Carmarthen and District Harriers Committee meeting / Latest Updates Sheet Ivy Bush Hotel Carmarthen Monday November 30th 2015 Present: After a healthy turn out in September, numbers were low with 3 present: Hedydd Davies, Nathan Jones, Joan Goldsmith Apologies: received from Rhian Glynn, Steve Glynn, Jane Batten, Neil Thomas Due to the low attendance, the minutes of meeting held on 2 nd September 2015 were not accepted as a true record therefore this will be done next time around. Matters arising from the minutes: 2 nd Sept 1 At the end of October, Carmarthen Harriers featured in the weekly magazine; Athletics Weekly. It gave a general history of the club, a typical training evening along with news of former members including Dewi Griffiths. The editor Peta Bee was present at our dinner this year. As previously mentioned, middle distance coach Delyth Brown has been back training the group at the track after illness. The club wishes a speedy recovery too to Ivor Hopkins after his absence for a few weeks last month. Portacabins/stand; they are being looked after much more now. Before the track season we will need to make sure that the shots/discus/equipment room has been checked out thoroughouly and that there are correct weights, especially for the YDL U20 Premier West match that comes to Carmarthen in June. Bags being stored in the covered stands during training have improved. Majority of the athletes training on a winter Tuesday evening inside and outside are members; however there is a small number that are not and not insured, this needs to be checked quickly. Since the last meeting in September, a new club Facebook page has been set up and has been very useful. Along with the website, the page has seen images and news updated much quicker and has included some Live coverage for people to follow at events and home. At the time of writing it has already over 650 likes. Anyone can keep up to date with this social media link. It was great to see a high number of Under 11 s competing in the track and field season in 2015, the cross country numbers have been much lower there are plenty training weeknights but there is a need to encourage the novices more to compete and enjoy being part of a team. New Gazebo and Flag both have come in handy during the last few months the flag has appeared at the finish line of a number of school events lately. People can see where the club is based at fixtures
Financial Report Balance at 30 November 2015 42,649,00 Cheques not yet cleared include: Electricity - 108.83 Carmarthenshire County Council (hire of track on Tuesday/Thursday Evening) - 1133 Ffoshelig Coaches (Llandaff) - 325 Hire of Carmarthen Leisure Centre (sportshall athletics event) - 123.60 Annual Dinner Friday 6 th November 2015 The Carmarthen & District Athletics Club annual dinner was once again a huge success when it was held on Friday November 6th at the Ivy Bush Royal Hotel, Carmarthen. It was great to see nearly 220 people at the dinner to meet and celebrate the successes of the club and its members during the year along with thanking those who work hard in front of, behind the scenes and by supporting. This was a record number for a Harriers dinner! The guest speaker this year was Fred Bell. He was present at last year's dinner and he was delighted to be asked to be this year's guest speaker. He was a member of Carmarthen Harriers during the period 1962-68 when he left to join Thames Valley Harriers, in London in 1968. It was competing for Carmarthen that he gained his first ever Junior and Senior Welsh cross country international vests whilst being coached by the legendary Ernie Jones, and also gained numerous Welsh representative track appearances and had the distinction of becoming Welsh junior mile record holder in 1962 and 5k Senior record in 1971. Fred who joined Woking AC and still reside in Woking with his family, went on to pursue a lengthy one in coaching. He still maintains an interest in fitness, running and marshalling at local park runs. 2
