Archive

Archive for January, 2011

Team does well at Artic Parliment Hill

January 31st, 2011 Comments off

The Southern’s – feeling more like the artic – from your frozen reporter

It was a bitterly cold day, and a good job we took our tent. But yet again our youngsters done as proud, though disappointing to see how few seniors braved the very tough course.  Well worth mentioning that U15 & U17 boy’s teams were the 2nd Kent club home & the U13 boys the third.

The under 15 boys was the first race off, and as a team they finished a very fine 18th this is despite sadly Nick Armstrong having to pull out early on. Billy Somogyi  was the star and finished 29th the highest place of any Bexley runner today, but with Andre  Stone,105th, Joseph O’Hara 131st and Luke Francis 194th this still gave us a very good team result of 18th.

The under 13 girls was next, Victoria Blincoe 198th, Harley Wooler 225th & Eleanor Winch 237th  battled around this challenging course. It was a shame we could not get one more lady to give us a team result.

Under 13 boys followed,  Lewis Cailes was 125th, Harry Jarvis 140th & Mitchell Horne 158th and Luc Legon 179th  (Short of time Luke had to run up the hill and down to get his number – which he then had to carry all the way round) despite this hiccup the lads finished as a team 30th. Showing good promise for next year

Under 15 girls next, Katie Hyde and Marie Eremionkhale, Katie had a good run in 188th, Maria setting a good example finishing in 209th.

Under 17 boys next, again these lads are improving and putting in some very solid results. Lewis Elsey 66th another great run, backed up by Adam Willis 89th, Tom Wright 113th, Charlie Winch 147th and Joe Gunton 171st gave us our best team result of 13th. Next year all this team will still be available in this age group with Nick & Billy joining to what looks like a very formable team.

Under 17 Girls – Beth Armstrong (our Kent Champion) had a great start leading at one point up the little old parliament hill. But unfortunately somewhere out in the far muddy fields injury forced her retirement, we all felt for her as we waited near the finish, she will be back. 

Under 20 men, Tommy Taylor, come back from illness continued with a very creditable 85th, now getting some competitive miles under his belt.

Senior ladies, it was a great shame only Geraldine Legon flew the flag for us Today (where are you ladies?) anyway well done on completing a very tough course

I wasn’t alone in thinking what have the senior men ever done to the SEAA.  15km over what is now a very cut up course is somewhat hard. Again sadly not many (and I know you are out there) took the challenge. We had only had 7 runners, Jon Armstrong carried the flag with 272nd was followed by Paul Smyth 339th, Peter Griffiths 434th, Jon Hunter 665th, Richard Long 760th, Kevin Winch 790th, and then a complete Nutter Phil Mathieson in 827th who was doing the tough guy the next day– WHAT Mad! Mad!

So well done to all, great team result for the juniors, next is the Kent league on the 12th Feb. Important especially for the youngsters as they are very well placed team wise.

Kevin winch

Categories: Cross Country, Cross Country Results

Sports Hall County Championships Results

January 27th, 2011 Comments off

Four Bexley AC athletes competed in the Kent County Sportshall championships last weekend.  The event was originally due to take place in December but was a victim of the weather and unfortunately only half the Bexley athletes entered were able to take part on this rearranged date.

 In the U13 age group Joanne Okusanya was equal fifth in the speed bounce with an excellent score of 78.  Joanne was first in the shot -  9.79m – 2.5m ahead of second place!

 Bexley had two competitors in the U15’s.  Daisy Enughwure took third in the vertical jump (58cm) and second in the Bexley dominated 2 lap race. Renique Joseph was first in the 2 lap race and also took first place in the Vertical jump with a new county record of 65cm.  Renique won bronze medals in the shot and standing long jump.

 Tobi Oniyitan was our only competitor in the U17’s. Tobi was second in the Vertical jump but took gold in the 2 lap, speed bounce and standing long jump (with an excellent jump of 2.18m)

 Joanne and Renique have been selected to represent Kent in the regional finals in February.

 Liz Slater

Categories: General News, Track and Field Results

Parliment Hill coach leaves at 8.15am Saturday 29th -plenty of spaces

January 21st, 2011 Comments off
Categories: Cross Country, Cross Country Fixtures

Orange tops top at Bexley schools

January 20th, 2011 Comments off

Excuse my grammar, but a number of Bexley school kids were caught not wearing their official kit at the Kent schools championship, but they have been let off with a warning as they were near the front

Though our club does not have an official involvement with the Kent schools championship it was inevitable a large number of our athletics would be competing. Obviously it does depend on if their school put them forward as unfortunately not everyone who has competed for us this year was present.

