Training
Leagues
Championships
Under 13s
Equipment
Cost

Training

During the summer we train at Imberhorne School on TUESDAY and THURSDAY evenings, although Thursday evening are for invited athletes only. We start training twice a week in the first week of April and usually finish in the first week in September. Training for Under 13s and Under 15s starts at 7pm and goes on until about 8, with older athletes starting at 7:30 and going though to 8:30. The roadrunners go out on training runs at similar times - ask for more details about their plans.

Winter training is more varied:

SUNDAY morning sessions at East Court mansion start at 10:30am, and are open to all athletes.

THURSDAY evening sessions take place at Imberhorne school throughout the winter (including half-term weeks and school holidays) and are open to all athletes. Sessions start at 7pm and finish at about 8pm. Senior athletes will start and finish later. Warm clothing, including hats and gloves when it is really cold, and waterproofs are vital - especially for junior athletes who are not used to training outside in the winter.

TUESDAY evenings sees weight training sessions for senior athletes at Sackville School from 8pm to 9pm. Places are limited, so speak to John Rogers if interested in that. Sessions start in October and finish in late March.

SATURDAY mornings (by invitation) sees the senior sprinters working with John Rogers at Crawley from 10.30am. Please speak to John Rogers if you are interested.

Leagues

Athletes train in order to compete – and compete at a level that will stretch them. The club competes AS A TEAM in a number of leagues, which have a full range of all the athletic disciplines. Look at the leagues section for more information on the track and field leagues. The leagues we compete in are as follows:

Southern Men's League: 5 Saturdays through the summer. Athletes must be over 15.

Southern Women's League: 5 summer Saturdays. Unlike the Men's League the Women's League has events for both Under 15s and Over 15s.

Young Athletes League (girls and boys): 4 summer Sundays for girls and boys from about 11 to 16.

Sussex Under 13 League (girls and boys): 3 midweek evenings plus a final on the first Sunday in September.

Sussex Cross-Country League (girls and boys with all age–groups from Under 13s to Adults): 5 Saturdays in the autumn and winter.

Championships

Athletes can also enter championships of their own accord. Look at the championships section for a full run-down.

All athletes will be encouraged to compete in the Sussex County Championships (normally the second weekend in May). Athletes need to enter these championships in advance. Club coaches and officials will help athletes and parents with completion of the entry forms.

There are also a number of what are called Open Meetings which anybody can enter by paying an entry fee. These meetings are especially important at the beginning of the season.

In addition many athletes still at school will be looking to represent their school, and their district in the County School Championships (normally held on the second Saturday of June). And a lucky few will be selected to represent their County Schools team in the All-England Schools Championships in July.

We keep detailed records of performances during the season. Any performances in Open Meetings should be reported to Lester Medcalf, or e-mailed through to tim@egac.co.uk.

Athletics for under 13s

You have to be at least 10 ½ years old to join the club and most of our current senior athletes joined the club when they were that sort of age – and they went through a gradual introduction to athletics. We believe this is the proper way to introduce athletics to young boys and girls. One of the joys of athletics is that, unlike most sports, there is a wide range of activities – sprinting, jumping, throwing, hurdling and running longer distances – that can be tried and enjoyed. And the excitement that can be generated by a relay – perhaps especially in training - has to be seen to be believed.

Young athletes, when they join the club, are kept together and will do most of their early training in their own group. They will gradually be introduced to all of the events by the specialist coaches, but we will also ensure they are taught about the importance of warming-up, stretching and warming-down.

We must also ensure that young children learn the various track and field disciplines so that they can enjoy their athletics in a safe environment.

For example we will teach them what they should look out for in crossing a track – if they don’t look then they might find themselves walking into the path of an adult sprinter at full speed. Similarly we will teach them the necessary discipline for the throwing events – it is obvious that ill-disciplined javelin throwing can become extremely dangerous.

It is a very important part of our job to teach young athletes to compete and train safely – for both themselves and for all other users of the various facilities.

As athletes grow it is inevitable that they will look to specialise in a more limited range of events. They will then pass under the control of one of the club coaches, who will arrange a training programme suited to the talents and ambitions of the athlete. Such training will depend on the amount of time the growing athlete wishes to spend on athletics.

Equipment

The club colours are a blue vest with a single yellow band and blue shorts.

Club sweatshirts at £20 and club fleeces at £25 are also available - contact Jenny Medcalf, the membership secretary if you're interested in either of these.

When young athletes first start coming to training, we are often asked what they should wear – in particular should they wear spikes? The simple answer is that spikes are not essential for beginners. Good trainers are perfectly adequate to start with, although spikes will always be useful if you represent the club in any of the competitions. There is always a supply of second-hand spikes for sale on training evenings. Such spikes will be perfectly adequate while you are weighing up whether you are going to take athletics reasonably seriously.

As important as good footwear for young athletes is the rest of the clothing. Even on the warmest of summer evenings a tracksuit is essential, especially to put on after training has finished. Football shorts and a t-shirt (or a football shirt) are perfectly alright to do the training in.

But the item that is all too often forgotten is a waterproof top. For all competitions (which might last many hours) a waterproof is an essential part of the athletes’ equipment – and it should be essential for training as well on all but the most settled of days.

How Much Does it all Cost ?

Quite clearly, like any other sports club, we need to generate income to meet our expenses. We need to affiliate to leagues, hire the track, buy various items of equipment as well as the normal day-to-day administration costs. Nevertheless for those of you involved with football, hockey, rugby and cricket we believe our fees really are incredible value for money:

Our various fees are:

Annual Membership (as at May 1^st, 2005)

Training sessions (as at May 1^st, 2005)

£1.50 for each session.

Coach Trips

Athletes do not have to pay a fee for competing in any of the league matches. However we will occasionally have to hire a coach to take some of the teams to their matches – in which case we will have to make a charge for those who use the coach. Parents are always welcome to join the athletes on the coaches.