We saw a number of guests and visitors attend the dinner and had fantastic feedback from them. Presentations were assisted by the following: Fred Bell, Lynette Harries President of Welsh Athletics, Cllr Peter Hughes-Griffiths Chairman Carmarthenshire County Council, Cllr Barry Williams Mayor of Carmarthen, Dr Hedydd Davies Chairman and Mr Kevin Evans President. Photographs from the awards were taken including the 100 presentations, provided by Gwyn Edwards Photography. Thanks to Gwyn for taking them There were images and posts added on our facebook page throughout the evening as they happened for people to follow back home and thanks to the excellent technology provided, we were able to bring all the images on social media as quickly as 20 minutes after the conclusion of the event!, 2015 Awards: Athlete Medalists - Ella Glynn, Garan Phillips, Amelia Leahy, Iwan Thomas, Frank Morgan, Ioan Waters, Oliver John, Milly John, Harry Leahy, Megan Rees, Elizabeth Evans, Hanna Rhys-Ellis, Dafydd Waters, Morgan Williams, Phoebe Davis, Maddie Morgan, Liam Edwards, Jac Chapman, Daniel Morse, Joseff Rhys-Ellis, Deian Morgan, Nicholas Evans, Megan Jones, Eva Edwards, Taylor McArthur, Bronwyn Davies, Lara Jones, Haydn Davies, Chris Evans, Ffion Church, Lucy Davies, Sioned Glynn, Osian Edwards, Sam Bleach. 2015 Bursary Awards - Owain-Hari Davies, Steffan Davies, Guto Phillips, Ella Davis, Annabella Leahy, Morgan Batten, Iestyn Williams, Rhys Thomas, Trystan Leech, Ffion Pugh, Lili Church, Siwan Jones-Evans, Olwen Batten, Non Morgan. 2015 Welsh Champion/International - Ryan Jenkins, Danielle Jones, Rachel Donnison, Iwan Glynn, Aled Rees. 2015 Welsh Champion - Aaron Morgan, Amber Howell, Carwyn Morris, Ryan Jones, Joe Worrall, Connor Evans. 2015 Welsh International - Aled Phillips, Ellie Kiff, Thomas Jones. 2015 Welsh Champion/International - Lauryn Davey, Ashraf Liles, Gordon Orme, Ben Thomas, Glen Elsdon. 2015 Welsh Champion - Sophie Pick, Carys Jones, Aled Price, Paul Clarke, Joshua Thomas. 2015 Welsh International - Peter Moody. 2015 Welsh Road Relays Champions - Archi Morgan, Gareth Thompson, Tomos Rees, Dwayne Griffiths. 2015 Welsh Cross Country Team Champions - Sion Lewis 2015 Young Volunteer of the Year - Nikita Neary. Wilf James Memorial Award - Amelia Davey, Nicholas Jones, Joshua Morse. Effort/Endeavour Award - Elin Jones, Ellen Hawkins, Cerys Davies, Rhun Edwards, Celyn Williams, Zak Daly. Club Service Award - Cressy Morgan, Edward Morgan, Andrew Thompson, Neil Thomas. Ernie Jones Memorial Award - Rachel Donnison, Aled Price. J Eirwyn Walters Memorial Award - Glen Elsdon. RB Evans Award - Paul Clarke 2015 Special Awards - Ffoshelig Coaches Rhodri Evans, McDonalds Ron Mounsey and Inner Wheel club of Carmarthen 3
Chairman s Report 30 th November Report on events held since last Committee Meeting 2015 Dinner Many thanks to Rhian Glynn for organising the dinner 217 attended and there were 2 other dinners in the Ivy Bush Hotel that evening. Thanks to the staff of the Ivy Bush Royal Hotel for an excellent meal Nathan is to be congratulated on publicising the event and for his excellent report on the event. Thanks to Gwyn Edwards for his many photographs which were on the Harriers web site late on that night. Competitions since last Committee meeting on Monday 2 September 2015 Carmarthenshire primary schools cross country championships at the Showground on Thursday 25 September 2015 1009 competitors competed. Very few new members joined the Club as a result of the competition. Brianne secondary schools cross country league Three events held so far (Dyffryn Taf on 29 September, Bro Myrddin on 20 October and Bro Dinefwr on 26 November 2015) Carmarthen Harriers members have done well in all three matches. Final match to be held in March 2016. Carmarthenshire primary schools sportshall athletics championships at the Carmarthen Leisure Centre on Thursday 22 October Only 8 schools took part this year which is disappointing (clashed with other school events) Many thanks to Nathan for typing up the results so quickly. Carmarthenshire secondary schools Y7/8 sportshall athletics championships at the Carmarthen Leisure Centre on 3 November 2015 A very good turnout from the eight schools that competed. A team will be chosen after Christmas for the Welsh sports hall final in Cwmbran on 13 March 2016. Thanks to Nathan for typing the results. 4
