There is a lot of News & Information in this, so members are asked to please read to the end!

 

ATTENDANCE AT TRAINING

 

A number of athletes have had very poor attendance recently and should note the club rule, 'Athletes who don't attend for three weeks or more without contacting us re injury/illness, are deemed to have left the club'. Places are then given to those on our waiting list & those who wish to return will have to go back on to the waiting list.

 

 

***All athletes are expected to attend training on a regular basis with those in Groups 1 & 2 having made a commitment to attend at least two sessions per week. 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 9.20am, which is a very important & very enjoyable part of the training week, especially for our endurance runners. If you cannot make this, you will need to do a run yourself later in the day.

 

 

 

HELP STILL NEEDED

 

We have a very dedicated group of coaches & check-in personnel, but as always we still need more if we are to continue facilitating the large number of athletes we have in Greystones AC. If you are in a position to help out with coaching, even occasionally, please let us know, as we are always looking for additional helpers. We will make sure you get training. Recently the check-in has been falling back on to the coaches on a fairly regular basis, so if you can give 20 mins to help with check-in when you are dropping your athletes down, it would be a great help indeed.

 

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS

 

National Star Award: Congratulations to Alana Ryan who won the National Star Award for Wicklow for her terrific performances in 2018. Alana received her award at a function in Tullamore on Sat. 16^th Feb.

 

 

County Star Awards: Congratulations to the following Greystones athletes who were presented with Wicklow Star Awards on Friday 1^st March in Jacob’s Well, Rathdrum. Ellen McNally, Girls U14-16, Alana Ryan Girls u16-19, Pippa Rogan Senior Women & Jack McGlone Boys U14-16, Joe Prendergast Boys U16-19, Tope Adeyeye Senior Men. A great night was had by all!

 

 

 

We had a big entry in the recent Leinster Championships, with a number of first timers taking to the Indoor track for the first time. Unfortunately quite a number of those who entered didn’t manage to make it to their events and we take this opportunity to remind everyone that while we pay all the entry fees for our juvenile athletes, those who fail to turn up to compete are expected to refund these fees to the club. On this occasion the entry fee was €3.50 per event, but fees can be up to €15/€20 an event and the club cannot continue to pay these and then not have the athletes turn up to compete.

 

 

Well done to all who took part over the three days. Some really top performances, with a big number qualifying for event finals and several medal winners and qualifiers to Nationals at the end of March. Gold for Daniel Quirk in the LJ & 60mH & Gold for Ellen McNally in the TJ with a new Championship Best Performance & bronze in the LJ. Silver for Jack McGlone in the 800m & 4^th in the 60m, Silver for Emma Quirk in the TJ, and for Ronan Dempsey in the 60mH. Bronze for Luca O’Shea Breen in the 800m, Andrew Brennan in the 1500m, Aodhan Daly in the LJ & Ailbhe Gordon & Rory McNally in the SP. 4th place for Georgia Hogan in the 60mH & 5^th for Alex Mulcahy in the HJ with a jump of 1.45M.

 

Gold in the relays on Day 3 for our U14 boys team of Daniel Quirk, Rory McNally, Tom McCarthy, Luca O’Shea Breen & Colm O’Neill. Gold in the Senior Championships 1500m for Niamh Kearney. Well done to all!

 

 

 

UPCOMING COMPETITIONS

 

1. Wicklow County Indoors, Sat 16^th March, Abbottstown (Entries closed)

2. National Juvenile Indoor Championships Day 1 Sat 30th March, Athlone (Must qualify)

3. National Juvenile Indoor Championships Day 2, Sun 31st March, Athlone (Must qualify)

4. National Juvenile Indoor Championships Day 3, Sat 6^th April, Athlone (Must qualify)

5. National Spring Throws, Sun 7^th April, Athlone

6. AAI National 10k Championships , Sun 14^th Apr, Dublin

7. Leinster 10 Mile, Mon 22^nd Apr, Raheny

8. AAI National Road Relays , Sun 28^th Apr, Raheny

 

 

 

WICKLOW INDOORS

 

Best of Luck to all the GAC athletes who have entered for the Wicklow Indoors next Sat. 16^th March in Abbottstown. This is an exciting new addition to the athletics calendar & we hope everyone will have a great day. We have access to the track from 12.45pm & events will start at 1pm sharp and must finish by 3pm. Athletes need to arrive at the venue by 12.30pm for check-in. As our time is very short we ask you to please arrive on time, as we must start promptly and cannot wait for anyone.

 

 

 

CLUB SHOP

 

As we still have a number of athletes looking for club gear, the club shop will be open this Tues. 12^th March from 4.40-5pm & from 7-8 pm only, for singlets, shorts, leggings, T-shirts, hoodies, rainjackets, showerproof bottoms etc. We also have a good number of 2^nd hand spikes and hoodies available. If you don’t have club gear a plain T-shirt (preferably red) is fine for the County events. Please note that all athletes competing at Leinster & National events must wear a club singlet or T-shirt and red, white or black shorts! If you have outgrown your spikes & they are in good condition we are happy to exchange them for a larger size, if we have one in stock. We have a good selection at present!

 

 

CLUB AWARDS

 

The club Awards night will take place on Friday 29th March at 7pm in Greystones Ridge Angling Club, down at the Harbour. This will take a similar format to previous years, where athletes get certificates for Attendance, Attitude & Achievement during 2018, with those who achieve all three getting an added award. There will also be 5yr, 10yr & 15 yr membership awards, Achievement awards & our Athlete of the Year award. Light refreshments will be served afterwards with some treats for the athletes.

 

While these awards are for athletes who were with us during 2018, all athletes and their families are welcome to come along and be part of the celebrations on the night. This is a great opportunity to come along and meet our volunteers and maybe have a chat with the people who coach your child each week. To facilitate this Awards night, there will be no training on Friday 29^rd March.

 

 

 

CLUB AGM

 

The club AGM will be held on Thurs. 11^th April at 8pm in Shoreline Sports Park. All members and parents of juvenile members are invited and encouraged to attend. The AGM is an opportunity for members to find out more about the running of the club, put ideas/suggestions forward and maybe get involved in helping the club to progress in the future. While we would welcome new members on to the club committee or any of our sub committees, we will not put pressure on anyone, so please come along on the night.

 

 

ATTENDANCE DAY TRIPS

 

Our club day trips for those who met the required attendance percentage during 2018, will take place during April. Athletes who qualify from Little Athletics & Groups 3-6 (age U8-U11) will have their trips on Sat. 13^th April. Athletes from Groups 1 & 2 (U12-U15) will also have their trip on Sat. 13^th April. A separate trip for athletes U16 up will be arranged shortly. Lists of qualified athletes will be posted on the website shortly with full details of trips & those who wish to attend will need to notify us by March 31^st at the latest. Looking forward to great days out for everyone!

 

 

 

FINALLY

 

Can we appeal to parents once again to ensure that all athletes bring a raincoat, hat & gloves to training, as it is very cold on the track some nights. Gloves are a real necessity, as when cold the children are inclined to run with their hands in their pockets, which is likely to result in head or facial injury if they fall, as they have no way of saving themselves.