A LENGTHY ONE, BUT PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ IT AS IT CONTAINS A LOT OF  IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR  CLUB ATHLETES AND PARENTS.

WICKLOW XC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Fantastic results from both Sunday’s at the Wicklow XC Championships, despite a very big percentage of our club athletes failing to attend. On day 1 we had barely 20% of our athletes in attendance, but despite this we got  8 individual medals and 18 top ten finishes in the U12-18’s , with Gold team medals for all 4 teams that we managed to fill at U12 & U14. We had great performances in the U8-10 races, with 7 top ten finishes and we had the winner of the Novice ladies. Congratulations to our County Champions James Nicholson, Ben Jones, Troy Scully, Katy Conroy, Cillian Browne & Carol Costello, to silver medal winner Joe Prendergast and bronze winner Sophie Nicholson and well done to all who ran so well.
On day 2 we did a little better, but not much, with 24% attending and again we saw fantastic running from those who did come with County Championships going to Eimear Ryan, Troy Scully, Steven Diggin & Cillian Browne & silver medals to Sarah O’Connor & Katy Conroy and once again we had 18 top ten finishers. A few more teams this time and lots of team medals, with gold for U11 Girls, Silver for U13, U15 & U17 girls and 4th place to U13 boys.  Once again great performances from our younger athletes in the U7-9 groups and great to have an Intermediate men’s team out, who finished 4th overall, with 2 members in the top 10.  Great running from everyone who took part, but disappointing for all the coaches who put so much time and effort in, to see so many not taking part on either day.
Full results from both days are now on the sidebar of our website home  page.

URGENT-------- UPCOMING COMPETITIONS
We are now looking forward to the first of the Leinster Championships which will take place here in our own Co. Wicklow, once again in beautiful Avondale. This is the even ages event ( same course as Oct 5th) for athletes from U12-18 (U11’s can move up) and also for Novice & Masters athletes. We hope that lots & lots of our athletes will take advantage of home turf  and turn out to run for Club & County on Sunday 26th Oct. Entry form is now on the website and closing date is Sunday 19th. There are absolutely no late entries accepted by Leinster, so get your names down right away and don’t wait until the last minute, as you might miss out. There will be open U10’s races for girls & boys on the day, so anyone interested in taking part should enter on our website form.

The uneven ages event for U11-19 (U10’s can move up) and the Intermediate adults will take place in Adamstown, Co. Wexford on Sun. 9th Nov. To avoid confusion, entry form for this will only go up when the even ages comes down.

LEAGUE ROUND 2 : Friday 14th Nov. in Rathdrum Rugby Club. Registration 6.30pm. First race 7 pm. This one is uneven Ages U/ 7, 9, 11, 13.& 15, but athletes can move up one age group. Entry form will go up after the Leinster events close, to avoid confusion.. Athletes must be registered to compete. Certs to all finishers. Medals are awarded at the end of the League to athletes who accumulate sufficient points by attending regularly.
Please note that there will be no 6-7pm training on Friday 14th , as coaches will be at the XC. The 7-8.30pm training will go ahead for those who are not running in the league!

SOME ADVICE FOR RACE DAYS
Athletes should start their warm-up about 30 mins before their own race/event and they should complete their usual regular routine. This should be done in runners not spikes, and tracksuits etc. should be left on throughout. Athletes should only take their gear off and put their spikes on while the race ahead of there is taking place and they should leave a top on until the last possible minute. There is absolutely no point in warming up and then stripping clothes off  and letting your muscles get cold while you wait around. There is no support in a pair of spikes and it is very easy to spike yourself or someone else while walk around wearing them. Absolutely wonderful for racing in, but only for racing in………. wear them for the shortest possible time, not all day! Very long spikes are not recommended for children, as they may injure themselves or others.

LEINSTER PERFORMANCE SQUAD
Congratulations to GAC athletes Amaris Borel, Ara Freeman, Richael Browne, Rosa Kirwan, Isobel O’Grady, Cillian Browne, Padraig Lennon, Conor Dempsey, and Lorcan Lalor who were selected for the Leinster performance squad. They had their first session last Sat. in Santry with the second one coming up on Nov 1st and covering all events.  A developmental squad, open to all athletes aged 12 yrs +, runs on the same day from 11am-1pm. The Nov 1st session for this one covers Hurdles, Middle Distance, Javelin and High Jump and costs €5.
 
PLEASE READ AND REMIND ATHLETES:
We are asking once again that athletes make sure to use the toilets before coming down to the track, as it causes huge problems if a coach has to leave a group to bring them up during the session. On this note, we remind athletes that the toilets and changing rooms must be left as we find them and not in a mess. Recently we have had a lot of tissue etc. thrown about and water everywhere, coinciding with our club’s use of the facility, and this needs to stop. Shoreline have the right to refuse access to groups who do not respect the track and other facilities. Please remember that the building is not our club house, it is a business premises and athletes are asked not to gather in the reception area or just outside the front door, as this interferes with other customers access. On wet evening we will check-in in the bottom changing room on the right, so please go directly there, check in and then head to the track, as we do not have enough space to keep athletes indoors.. You may leave your bags here if you wish.

We remind you once again that all athletes are expected to attend training regularly and need to bring water with them to all sessions. They should  wear proper runners and tracksuit, shorts or leggings please. If wearing shorts, please bring tracksuit bottoms to wear over them for warm-up & cool down as the evenings are getting very cold now. Always bring a light rainjacket to all training sessions, as we do not have indoor facilities if it rains!

Athletes who may need an inhaler, should always make sure to bring it with them. You should not share other athletes inhalers, as they may not be the same medication/dosage as yours.

Athletes who are not fit to train due to injured or illness should not attend training sessions. Athletes who arrive and are not fit to train will be sent home, as it is far too cold to stand around on the track waiting for the session to end.

Groups 1 & 2 are required  to attend a minimum of two sessions per week to enable them to keep up with the training level and stay with their groip. Training sessions take place on Tues/Wed/Fri from 7-8.30pm. While we hope you can do all three, if only doing two nights, it is better to do Tues/Fri or Wed/Fri if at all possible, rather than two nights together with 5 off.

We also have an organised Sunday morning run at 10am, which is a very important part of the training week. If you cannot make this, you will need to do the run yourself later in the day.

So far this season the attendance on Fri nights & Sunday mornings is very poor and we really need to see a huge improvement from here out.

Parents and brothers/sisters are not allowed inside the track during training sessions, but are welcome to watch from outside the fence. Please note that the Outdoor Gym Equipment is for age 14 up only and children should not be allowed to play on this! (Health & Safety)

CLUB SHOP
The club shop will be open on next Tues.21st Oct. from 4.30-5pm and again from 7-8pm only. We have club singlets, shorts, t-shirts, rainjackets, hoodies etc. available. Athletes should have either a club singlet or T- shirt for competitions. All other items are optional. We also have Foam Rollers on sale at a very reasonable €14 if anyone wants one and a small number of secondhand spikes.

AAI REGISTRATION CARDS
Registration cards for 2014 arrived recently and we will have them available on Tues 21st Oct.also. Two club members will hand these out, to parents and older athletes only, between 6-7pm. They will be in the room behind the reception area in the Shoreline building. As the girls will need to leave for training just before 7pm, please collect before this time. There are a lot of cards and it may be busy, so please allow for this. Cards for Little Athletics can be collected in the shop. Cards for recently registered athletes will not be available yet.