Gwent cross country league matches at Bridgend on Sunday 11 October and Llandaff Fields Cardiff on Sunday 8 November 2015 Carmarthen Harriers individuals and teams have had a very good start to the season and after two matches are placed as follows: Individuals 1 Daisy Thompson (U13G); 1 Gordon Orme (M70); 2 Frank Morgan (novice B); 2 Ben Thomas (U15B); 3 Iwan Glynn (U13B); 3 Ryan Jenkins (U20M) 4 Phoebe Davis (U13G); 4 Ashraf Liles (U20M) Teams 1 U13 Girls; 1 U13 Boys; 1 U15 Boys; 3 Novice Boys; 3 U20 Men Welsh Combined Events championships at NIAC Cardiff on Sunday 8 November 2015 Lauryn Davey finished second in the U18 event and has been selected to compete for Welsh schools in the schools international combined events in Glasgow on Saturday 12 December 2015 Welsh Inter-Schools cross country championships at Brecon on Saturday 14 November 2015 Event cancelled the day before due to a poor weather forecast Welsh cross country relays championships at Bridgend on Sunday 22 November 2015 Carmarthen Harriers won three team races. A very good result U13 Girls (Phoebe Davis, Maddie Morgan, Siwan Jones-Evans, Daisy Thompson) U13 Boys (Bedwyr Thomas, Liam Edwards, Joseff Rhys-Ellis, Iwan Glynn) U15 Boys (Tomos Rees, Gareth Thompson, Iestyn Williams, Ben Thomas) Iwan Glynn and Daisy Thompson had fastest laps, Ben and Phoebe second fastest Primary School Races representatives: Frank Morgan, Rhufon Phillips, Ifan Bowen, Milly John, Emma Brazier 5
Saturday 5 December Upcoming Events Events in December 2015 and January 2016 Third Gwent League cross country match of the season. Bus leaves Peacocks Carmarthen at 8.30am. Saturday 12 December Welsh inter-regional cross country championships at Builth Wells. Bus leaves Peacocks Carmarthen at 9am. Also primary schools events before the championships. All Carmarthen Harriers members to support the teams in these two very important events With entries and more admin work done beforehand, followers on Facebook will be able to be kept up to date at Builth Wells and Xcel on the 12 th. January 2016 events Wednesday 13 January 2016 Brianne Secondary schools cross country championships at Bro Dinefwr (1pm) (Y7, Y8/9, Y10/11, Y12/13) Saturday 16 January and Sunday 17 January 2016 Welsh junior indoor championships at NIAC Cardiff Tuesday 19 January 2016 Dyfed secondary schools cross country championships at Dinefwr Park Llandeilo (11am start) (Y7, Y8/9, Y10/11, Y12/13) Thursday 21 January 2016 Carmarthenshire Y9/10 sportshall athletics championships at the Carmarthen Leisure Centre (10am) 6
Coaching Report by Jane Batten There is an urgent need for a meeting of all coaches to be held early in January 2016. If the club is to progress further we must have more qualified specialist coaches. Also urgent need to qualified officials at Welsh league meetings. The winter training is well under way, and with the weather being about as unkind as it could possibly be on a Tuesday evening, all but the hardy cross country runners are indoors. Cross country training is now the focused training and there seems to be a good number of junior runners leaving the hall every Tuesday evening to brave the elements. Indoors the focus is on coordination and conditioning with some specific skill work added for variation for the younger athletes. The older and more established junior athletes are either outside distance running or in Ivor s sprint group, while the younger athletes train outside with the distance group or indoors in the coordination and conditioning group. Advanced and senior athletes are still with their established coaching groups. Early next year I think that we should have a coaching meeting to discuss the 2016 track and field season. We need to have a coordinator in place who will work on putting some sort of training structure and athlete progression pathway in place. I am not the person to do this as I do not have the necessary qualifications or experience for such a role. However, I am very happy to work with someone or a group to put this structure in place for the club. We had something simple in place last season and it did work. We now need to elaborate on this in order to ensure that all young athletes have the opportunity to try all events and then offer them the coaching they need if they show potential for any events. We particularly need more structure for jumps and somehow encourage more young athletes to throw. 7
