Name the thing you like the most about the YDL

Name the thing you like the most about the YDL A chance to get official times against good athletes of a similar standard to myself Actually competing Always run to times. Atmosphere Being able to compete at a high level for my club Being able to compete in the sport that I love and being with my friends Being part of a team and meeting other athletes and good competition. Being part of the team Being part of the team and variation of events Being there with your team and spending time together with team spirit. Being with my team Being with other athletes Brings different clubs together and make friends with athletes from other clubs Chance to compete Chance to compete against new teams and people Chance to compete against other strong athletes Chance to try out lots of event and team spirit Competing Competing against athletes I know, makes the competition more enjoyable Competing against different clubs competing against different clubs from further away Competing and getting experience as an athlete and making friends competing as a team Competing as a team and supporting each other. Competing as a team to gain points and win matches as a team Competing as a team. Competing at a good standard Competing for my club as a team Competing for my club in a recognised competition Competing with competitors and friends Competing with friends Competing with people as enthusiastic and as passionate about the sport as me. Competing/ team spirit/ atmosphere Competition Competition and meeting new friends Competition standards are good Competitive nature in a truly team event Doing lots of events Enjoyed competing at a high standard as a team with my club Friendly Friendly Atmosphere Fun Getting a good time Getting better times and meeting new athletes. Good competition Good level of standard's

Good organisation Good organisation & can compete against athletes from a wider area Good organised event with good competition Good team atmosphere Having such a high level of competition and being able to compete regularly with clubs outside of your region as the north east has a limited range of clubs and competition standard is fairly low within the north east. Home fixtures are always a positive. How well organised the competition's are. I like how there you're allowed 2 athletes for each event I like the team atmosphere, fighting for every point to help the club win the match. It brings your team together and makes you feel like you're all working together, which is hard to find in a non-team sport Just the fact that it is an established thing - it has allowed me to continue to participate in Athletics even after school Athletics has finished. Level of competition and working as a team Meeting and competing against new athletes Meeting and competing with like minded people of the same age Meeting athletes from other areas & being part of a team Meeting new clubs/people Meeting other athletes Meeting people New challenges Obtaining role models amongst my peers Opportunity to compete against people not in my regional area Organisation of races Part of a team People Professionally organised Race experience, strong competition, & chance to meet/compete with other competitors on a regular basis Range of events covered Range of venues, get to compete further away Socialising and the competition standard Some of the venues Stadium and facilities Standard of competition in the sprints Team event Team spirit and meeting new competitors Team spirit Teamwork, camaraderie, doing well for the club that supports me throughout the year That athletes of all abilities can compete including disability athletes That it is a team event The competing and spending time with teammates The atmosphere The competing. The people The six throws standard system The team The team atmosphere

The team spirit it creates The whole team is brought together and show huge support for each other They are good races, just to have some practice and to enjoy. Trying out different events

Name the thing you dislike the most about the YDL All the age groups aren't together Amount of throws. Even if you make standard only Top 2 get more throws. Very unfair all who hit standard should qualify for extra throws. British weather! Can be long day if you go on coach. Can't think of anything Certain tracks are in a poor condition (couldn't think of anything) Competing against Scottish composite teams that get to pick from a variety of clubs, whilst my team have struggled to fill in all the events. Composite teams have unfair advantage Dates coincide with other completions - combined events! Delays Distance to travel Hand timing at some stadiums it all should be electronic timing Having to compete up in U20 age group as my club does not have enough U20 athletes to fill the events Having to fill in for people when they don't turn up. Having to travel long distances Having to travel to Scotland for only one race, takes up a whole day How far to travel and how long the day lasts How late some of the events are How underrated it is I can't think of any issues currently I think anyone who gets standard should obtain all 6 throws not just top 2. It can be a very long day It's hard competing against 3 high calibre Scottish teams Every match Journey time for some matches Lack of attendance means not enough entrants in some races so undermines the results / less satisfying Lack of commentary of events. Lack of competition Lack of people in events Lack of supporters Lateness of relay events Long day Long day/travelling. Long day's Long days if only in a few events. Most of the matches are on Sundays - Sometimes I am not able to compete due to Church commitments. My club was demoted last season to the Premier 2 and I dislike that there is such a difference between premier 1 and 2, premier 1 has a much higher level of competition in comparison to premier 2 where there are very few clubs who can enter a full card of athletes so some races may only be contested between two athletes Needs to be more Nothing particularly. More electronic timing would be good ;)

