Tonbridgeac.org.uk



Tonbridge AC AGM February 2021: Report from the acting-ChairAn extraordinary year it has been for obvious reasons, but I must bring the many achievements of our elite senior athletes to the fore:James West stepped up to genuine international class with a host of new club, college and NCAA records too numerous to list here. Whilst lacking the opportunity to compete for his country this season, his indoor campaign was excellent and later in the summer he bounced back from a few relative disappointments to close his outdoor season in pb 1500m form at the Doha Diamond League, in 3:34, ranking 2nd in the UK for 2020 and 19th all-time. We wish James the best of luck in 2021 as he has a real chance of Olympic selection in one of the most competitive domestic events.Lewis Church had a quiet year as competitions were largely cancelled but he did pick up National Bronze in the Indoor Heptathlon. Lewis must be commended for maintaining such an active Club presence: committed athlete, coach, Athlete Representative on the Committee. He is a role model in so many ways. It was great to see Harry Kendall back completing a full Decathlon again after long injuries, in October, to place 3rd on the brief national rankings. Both Lewis and Harry must be looking ahead to this summer with anticipation. George Duggan became the 4th TAC member to run a sub-4 minute mile, the 4th fastest indoor mile by a British man all year (Westy was #2!).Chris Olley just missed out on his own sub-4 attempt in January, but returned to the boards for a pb 3000m (7:56) and closed the year with an excellent 13:42 5000m just outside his pb and 6th in the UK in 2020.Lucy Reid gained another England vest and finished a magnificent 2nd in the Granollers Half Marathon (Spain), while on the same day Keiran Reilly also finished 2nd for England in a 1500m in Iceland. Lucy broke the Club record for the distance again at the Big Half in March, to rank 13th nationally for 2020, and was selected for England again (for the 4th time in her career) for the Antrim Half, postponed due to COVID.Nicole Taylor proved her hard work had paid off during the COVID lockdown with an excellent 3000m performance at the Bromley Twilight meeting. Nicole improved her own Club record, ranking 13th in the UK for 2020. Phoebe Barker returned her second best ever time over the distance at the same meeting.The evergreen Ben Cole smashed 30 minutes for 10km and the versatile Max Nicholls ran one of the Club’s fastest ever Half Marathons in 66:13.Sean Molloy and Ben Murphy went 1-2 in the South of England Indoor 800m Championships.Dom Brown won the Sheffield Open Cross Country Race and received a trophy that is engraved with previous winners of the likes of Seb Coe and Ron Hill.In total, 5 members of the Club, all distance runners, competed at the British Championships, but all would be disappointed in their results: West, Reilly, Molloy, Murphy and Miles Weatherseed.I would like to highlight that of the 15 names above, 11 have been at TAC from a very young age, and many had to wait until senior level to enjoy real success - a great example to all of our junior athletes, many of whom also enjoyed success in the fragmented season:Simon Coppard took National U20 Indoor Gold at 800m in February and, after taking the summer off, ran a remarkable 31:18 10km on the road in December!Anton Bachorski made the final of the Polish National U20 Indoor 60m and over the year secured several new Club records including matching the Senior Indoor 60m.Samantha Stubbs was the only national rankings-topper of the Club, after winning the late-season Yeovil U17 Heptathlon with 4161pts.Elicia Lacey went 4th all-time for U13G Indoor 60mH and also took down the Club record outdoors in the 70mH.Many other Junior members ranked highly by the end of the year: Kirsty-Anne Ebbage (U20W, throws), Asha Root (U20W, sprints), Rebekah O’Brien (U20W, sprints/hurdles), Katie Goodge (U20W, middle/long distances), Freya Ridge (U17W, multi events), Georgia Baker (U17W, multi events), Josh Prendergast (U15B, middle distances), Lucy Tallon (U15G, sprints), and Lily Slack (U13G, middle distances).Many of our veterans also found good form and ranked highly, notably Maria Heslop (W50 distance), Nina Ridge (W45 sprints) and Helen Gaunt (W40 long distance).Apologies to anyone missed from these brief summaries.The 2019/20 Cross Country season just about finished unscathed before COVID, and team results were again exceptionally high for the standards of any Club nationally. For TAC, there is a risk of normalising this success as ‘business as usual’ and not fully recognising the daily toil of athletes and coaches that has allowed this awesome sustained success to occur. The post-Christmas statistics speak for themselves:Kent Championships: 8 team golds (out of 10), 10 team medals (first time ever). Individual champions Katie Goodge (U17W), Nicole Taylor (Senior Women, Sussex) and Alan Buckle (M60, Sussex).Southern Championships: 4 team medals, individual champion Matthew Taylor with perhaps the performance of the winter in handing favourite Will Barnicoat his only defeat in the U17 age group all season. Individual silvers for Lily Slack (U13G) and Nicole Taylor deserve mention.Both Senior Kent League team titles were retained, and India Nicholson was crowned U20 Women’s Champion to add to the multiple Junior titles confirmed before Christmas.National Championships: our Senior Men regained their title (3 wins in 4 years) and in a neat symmetry the U13 Girls were also crowned National Champions. With a further 3 team silvers, and all teams inside the top 12, the statistics and popular opinion confirmed TAC as once again as the most successful Cross Country club in the country. Huge thanks are owed as ever to Mark Hookway for all his work for the weekend trip, the season-highlight for 200+ athletes and supporters, planning which usually begins as soon as the previous one is over! TAC members raced well in school and county races: Judd’s all-TAC A-team smashed the King Henry VIII Relay course record and James Kingston and Katie Goodge won the prestigious Knole Runs in fine style. Lily Slack and Matthew Taylor clinched Kent Schools’ titles, and behind, countless junior members competed, many in club vests, to secure team medals of all colours. TAC had good representation in winning Kent teams: U17 Inter-County, Junior and Intermediate at English Schools’ Championships.Those English Schools’ just got in before COVID (we are sad that the 2021 Championships hosted by KSAA at the Hop Farm will be postponed, and hope all their hard work can be transferred to 2022). Both spring and autumn Road Relay Championships were cancelled, although the a ‘virtual’ race of 5km legs was arranged: TAC men placed 3rd (and the 2nd B team), women were 6th (3rd in the 12-to-score, 3rd B team) and Lucy Reid ran the fastest women’s leg. This success inspired a host of challenges, virtual races and time trials which kept us all entertained throughout the summer.Of course it was the track and field athletes, raring to go after a long winter training, who missed out the most so it was pleasing that things began to open up by August. Sadly the delightful weather for much of the lockdown ended rather suddenly much to the annoyance of athletes chasing personal bests. Of note was a rare calm evening where Keiran Reilly and Steve Strange ran a barnstorming 1-2 in a 3000m open meeting.Of course all the summer leagues were cancelled so there was no opportunity for TAC to build on our excellent team results of 2019. In particular the new National League which sees a combined men and women team will be exciting for the Club, in light of our BAL success and increasing female strength in depth, but the squad will need regular support of our top athletes to gain further promotions - as well as considerable voluntary support from team managers and officials, who enjoyed a well-deserved rest this year whether they wanted one or not. Our limited pool of excellent volunteers have felt the pressure of fixture congestion in recent years so do let us know if you can help in either capacity.We were pleased to host the one members-only meeting on August Bank Holiday which gave many their sole competitive outing of the season. This 2020/21 winter season started as the previous one ended - with cancellations of all club competition - but we did well to take advantage of the gentle lift of regulations to host a couple of Cross Country time-trials at Vizards fields, with the kind support of The Judd School. We also managed to host the annual Boxing Day Pudding Race albeit in time-trial format for juniors only.I would like to pay particular tribute to all our coaches who have put in a huge shift, many putting in more hours in order to see all their athletes in small groups regularly. If you haven’t thanked your coach in a while - why not make it your business to do so? We are blessed with excellent coaches at TAC and the positive relationships and enjoyment certainly works both ways, perhaps more this year than ever - as Iain Presnell remarked to me recently: “I would just like to comment on the tremendous resilience of my group. They have been a real inspiration”.Many of our coaches have made special efforts to stay in touch with their groups, to keep motivation and team spirit high. Of note have been Di Bradley’s U15 distance group’s weekly Zoom chats, which soon progressed into 'an evening with a guest speaker'. Some of those who kindly gave their time were: Andy Graffin, who discussed his years at TAC, highs and lows and what it took to eventually gain Olympic success; Mick Bannister, who spoke about his years as a TAC athlete, his scholarship move to run in Colorado USA, and the highs and lows of his career; Dave Castle, the Running Hub owner spoke about what to look for in suitable running shoes, when to replace your shoes, how to look after your feet to avoid injuries; Sam Bradley, Head XC coach at Radford Uni, Virginia USA, discussed running at an American Uni, what is expected if you apply for a scholarship or are offered and athletics beyond school/club; Nicole Taylor, the TAC female star related her progression through the age groups, highs & lows, and realisation of sacrifices it takes to become a dedicated successful athlete. Di has asked me to highlight several of her group, who have endured difficult years, but who have kept in good contact to inspire the squad as a whole: those shielding, such as Josh Beesley, and also the long-term injured, the likes of David Barclay and Albert Kreuzberg should be commended for their sheer dedication and commitment, which is inspiring, in the current situation, to return to training without the support of a group of fellow athletes.To all our coaches - many thanks indeed.Whilst training and competitions became fragmented,‘behind the scenes’ the work continued. The Club’s Management Committee has been busy on a number of long-standing and newly-emerging agenda items, including:Developing the new websiteFinalising an agreement between Trustees and the Management Committee, in light of recent new ConstitutionApplying a new Committee structure, with various sub-groups Assessing the coaching structure and athlete progression through groupsAssessing the purpose of our home fixturesA focus on volunteer recruitment and taking the pressure off a few key individualsThere has been reasonable progress on the above - made a little harder as we have not been able to meet collectively since March (we have got used to Zoom!) - and naturally focus has been on navigating the ever-changing COVID situation. Iain Presnell stepped down in March after a decade as Chair, during which the Club has grown massively in both size and status. Iain’s efforts and attitude has been at the heart of this, and this Committee member will be ever-grateful for his encouragement of younger people to get involved in Club affairs and have their voice heard. I am relieved that Iain’s experience