Winter term events Latest Fixture List is available December 2015 Sat 5 Gwent Cross Country Bristol Sat 12 Welsh inter regional cross country Builth Wells Sat 12 Indoor junior open meeting NIAC Cardiff Sat 12 Carmarthen Harriers Excel Bowls Excel Johnstown Fri 18 End of school term January 2016 Sat 9 Indoor junior open meeting NIAC Cardiff Wed 13 Brianne secondary schools Bro Dinefwr Cross country championships Sat 16 Welsh junior indoor championships NIAC Cardiff Sun 17 Welsh junior indoor championships NIAC Cardiff Including U17/20 3000 championships Tues 19 Dyfed secondary schools Cross country championships Parc Dinefwr Thurs 21 Carmarthenshire Y9/10 sportshall Carmarthen Leisure C (10) Sat 23 West Wales indoor championships Swansea Sun 24 West Wales indoor championships Swansea West Wales Indoor Championships entry form 2016 Sun 24 Cardiff cross country challenge Blackfriars Cardiff Sun 31 Welsh senior championships NIAC Cardiff February 2016 Sun 7 Welsh U20 indoor champs NIAC Cardiff Including U15/Senior 3000 champs Wed 10 Welsh schools cross country champs Brecon 13/14 Gwent cross country league Abergavenny Sat 27 Welsh cross country championships Singleton Park Swansea March 2016 Sat 5 Gwent cross country league Brecon Brianne secondary league match Sat 12 UK inter counties cross country Birmingham 8
Any Other Business / Other News The club wishes to congratulate the following on their recent achievements: Welsh Athletics Awards 2015 @ Cardiff Carol Jones, Delyth Brown and Kevin Evans winning coaching categories. Dewi Griffiths finished 2 nd at the British Athletics Cross Country Challenge at Liverpool and has been selected for the European Championships at France in 2 weeks time. Also has been selected for the World half marathon in Cardiff next March. S4C filmed an item for the programme "heno". The item included Dewi Griffiths as he prepared for the British Athletics Cross Country event at Liverpool on 28 November. Also interviewed was his and Carmarthen Harriers middle distance coach Kevin Evans and the programme on the evening also talked about importance of joining a running club. As well as receiving the Young Volunteer of the year award at the dinner, Nikita Neary was also give the Glyn Davies award for his contribution to Dyfed Schools. Nikita continues to support the club regularly with coaching on weeknights. Subs next year will be going up as it was agreed at the Welsh Athletics Ltd AGM last month. The Carmarthenshire Sports Personality Awards nominations have closed with 4 from the club been nominated. 10 nominations have gone in for the Carmarthen Town. Picton sports, where we get our team wear from, now have an online page where Carmarthen Harriers members can order and buy clothing when they want instead of the three times a year order that Rhian did up to now. This will be an easier way to purchase and an easier way for Rhian. The new page on the Picton sports website is : http://www.pictonsports.co.uk/?estore&cat=club Shops Athletics Carmarthen Harriers Carmarthen Harriers proposal to host a Welsh Athletics junior athletics championship in Carmarthen was unsuccessful. They have decided to once again host it at Newport. Carmarthen has a long history of hosting events since the allweather track opened in 1988. Dyfed has had a lot of travelling to do during the year The track will be undergoing cleaning and repairing before April. Things needing attention include cleaning of surface, reline, sand, hurdles and the hammer/discus cage. It will altogether come to 17,000. 9
Date of next meeting Annual General Meeting: Monday February 8th, 7.30pm at the Ivy Bush Hotel It was decided at the Committee to hold the 2016 Carmarthen Harriers AGM at the Ivy Bush Royal Hotel Spilman Street Carmarthen at 7.30pm on Monday 8 February 2016 Please make a note of this date in your diaries now and make every effort to attend. All members and parents welcome. www.carmarthenharriers.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/carmarthen-harriers-athletics-club- 401809230012379/ 10