Occasionally can be disorganised Often disorganised Often time delays Only having 3 throws in throws competition Our club s attitude Over running of events Personally feel the timings aren t quite accurate Poor weather Small clubs vs very large clubs isn't very fair. There is only one space for U17 throwers, when most clubs may have more throwers. Sometimes at some YDL events, the standard can be very low compared to usual. Sometimes but not very often races are slow and hard to obtain fast times Sometimes clash with exam/revision time Sometimes there are only 2 people in a race because clubs don't take it that seriously Splitting the YDL upper & lower Standard of competition which has gone down Standard of officials The Competition is Very Tough The fact it clashes with more important competitions such as BMC grand prixs The journey time for how long you're there for. You could have a 1.5hr journey and then your event is 10 minutes long The lack of seriousness The length of day The length of the day when competing The length of time for the competition to be completed The middle distance standard (1500m) The separate A and B races The separation of the older ages groups the league was better when they are all together There are no rewards There are no seats available at most YDL's. Throws are lacking in competition Time period so close to exams Timetable (200m before 100m) Travel Travel distances travel time Travel time is a factor, prefer Saturday matches to Sunday, composite teams in Premier Leagues is wrong... Travel times to and from matches making a long day with really early starts Traveling distances and length of time the competition takes Travelling long distances to away fixtures where the standard of competition is no better than a local track league. Travelling time Trying to balance work and time off to compete Venues chosen Very long day's Waiting around Waiting around for my events. Waiting for the race Wet weather provision

When heats are split up and you end up in a race with only 2-3 people When it rains and you have to Jump into a wet mat in high jump

Please use the box below to add any other comments about the YDL. You may want to expand on some of your answers above, or raise something completely different. You do not have to enter comments if you do not wish to do so. Positive Apart from English schools the YDL is the best team competition, I love competing in it. I have no idea of our club will even enter it next year and it s such a shame. They don't seem to appreciate the athlete development. The trip to Scotland is great. There is a lot more than athletics to be gained from such a trip, for many athletes this is their only experience of travelling away with a team As long as my coach/club select me for competition I will always compete in YDL. It is much better than other leagues such as the Cheshire league. Sometimes I have to wait a long time in between my events because I do sprints & middle distance and relays but I don't mind because it means that I can watch and support my team mates and cheer them on. I like to watch the older athletes compete and we often go to the YDL UAG just to watch, so I will be looking forward to next season when I will be in U17. I enjoy travelling to different parts of the country and meeting other athletes because its a nice social event- when we're not competing! I have competed in the YDL for three years now and have often used it to shape the core of my season. It is exceptionally well-organised and the quality of officials is extremely high, and the meetings and their staff are a credit to English Athletics. It is a great way to bring youngsters through and give them vital race experience. I have really enjoyed competing this season mainly because of the warmth that coaches and athletes have given. Also I've enjoyed the fact that there is nearly a sense of family between everyone. This was my first season of YDL and i thoroughly enjoyed the all experience including travelling to different venues and meeting new people. I competed in all the timetable apart from Glasgow as was om holiday, I improved and over a 3 month period I achieved so much and even qualified for English Schools in Gateshead.Before I joined the YDL league I didn t have a ranking either and now I am recognised and feel very proud. Thank you to everyone. YDL is great and I've had loads of fun competing with my friends for my team. Competition standard does not massively worry me because I'm never going to be an Olympian so I just want fun competition that is accessible but pushes my abilities enough. Although it would make it lots easier if the competitions were closer, I don't think i will be able to do fixtures in places like Scotland next year if I also have lots of (more important) schoolwork. Negative As a middle distance athlete I need to compete to get my qualifying times for the championships and as much as the YDL provides good competitive training session I can't come to every meet which not only frustrates the team managers but myself too. Also I don't think that there is a need for the 4th meeting of the year; every year the fourth meeting has slower times and lower depth fields across the board because It really isn't needed. A three meeting series would not only keep it much more interesting but maintain quality through all of the meetings in the season. At the last AGM a proposal was put forward by the Yorkshire and north west clubs to keep Scotland separate and let them compete between themselves. This was out voted by southern and midland clubs. Southern and Midland regions do not have to travel 6 hours to compete. It is not fair on