But those that did do very well, many cheekily wearing our club colours.

Not all team results have been published, but out of three possible we have a Gold in the Intermediate boys, Silver in the junior Boys & it is looking very likely that the year 7 boys will pick up gold as well.

Whilst Bexley Girls did not do quite so well, their was an excellent 1st place for Beth Armstrong in the senior girls.

All our reprensetives from the club were

 Lewis Elsey, Billy Somogyi, Adam Willis, Charlie Winch, Tom Wright, Joe Gunton, Nick Faulkner, Nick Armstrong. Joseph O’Hara, Andre Stone, Billy Carter, Harry Jarvis, Mitchell Horne, Oliver O’Brien.

For the Girls it was Victoria Blincoe, Harley Wooler, Eleanor Winch, Katie Hyde, Beth Armstrong, Rachael Blincoe, Ellen Newark

Several above will now be in action at the school inter-counties in the next few weeks

So well done to all from the club, also to others in the borough and we hope that after seeing the fine advertisement our shirts made, they come and join in what is proving a very formable young squad 

Also – just before Christmas at the inter counties at Biggleswade we had three youngsters present Kent–  Beth & Nick Armstrong and Billy Somogyi, well done to all

Kevin Winch

Categories: Cross Country, Cross Country Results

Parliament hill details for 29th Jan

January 10th, 2011 Comments off

Southern’s, 29th January at the Legendary Parliament Hill 

The most famous cross-country courses in the UK, and we return again for the Southern’s. We will be running a coach (Subject to availability) There are several ways to reach the venue so I would recommend chatting to yourselves to find the best way for you to arrive. Nearest Tube and overground is Kentish Town.                              Watch out for coach times

Race times are (please be aware of the order)

Under 15 Boys                    11.00 am ,     Under 13 Girls                    11.20 am 

Under 13 Boys                    11.35 am ,       Under 15 Girls                    11.50 am

Under 17 Men                    12.10 pm,       Under 20 Women               12.40 pm

Under 17 Women               1.05 pm,          Under 20 Men                     1.30 pm

Senior Women                    2.05 pm,          Senior Men                         2.50 pm

Up & comming races are     -     

Sat -  12th Feb – New Barn, Swanley – All except senior Women.

Sat -  19th Feb – Alton Towers, Staffs – Nationals all sections (see Kevin Winch for details – many of us are staying at the Premier Inn – Stafford (Hurricane)

Sat -  12th March – Wormwood Scrubs – Southern Cross Country relays/Also remaining Kent league fixture at Parkwood School, Swanley for senior men & women

Kevin Winch   – (H) 01322-446822  (M)  07816-616755  (adamswinch@aol.com)

Peter Griffith’s – (07885-307160)    Elle Brown (please contact at club)

Categories: Cross Country, Cross Country Fixtures

End Of 2010 10k

January 10th, 2011 Comments off
Categories: Road Running Results

Orange Glow at Wilmington – Silverware for the cabinet

January 10th, 2011 Comments off

A champ & medals, Bright orange glow from our youngsters

Our youngsters had a very successful Kent championship at Wilmington on Saturday 9th January, An individual Gold, plus team medals for two of our teams. Even those who didn’t medal can be proud of some very notable performances.

Performance of the day was Beth Armstrong new Kent U17 champion, and the under 15 boys with their silver medals, but it is also worth noting some under lying trends. A large number who raced today will still be eligible in their age group for next year. Individually we have produced some notable champions but it has been a while since we have won and challenged for team medals. Our county is very competitive with other clubs who have a high reputation for Cross country, notably Tonbridge rated the best boys/junior men club in the country. But there are new kids on the block so watch out for their orange shirts in the years to come   

Report in race order

Under 13 girls

Kerri Johnson made a superb debut for the club finishing in 19th, followed by Harley Wooler in 28th & Eleanor Winch in 33rd and Katie Butterworth who had a long battle with an Ashford runner in 37th. The team finished 5th which was very reasonable with a large field of runners over a course that became a little longer than was planned.