and knowledge can still be called upon at Committee level, and of course his passion for coaching remains as strong as ever, as many of you know better than I do. It was a little daunting to step up to a new role, but I am fortunate to have a great team, especially Mark Hookway, who thankfully stepped up to help as Club COVID Officer, Club Secretary Ann Czarnowski who keeps everything running smoothly, and Club President Alan Bennett for all his sage advice. Many thanks to all my fellow Committee members for their support of my acting-Chairmanship, and more importantly their ongoing work for the Club. I would also like to thank the Trustees of the Club, in particular their Chair Tim Fagg for his wisdom and advice on our proposed new Committee structure, which should encourage more efficient decision-making and further achievement of our Club Development Plan. We welcome members’ input at any time and you will notice a number of vacancies in key positions.Many significant roles in the Club do not get much publicity but their work is vital for a club our our size and success: Our brilliant Membership Secretary Bev Keech has the unenviable role of administering the subscriptions of nearly a thousand, and she has asked me to highlight the contributions of Sian Dubery and Nicky Slack, who have both gone above and beyond their administrative roles, especially during the pandemic, helping with signing sheets, keeping the waiting/interest people informed etc. The work of Sally Emm, Tony Bennett and Nicola Evans in maintaining and auditing the Club accounts ought to be acknowledged with our sincere gratitude.Michael Ellis deserves special mention for his increasingly prominent contributions to many Club activities - a stalwart member of our senior XC and track teams and committed helper with home fixture entries and results. Dawn Hookway and John Sanders continue to put in a great shift for the Club, especially at home fixtures, and it is vital we lighten the load on them.I remind readers that no-one at the Club is paid for any of their work - committee members, coaches, officials, team managers - all give freely of their time for their love of the Club and the sport.COVID aside, we face many challenges at the moment, of which easing our over-reliance on a few key volunteers is perhaps the most pressing. We have a huge waiting list of prospective members, largely U13/U15s, and this is likely to remain indefinitely due to both a shortage of coaches and also restrictions of our contracted hours at Tonbridge School. The latter issue can be re-negotiated; the dearth of coaches is harder, and we hugely welcome any parents reading this to dip their toes in the water with a Coaching Assistant qualification! Our relationship with Tonbridge School and the Sports Centre remains reasonably productive; whilst we are in a relatively lean spell following a succession of major improvements to the track and surrounding area, we remain in contact with ideas to develop facilities for storage and seating, to improve the experience at the track for athletes, officials and spectators.At a larger scale, you are probably aware of the long-term turbulence in the wider governance of the sport - ongoing conflict between the various governing bodies, which has manifested itself in many ways from most serious allegations of abusive coaches to the relatively trivial (but becoming heated!) debate over Cross Country distances. I must admit to my own inexperience in this level of politics but I assure members I will seek advice from both committee and the membership as a whole in making representations of the Club in these matters.Whilst we are perhaps at the mercy of high-level sport politics, I would like to finish with some optimism, and report that we can control some aspects to keep motivation high in these harrowing times. The Club is very grateful for John Harley’s continued generosity and creativity in founding an ‘Athlete Fund’ for elite and promising athletes to the order of several thousand pounds. In 2020 this easily covered the travel expenses for those invited to the British Championships, and he is very keen for more to be spent in 2021 - we will make it our business for this to happen! Just recently John has also kindly underwritten the ‘TAC Challenge’ to highlight notable achievements or contributions during lockdown. You should have received several emails recently on how to nominate deserving candidates on a monthly basis. If you have been inspired to think of any further ideas of how to reach out to our community and support our members at this time, please do not hesitate to get in touch.Finally, whilst it was not strictly a TAC event this year, I cannot omit the Twilight Meeting, at Bromley in August, which mirrored all the success of the Tonbridge Twilight enjoyed by so many last year. Mark Hookway and his team of (mostly) TAC volunteers deserve huge credit for making the event happen in difficult circumstances, and it was great to see the best of British distance runners come down to Kent. With strict COVID compliance, the spectators cheering on the track were sadly forbidden this year but many hundreds tuned in online to watch some quality distance running - indeed the 3000m, featuring our very own James West who placed a close 2nd, saw world-leading times for the first 4 finishers! Those times remained 1-2-3-4 in the UK rankings for the year. It all goes to show how inspirational leadership, honest communication to athletes and worthy prize money can bring the best of British athletics to our doorstep - indeed I hope this report has proved further that Tonbridge has many of the best of British ourselves, and maybe 2021 will be the year that some of our own may step up to the ultimate international stage.To all our members, athletes of all standards, volunteers and supporters, best of luck in 2021.James TaylorChair (acting)Tonbridge Athletic ClubFebruary 2021chair@.uk ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download