Yorkshire, north east and north west clubs. If you do not alter it quickly teams will join the northern league and YDL will become weak in our area. I do not mind travelling to north west clubs but definitely not Scotland. It is a ridiculous set up in the modern day when even professional cricket like T20 and 50 over cup is regionalised. Don t mind NW/Yorkshire but North East and Scotland can be enduring Hand timing makes me less willing to compete in the YDL, because I'm not sure whether the time that has been recorded for me is accurate. I do hammer throwing. I would like the LAG to have at least 4 throws standard, and also in the UAG even if the standard is reach by more than 2 throwers they should at least be able to get a full 6 throws in not just the top 2 to get extra throws there are a lot of decent throwers out there at the moment and I certainly wouldn't travel far across the country even though I love competing just to get 3 throws and to get the standard you need but some other person beat me by maybe 2cm and they get 3 extra throws and I don't even though I got standard I currently have two jobs and I am still at college. It is sometimes difficult to take a whole day or in the case of travelling to Scotland, a full weekend off from work. If the competitions are closer I have a chance to compete and get back in time for a shift if required. I watched my older sister compete in the YAL before the YDL existed and liked the north being spilt in to 2 areas with area finals and to decide who went to main final or auxiliary finals which no longer exist I liked this format better. I have noticed that most of the Scottish teams are composite teams in the upper age group yet they can manage to put non composite teams out in younger age group and in the older age group they seem to put stronger teams out as a result in the older age group. I do not think this is fair as most English clubs could do this to create super teams but they choose to play fair and stay as a club team even though it may mean a weaker team even using higher claim athletes. Journey time beyond 2 hours would discourage me from competing or make it more difficult to participate. Out of the 4 or 5 competitions the majority of ours are at least 2 hours away which means a very long day especially if you are competing the next day. Closer venues will be better but the standard of competition would suffer as a result. All it takes is an accident and you are late with no time to warm up which increases the chances of injury. Also the programme needs looking at, the U13 (my younger brother) javelin is at 1530 (or so) where the boys and girls are sitting there for well over an hour and a half together in the blazing sunshine or torrential rain. The girls always have to leave early to do the relays and then come back to do there last throw (or miss it all together) and the boys have to leave early or miss important warm up time. It makes sense to do the girls first followed by the boys. You cannot do your best when there is almost 30 minutes between throws, or you come back after doing a 100m sprint. Personally I believe there should be a greater incentive for athletes to compete in the YDL. Rather than being completely club orientated, an individual athletes league table could help boost attendance figures. A reorganisation of fixtures meaning clubs competed against clubs from nearby regions is also a bright idea." My club provides an excellent platform for me to do well in the YDL, but competing in Scotland is a whole weekend away for me at a crucial time in my academic life. A number of U17's that train in my group were reluctant to compete in Glasgow in this year's YDL. "Some of the questions on this survey are now irrelevant to me since I move up to the seniors the following season, but I will comment on the matter. Firstly I noticed that you have identified that Scotland has three teams in Premier 1, not to mention that all three are composite teams. In this situation I would agree that Scotland should have their own league and that the composite teams should be broken, as their collection of high standard athletes are too great compared to single clubs. As I understand this has been suggested previously. You should also take note that the reason for the relegation of Liverpool Harriers and North Wales in