Under 13 Boys

Again a large entry, Lewis Caiels who is relatively new in cross country finished 9th a great result. Luc Legon also had a good run in 24th; Harry Jarvis was next 26th and Mitchell Horne 32nd. Harry with a knee injury and with Mitchell only just returned after a long lay off with chest infection, we just missed out on the medals with 4th place.

Under 15 Girls

Katie Hyde was the first home for Bexley in 28th Followed by Sarah Gates 31st & Maria Eremionkhale in 34th. The team finished 6th. All doing well in a competitive field.

Under 15 Boys

Team performance of the day, Billy Somoygi 6th, Nick Armstrong 7th, Andrea Stone 11th, Joseph O’Hara 12th, Luke Francis 21st. Gave us a fantastic silver medal just behind Tonbridge with no else anywhere near them.

Under 17 Girls

Beth Armstrong became the individual Kent Champion with a suburb run, a tough race but Beth made it look easy in the home strait. It’s a shame we can not get a team out in this age group as we would certainly benefit from Beth’s high position

Under 17 Boys

The lads collected medals for a well deserved 3rd place finishing Lewis Elsey 14th Adam Willis 15th Nikki Faulkner 23rd Tom Wright 24th Charlie Winch 28th & Joe Gunton 29th.  A young team all of whom are available to run in this age group next year.

Under 20 Men

Tommy Taylor was our only entry in this field, after a layoff of 3 months with glandular fever and only his first training run on Thursday just getting round would have been target, but finishing in 21st with 3 other competitors behind was Stirling work

Senior Women

Claire Reeves ran well & first home in 17th, though a course of not of any great difficulty the heavy overnight rain made it quite energy sapping.  Dawn Dobberson 62nd and Geraldine Legon in 63rd completed the team with a result of 13th. But I know there are more Ladies out there? Need you for the last match.

Senior Men

 Couldn’t get 12 out and I’d make similar comments as I did with the ladies. First home was Jon Armstrong as always in 65th  Paul Smyth 86th, Martin Jenner 106th,  Jon Hunter 130th, Kevin Winch 146th, John Gates 161st. Terry Waldale 164th, Richard Long 167th & Phil Mathieson 172nd. Gave us a team result of 13th. It was notable how fast it was at the front (well that’s my excuse for being lapped).

The Venue

Wilmington grammar is well known to many youngsters with the Schools Championship regularly held here. The route we took was similar and is a good cross country course, whilst slightly heavy due to the night before’s heavy rain. Refreshments were available and personally I think it was an improvement on Detling.   

Well Done

Kevin Winch

Categories: Cross Country, Cross Country Results

Minutes of AGM 7th December 2010

January 6th, 2011 Comments off

Minutes of Annual General Meeting

BEXLEY ATHLETIC CLUB

Erith Leisure Centre,

Tuesday 7th December 2010

 

