effort for Round 3. All athlete get a cert (chocolate this time also) and gain points for the club towards the overall trophy. Athletes who attend 5 of the 6 events will be awarded medals after the last event! Names to Theresa by Thurs latest if you intend to take part, you can’t just turn up on the night. A small number did this last time, but we will not be allowed late entries for future events! I will not be in a position to add names on Fri., so make sure to get them in on time!. The ‘Little Athletics’ group can also take part. The club cannot cover League costs, so all athletes need to bring €2 please. This event is open to registered athletes only, and younger siblings, friends etc cannot take part.
REGISTRATIONS
All new athletes who have not completed their membership forms yet, need to do so immediately to secure their places in the club. We need to get these registrations sorted before the end of the athletics year. Dates for 2013 registrations will be announced in early January.
COUNTY JUN/SEN XC
The Wicklow Jun & Sen XC Championships take place in Shangannagh Park on Sun next 16th Dec at 11am. Open to all athletes from U17 up. Please let Theresa know if you intend to compete, as we will be trying to field full teams.
SOLSTICE MILE
As Fri 21st Dec. is our last training night before Xmas, we are holding a number of timed mile races to help raise funds for the Wicklow Hospice. Timed miles will be run every 15 mins from 7-8.30pm with participants making a donation to the hospice. We will organise shorter runs for the younger athletes from 6-7pm. Certs for all who complete the run! . This is a very worthy cause, with work scheduled to begin on the hospice in 2013. Please support this event!
SPORTSHALL
Our Sportshall competition will take place on Sun 13th Jan in the Community Hall at Shoreline swimming pool from 2.30-5.30pm. Open to all athletes up to U15 in 2013. Teams will be made up on the day! Lots of help will be needed for this one, so if you are available, please let us know. Help from our older athletes is invaluable for this event, so please come along if you can.
XMAS TRAINING TIMES
Club training sessions will continue as normal until Fri 21st Dec.with next Sunday morning’s run taking place in Shangannagh Park at 10am. The 7-8.30pm groups will return to normal training on Wed 2nd Jan, with all other groups starting back on Tues 8th Jan.
HELPFUL TALKS FOR ATHLETES
We were disappointed that more of our athletes didn’t attend the organised talk last Sat.evening. We hope that those who made the effort to attend found the advice helpful and gained valuable tips on how to progress and improve their athletics. These events take time and effort to arrange and it is a huge let down when many of our athletes don’t think it worth their while to attend. We are putting future talks on hold for the present, but may re-visit this area in 2013..
HELP NEEDED URGENTLY
We have a good number of committed coaches helping out, but we really need more help, so please call Theresa 0868635797 if you can spare an hour a week or even every other week. We promise not to throw you in at the deep end. New recruits work with one of our experienced coaches and we also send them on a short coaching course. Ideally, we would love to have two coaches with each of the younger groups, at all sessions. This can be a great way to get involved with your children’s sport and can be very rewarding as you watch the athletes progress.