Premier 2 in 2014, was because the fixture in Scotland was deemed too far away, the fixture was on a Sunday and U17 athletes were in school the following day, making the fixture impossible to compete in. The system should really work the same way as the LAG, have the north league as a north of England league. I do not agree with splitting between the west and east, if this was to happen, the few dominant clubs in the area would win the league all the time. For example, in the North West, typically either Liverpool Harriers, Manchester Sale or Preston Harriers would be more than likely to win the league the most. The mix of the clubs in the north of England would promote a balanced standard across the league and in my opinion would be more likely to be successful. Whilst the lower standard clubs would be in the western and eastern leagues, would probably be more than happy that the competition is somewhat local. In my overall opinion of the changes that were made in 2013, I personally preferred when the Young Athletes League and the National Junior League was separate. I am sure I won't be alone on that statement." The costs to travel to Scotland are making this prohibitive. Clubs send weak teams due to lack of funding The middle distance standard, especially the 1500m standard is very low. There are too many events with far too few competitors, making each event weak and the best team with the bigger number of athletes wins. Change the format entirely. Instead of 800 and 1500 why not make it 500 or 600 and 1000m...or alternate evnets 800m one month, 1500m the next. Similarly with the sprints, do a 60m and 150m or alternate events. Again with the field events...there are far too many with barely a competitor. Why not consider a more teenager friendly version of sporsthall and quadrathlon...points are awarded...badges for performance...relays mixing sprints with middle distance...200/400/200..." Throwing standards should qualify you for extra throws not just top 2 as you may have travelled for hours for 20mins of competition. Travelling to Scotland is of no benefit to English Clubs. The cost is far too high and clubs can not afford it. Venues chosen are often poor, for example tracks without stands picked over those with stands causing great discomfort for athletes, especially when the weather is poor this can be of major inconvenience. When volunteers and coaches give their time during training, they are now expected to give up more time because YDL upper / lower are on separate days. this means less personal time for themselves at home. This is a big issue with coaches and parents having children competing in both leagues. The schedule should be looked at. You should race A&B together to make the day more efficient. ITS A VERY LONG DAY from start to finish and this is putting athletes, parents & coaches off the idea of YDL. CONDENSE IT! THANKS" Why are there 2 athletes per club in u20 age group field events and only 1 athlete per club in u17 field events? Most clubs seem to have more u17 athletes than u20 which means a lot of u20 events are competed in by u17 athletes, having to use heavier implements in throws. With three Scottish composite teams in the top division it would suggest that the current set up is not working. Single clubs find it difficult to compete and the distances involved help neither those North or South of the border Would like the race times to be more accurate electronic timings would be nice." Mixed/ General observations I agree it should be reorganised so that you compete against clubs in the local area. I believe that the YDL should not be reorganised as even if the category was changed to North East/Yorkshire- Yorkshire is still a 2 hour drive away from the North east in comparison to the North west which is a 2 and a half hour drive so there is little saved in travel time. The north east needs the

YDL to maintain the outreach of competition as the North East has very few high level clubs aside from Gateshead so the YDL is essential to continue development and enable Gateshead to keep high level athletes. "I do enjoy competing against the big clubs but am aware that the YDL competitions do clash with GCSE & A Level Exams which I will have experience of next year when I do GCSE especially if we have to travel and have an overnight stay. The YDL is one of the better competitions where you can gain invaluable experience and motivation to succeed in athletics Without the good competition you are less likely to stay in the sport I enjoy travelling to different places with my team mates but it is a shame when it clashes with exam period. However I would like to raise the issue that the Scottish team is a national team combined with the best athletes which makes a massive disadvantage to single clubs overall in the match. In response to questions 9 and 13, I stated that the decision would make me more likely to compete, however what I meant from this was that the opportunity to compete against the local clubs which may have worse training facilities and would be generally not very good, to compete against the top teams in the areas. This would be an amazing opportunity for athletes from these clubs to become scouted for their potential by the area's larger clubs which would mean they have access to the best training facilities and coaching obtainable. Although this would be great for athlete development, I am also against the statement because I don't agree with competing with ""only"" our local areas, as this would be good perhaps for preliminary rounds of the ydl competition, however I think there should be rounds advancing in geographic scale, so the athletes still have chances to compete against the greatest talent on a national scale rather that just in their neighbourhood. *[Q9 - If the Northern region UAG were to be reorganised so that you only competed against clubs in your local area (NW / Yorkshire & NE / Scotland) do you believe that the standard of competition would be: Better / Worse/ About the same. Q13 this question] More meets on a Sunday, will give more people a chance to compete as Saturdays often clash with other arrangements Only less likely to compete as I will be away at university next season "Speaking to older athletes in my training group that compete in the UAG matches the journey to Scotland rules out the whole weekend with travelling etc so is very time consuming. This is good from a team bonding view but with my exams coming up it would make me less likely to compete as I need to devote time to my studies. Also it seems unfair that the teams in Scotland are allowed to join up with lots of clubs when Sale Harriers competes on its own even though we are a big club. I also prefer matches on a Saturday! The age groups should all be together because you can socialise with all the age groups and see how everyone is competing it also makes the atmosphere better before during and after the competition The dilemma is wanting to compete at a high standard of competition but not always having availability to travel long distances and be away a whole day, especially if on the team coach on an early start but then own race is only mid afternoon. Middle distance athletes less likely to be competing in multiple events, other than say an 800 and a 4x400. Distance also affects overall cost of competing. My own attendance this year limited by injury. To my previous answer of "less likely to compete", that isn't exactly the case because it wouldn't really affect my decision to compete, but a thing a like about the ydl is that we get to compete against teams and people we wouldn't normally so it adds some variety to our competition. YDLs in April and May are useful competitions to get into track mode but the ones in June and July impact on whether or not you go to, for example Trafford or Watford, and holidays.