1.  Declaration of meeting by the President: Opened: 20.15pm

Attended by: J. Corbett, K. Angell, J. Askew, R.Handy, N. Winfield, K. Winfield, D. Dobberson, C. Slater, S. Slater, T. Garrett, R. Whittaker, J. White, G. Wasley, J. Gates, T. Clench, J. Armstrong, C. Harris, P. Brown, S. Walker, D. Colmer, P. Griffiths, K. Winch, E Brown, D Winfield, C Winfield, J Stevens, J Freeman, G Freeman, G Holder, R Long, B Armstrong, N Armstrong, M Jamieson, L Slater.
2. Apologies: D. Peeney, S. Medlen, J Bancroft. P Slater. S Covill
3. Minutes of 2009 AGM: Copies handed out.
4. Matters Arising: NTR
5. Annual Report by the Honorary General Secretary: K. Angell. There is an old adage from my training and development days along the lines of – if things are to stay the same then something must change. Well, with the exception of one hugely important area my observation is that things have pretty well stayed the same.  So much so that I may well just record a version of my report and play it each year. Fortunately we are still blessed with outstanding coaches and officials who, with of course some exceptions are still being let down by athletes who regard this club as a social organisation rather than as a competitive entity.  What a pity their socialising doesn’t extend to club social events. This year I am not going to speak about the club’s athletic achievement’s as this subject has been extremely well covered in the excellent Rostrum magazine which you will all have seen and through the new web site.  These are now the clubs main means of communication and it is no coincidence that their excellence is down to the hard work of the editor and web site administrator Chris Harris. I would hope that visiting the web site on a regular basis will now become the norm for all of us. Many of you will be aware that as a club we have joined the McCain Kent, London Athletic Network.  Not only does this give us unparalleled access to funding for coaching courses, it provides the link for us to co-operate with three other local clubs, Blackheath & Bromley, Cambridge Harriers and Beckenham Road Runners in areas such as coaching and training opportunities as evidenced by John Bancroft’s regular high jump clinics here at Erith and now by Mike Davies’ hammer sessions at Norman Park.  In the New Year we hope to co-operate in more joint coaching sessions, to agree a series of open meetings and to co-ordinate a county coaching day alongside our other network partners in the southern half of the county.  Being part of the Network was considered by your committee to be essential to the development of Bexley AC. And the subject of development brings me to the important area I mentioned a moment ago.  You should be aware that as a club, and through the hard work of Karen Winfield, we have been pursuing Clubmark status.  I know that, much to Karen’s relief, we are now in the final stages of obtaining this essential mark of recognition.  As part of this process both the General and Executive Committees took, what I consider to be the brave and difficult decision to fundamentally alter the way the club operates and you will shortly be asked to vote on whether you agree with the approach that has been adopted.  Do not for one moment think that the changes being proposed are either cosmetic or merely change for changes sake.  They are the result of a basic re-think of the way Bexley AC conducts its business and the intention is to streamline our organisation and focus collective attention on the important issues that are and will be facing us without compromising those tasks we already do extremely well. The next twelve months will be of vital importance to everyone connected to Bexley AC.   Funding will be a major issue with the Council currently looking at ways to reduce the already small amount of financial support that they currently provide. So far as you, the membership are concerned be warned that late and non-payment of subscriptions and track fees will no longer be tolerated. Team Management as ever will be a major problem as parents find an increasing number of other things to do which are apparently more important than helping their offspring to compete. That is of course if the athletes themselves can be persuaded to compete. Another area where patience is wearing thin and drastic measures may need to be adopted. But let us look to the future with some optimism.  I believe that the new structure being proposed is a major step in ensuring that we reap whatever benefits, if any, there may be from 2012. We also still have, thankfully, a small (and getting smaller) band of dedicated people who can be relied upon, come what may, to ensure that Bexley AC retains its reputation as one of Kent and South London’s premier Clubs.
6. Annual Financial Statement by Honorary Treasurer: R. Handy. The annual accounts as examined by Chris Harris and John Gates were presented to the meeting. The Treasurer thanked them both for taking the time to check the financial statements. The Treasurer confirmed the Club had made an end year loss of £64 which he did not consider unreasonable given the current economic climate. A summary of the significant points concerning the accounts was presented to the meeting during which the Treasurer pointed out the significance of using the shopping link on the web site.  The Treasurer also asked that if anyone was interested in taking over the Treasurers role this would be a good time to do so as guidance and help can be provided.
7. Appointment of Scrutineers: Caroline Walters and Peter Griffiths
8. Election of named officers. One nomination for each of the four positions had been received by the due date and the nominees were elected unopposed as follows:

Honorary President:                Nick Winfield

Honorary Vice-President:       John Askew

Honorary General Secretary:  Kevin Angell

Honorary Treasurer:                Ron Handy
9. Motions for the AGM submitted by the General Committee:  

a  This Annual General Meeting approves and accepts the new Constitution for Bexley Athletic Club and the new Rules for Bexley Athletic Club as circulated prior to and presented at, this Annual General Meeting.

Proposed by:  K Angell on behalf of the General Committee.

Seconded by: J Stevens

Proposed changes to committee structure and constitution

I believe it has long been recognised that our current committee structure although it does not in most cases inhibit our day to day operations neither does it make them any easier to put in place.  Our current committee is larger than the Cabinet which I think says it all. This belief that our structure was cumbersome and considerably less effective than it could have been has been reinforced by advice we have received from England Athletics, Bexley Voluntary Services and Bexley Council that our current constitution and our structure needed to be updated and refreshed in order to achieve Clubmark status. The perceived wisdom of these and indeed other bodies is that too large a committee inhibits decision making, promotes a time consuming culture and focuses too heavily on day to day operations to the detriment of long term development and agreement on priorities. Additionally having our rules contained within our constitution means that simple issues such membership age require meetings such as this to agree them.

