Happy New Year to everyone and what a busy year it is going to be.
Normal training resumes on Wed 4th Jan for the older groups and all groups are back in action by Tues 10th.
We start with the Co. Junior XC next Sunday and the Leinster Jun/Sen XC the following Sunday, as well as the XC relays for U12/14/16. U12 is 4x250m and U14/16 is 4x500m. I have very few names so far for these and need them immediately, as entries are overdue.
We have our Sportshall Competition in Shoreline Hall on Fri 13th Jan. Check-in by 6.30pm and event will probably run till about 9pm. You must be on time and be able to stay for the whole event.
We have National Juniors (U17 up) on Jan 22nd in Nenagh and entries are also due in very soon for the Leinster indoor relays U12-U19, which are on the 29th Jan along with the Jun/ Sen/Mast events. Don’t forget you all move up an age group from Jan 1st.
A new calendar of events will be posted shortly  on our web-site. This will be up-dated as more dates become available, so keep checking it  regularly.

COACHING DAYS
We were very  disappointed with the response to our organised special coaching days and had to cancel the one on Sat. 7th Jan, due to the lack of interest. However, we amalgamated both groups on  Tues.3rd Jan.and this turned out to be a great success. All the athletes who took part, put a great effort into the events and we hope that they enjoyed the day, despite the weather and learn a lot as well. We are very grateful to our coaches and Star Athletes, Niamh Kearney, Ellie Hartnett, Ferdia Kenny, Ronan Kearney, who gave their time and expertise on the day. They are First Class coaches and we are very lucky to have them available to us. A huge Thank You to Eamonn Whelan for the great Conditioning/Stretching sessions he did for us on the day. They were very beneficial and greatly enjoyed by the athletes. Many thank also to Jonathan Dunne, who stepped in and covered the High Jump for us, at short notice.


CLUB REGISTRATIONS
Registrations for ALL athletes are now due for 2012. To facilitate all our athletes and ensure this is done quickly and efficiently, we will have club officers available on Tues 17th Jan from 5.30 – 7.30pm, Wed 18th  from 6.30 -7.30pm and Fri 20th from 6-7pm only. Please ensure that your fees are paid during these times as coaches will not be able to accept fees from juvenile athletes at track. Athletes who are already registered this year will not need to fill out any forms unless you have a change of address or mob.You can just put your fees in an envelope with your name on it and drop them into the room behind reception, at one of the organised times. Unfortunately, un-registered athletes can not be allowed on to the track after these dates, as they will no longer be covered by  Insurance. This will have to be strictly enforced! Annual Fees remain at €30 for 1, €50 for 2, €70 for 3 and €90 for 4 or more family members!

COACHES
Once again we are looking for volunteers to help out with the coaching. You don’t have to have a backgroung in athletics and we promise not to throw you in at the deep end. You will learn ‘on the job’, by helping one of our present coaches and we will also get you on to a coaching course etc.asap. If you can spare an hour a week, or even every other week, we would be delighted to hear from you. We have a great bunch of coaches and young athletes and it can be very rewarding to help them develop. We would of course be delighted to get people with an athletics background as well, particularly for the 7-8.30pm sessions.


UPCOMING COMPETITIONS & EVENTS
We have a very busy schedule ahead of us!
 Leinster Star Awards Seven Oaks, Carlow Sat. 7th Jan.
 Co. Juniors & Masters XC will be held in Shanganagh Park on Sun 8th Jan at 11am. For this Co. competitions, Juniors are U16 up to U20 (2011) ages. Sunday run here at 10am, for those not competing.
 Our Sportshall competition will take place in Shoreline Community Centre ( the hall at the swimming pool) on Fri 13th Jan. We will have competitions for everyone up to age 14 and we hope some of our older athletes will be available to help out on the night! Entry fee is €2 per athlete. Athletes have been practising for this over the last few weeks at training and will do so again next Tues.……..so make sure you are there!  This is a really fun competition for everyone, but as it is a team event athletes must be able to be there from start to finish! Check-in at  6.30pm. Allow about 2 - 2.5hrs to complete the competition..
 Leinster Jun/Sen XC and XC relays U12/14/16 in Kilmacow, Co. Kilkenny on Sun 15th Jan at 12 o’clock.. Entries due immediately, so please give names to Theresa right away if you wish to be considered for  team selection.
 Wicklow Star Awards in Roundwood on Fri 20th Jan. at 8pm. Groups 1&2 will train at 6pm on this night. Greystones AC will have a number of award winners on the night, so come and support them.
 National Junior Indoors (for athletes born 93-96) in  Nenagh on Sun. 22nd Jan.
 Leinster Jun/Sen/Masters Indoors & indoor relays U12-U19 in Nenagh on Sun. 29th Jan. Relays at 10.30 am. Adult events at 1.30pm.
 National ‘B’ XC on Sun 5th Feb. open to all athletes from U11 – U19, who didn’t win a medal at  National XC……Inter-county XC relays on this day also. No venue yet.
 National Senior Indoors in  the Odyssey, Belfast Sat/Sun 11th/12th Feb.
 Leinster Juvenile Indoors U12-U19, Nenagh Sat/Sun 18th/19th Feb 2012.( event details to follow)

Regional Development Squads
For all AAI registered club/school athletes u13 -u15 (1997/98/99) in 2011 ages
Day 1 (Testing Day & Guest Speaker), Day 2 (Speed & Throws), Day 3 (Jumps & Endurance/Walks)
Day 4 (Speed, Throws, Jumps, Endurance), Day 5 (Testing Day & Guest Speaker)
Dates:
Saturday December 10th, Saturday February 4th, Saturday March 3rd, Saturday March 31st & Saturday April 21st  at Morton Stadium, Santry
Timetable Day 2: Saturday February 4th
9.30am Registration
-  10am Dynamic Warm Up
-  10.30am (Group A- Speed and Group B- Throws)
-  11.15am (Group B- Speed and Group A- Throws)
-  12.00-12.15pm Finish
Coaching:
There will be an experienced Head Coach for each event with support from some assistant coaches and personal coaches. Personal coaches and any coaches in Leinster & Dublin coaching young athletes aged u13-u15 are very welcome to attend all sessions and sit in and ask questions etc.
Entry Guidelines:
Open to all AAI registered club/school athletes aged u13-u15 in 2011 (born 1999/98/97)  NO younger!!!
Application Process:  Simply come along on the day and pay €5 per session

TRAINING DIARY
Roisín McGettigan, our Wicklow Olympian, has joined forces with Lauren Fleshman, a top american athlete, to produce a range of clothing and a training diary called “Believe I Am”. All athletes should keep a diary to record all  their training and racing, help with goal setting and use as a reference throughout their athletic career. This diary has lots of useful advice and motivational quotes from many of the top female runners in the world and is aimed at encouraging all female runners, young and old alike, to believe in themselves. We have some of theses diaries available and if more are required, we can order them. The diary costs €14.60. We still have diaries available! You can check out  “Believe I Am” on www.believeiam.com