The Wicklow County Championships are fast approaching and all club athletes need to get their entries in asap to allow time to process them. Closing date is next Tuesday May 9^th and events take place on Saturday 13^th & Sunday 14^th May, starting at 11am each day.

There are events for all ages from U8 up to O80, however only registered club athletes can take part. Athletes may only compete in their own age group except for relays, where an athlete can move up one age group, so allowing them to compete in the relays on both days. Age group is determined by Year of Birth, so a child who is or will be 7 this year (2017) is U8, 8 this year is U9 etc.

There is an AWARD SCHEME for U8/9/10/11 year olds on Sunday. Our Little Athletics members who are or will be 6 this year (2017) are welcome to come along and take part in the U8’s. Athletes take part in a sprint, a long jump & a turbo javelin throw, with points being awarded for each. All athletes who complete the three events will receive an award, Gold, Silver or Bronze medals are awarded according to their final score. On Saturday these younger athletes have their longer race, fun Obstacle relays & the Even Aged relays, with the uneven age relays on Sunday. If an athlete signs up for the relays and is put on a team, they are expected to stay around to take part. It is dreadfully disappointing for other team members to discover when the relays are called, that one of the team has gone home. This is true for all ages!

Athletes from U12 upwards will have a number of events on both days. The programme is on the sidebar on the front page of our website and also on our notice board down at the track. Please note that athletes should be proficient at all events that they enter for. In particular, don’t enter for High Jump, Javelin (U13 up), Discus (U14 up) or Hurdles, if you have not practised them at training, as injuries could occur. There is no issue with taking part in the Turbo Javelin.

As always, the club will cover the cost of entries for our athletes, but those who fail to turn up will have to refund these fees to the club.

This is the biggest event of the year for a large number of our club athletes and we sincerely hope that everyone will make the effort to take part on at least one of the days and ideally on both days, especially as it is here in Greystones and we don’t even have to travel. As well as being great fun, it will give you loads of extra points towards our club awards & attendance trips for 2017.

We would appreciate it if parents could please inform all children that they are not allowed on the outdoor gym equipment beside the track. This will be taped off on the day, but still needs supervising! Neither are they allowed climb on or over the fences or the banks around the track. These are Health & Safety issues and we have to ensure these rules are adhered to. This has been a big problem in previous years, with many unsupervised children constantly having to be removed from these area throughout the day. We would also advise that children should not go into the field behind the track/Go Gym area, as it is waste ground and may hold hidden dangers.

Looking forward to watching all of our athletes show off their skills, in what will be a great weekend of athletics!