The proposal before you which has been approved by both the current Executive and General Committee’s  is intended to separate decisions on long term development and priorities from the day to day operations of the Club.  What these proposals do not do is place the running or the future of Bexley AC in the hands of just a small number of people. Safeguards are in place within the Constitution and the Rules to prevent this from happening. What your existing Committee’s are proposing is the disbandment of the current structure and its replacement with a three layer organisation of:-

1             a Strategic Committee – to oversee the future strategic direction of the club over 1/3/5 years.

Membership will consist of The President, Vice-President and five elected members.  The Secretary and Treasurer will be ex-officio members with no voting rights.

2              an Operations Committee – responsible for the day to day running of the Club with oversight of six constitutional sub-committees.

Membership will consist of The President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary plus three elected members and an elected athlete’s representative.

3              Six sub committees with chairs/co-ordinators appointed/agreed by the Operations Committee.  Members of the sub-committees will be appointed on an ad hoc basis.

What does this mean?

1              It means a smaller committee capable of making quick decisions will be running the Club

in accordance with specific priorities.  Team Managers will no longer be a part of the main

committee but will sit on the appropriate sub-committee

2              The Constitution and Rules will be separated in to two documents with the main impact on membership being a tightening up of powers relating to the non or late payment of subscriptions to try and overcome the problems we have previously encountered.

In practical terms for the majority of the membership I do not anticipate you

will necessarily notice any difference although I hope that a more effective

 and efficient operation will soon become evident. I am not going to pretend

that this transition, should it be approved, will not be without its teething

troubles and difficulties and it will require significant effort from all of us if it

is to succeed. By approving this motion I hope that you are also approving the

 end of the beginning for Bexley AC.  My fear if you decide against the

motion is that you will be signifying the beginning of the end for Bexley

AC.

The Motion was approved unanimously.

b. This Annual General Meeting agrees that with effect from 1 March 2011, new members shall pay a subscription fee as decided by the Annual General Meeting plus a joining fee which shall equate to the sale cost of a Bexley Athletic Club competition vest which shall then be provided to all new members.

Proposed by:  Nick Winfield on behalf of the General Committee

Seconded by: Phil Brown

The Motion was approved. In Favour 27. Against 0. Abstentions 1.

c. Annual Rate of Subscriptions to be increased with effect from 1st March 2011 as follows.
Full Members …………………………….from £40 to £42
Juniors, Students & Concessions ………from £20 to £21

The Motion was approved unanimously.
10. Election of members to the Strategic Committee: One nomination for each of the five positions had been received by the due time as follows:  John Gates, Chris Harris, Paul Hatfield, John Stevens, Karen Winfield.  The nominees were elected unopposed.
11. Election of members to the Organisation Committee: One nomination for each of the three positions and for the position of Athletes Representative had been received by the due date as follows: Jon Armstrong, Tony Garrett, Liz Slater. Athletes Representative: Tom Clench.

All nominees were elected unopposed.
12. Any Other Business:
  1. Tony Garrett asked how the sub-committees would be appointed.  The Secretary responded that this would be an issue for the Organisational Committee at its first meeting.
  2. John Stevens complemented the production of the booklet given out at the Presentation evening.  He also made the point that it was disappointing more people could not be persuaded to attend what was after all the premier social event of the Club’s year. He emphasised this was not a criticism of the Social Sub-committee who did a very good job in organising the event.
13. Date for a combined Strategic and Organisational Meeting: Thursday 13th January 2011 at 20.00 in the Pavilion.
14. 100 Club Draw: Winnings: December draw

£ Number Name
50 142 M Gostelow
50 68 P Leader
50 71 D Holder
50 5 A Garrett

 
15 Declaration of close of AGM: Meeting closed: N. Winfield. 21.00
Categories: General News

Kent Champs at Wilmington

January 6th, 2011 Comments off

This Saturday the Kent Champs takes place at Wilmington Grammer School this Saturday 8th Jan

Please be aware that this is not a league match so times of races are different

Under 13 Girls  10.30 am,      under 13 Boys 10.45am          Under 15 Girls  10.55am    Under 15 Boys  11.15am                       Under 17 Women  11.40am     Under 17 Men  12.10pm      Under 20  Women  12.40pm      Senior Men   13.20pm     Senior Women  14.20pm    Under 20 Men 14.55pm

Regards   kevin Winch

Categories: Cross Country, Cross Country Fixtures