Weekend track & field preview

Another incredibly busy weekend of track & field action in store. The 2nd of the clubs SAL matches take place today with the club taking a depleted team to Eton. The schools South-East inter-counties match in Middlesex also today sees our star U15 & U17 young athletes looking to secure their places for the English schools championships.

Tomorrow we call on the U13’s & U15’s as the club takes part in it’s 3rd LAG YDL match of the season this time in Havering.

A huge thanks to our volunteer officials who are giving up their days in Eton & Havering respectively, it is greatly appreciated.

Super Weekly track & field preview

What a week of action for the clubs athletes.

The highlight is tomorrow’s Loughborough International where Arabella Wilson (coach Andy Fisher) is making her GB juniors debut in the 400m hurdles match race. Bella will line up in the main match against athletes from senior teams from England, Scotland, Wales, a Loughborough select team and an NAL select team. Bella isn’t the only WADAC athlete taking part however as Mia Judd (coach Tony Bateman) has been given a guest spot in an exciting high jump competition featuring Emily Borthwick & KJT as well as star GB junior Thea Brown. Elsie Brindle (coach Mark Upton) also features in one of the 400m guest races.

Today sees the clubs senior team make their SAL Div 1 debut in Southampton. the club will be fielding a strong team in their very first match at this level. Also tomorrow, the club’s U13 & U15 young athletes take part in their 2nd league match in the lower age group YDL in Bromley after coming 2nd in the first match in Woodford last month.

Monday sees the vets take on match 2 of the Hampshire vets league in Portsmouth and on Wednesday it is the clubs 2nd Open meeting of the season this time an evening meeting. Finally it is the Hampshire schools multi-event champs on Thursday in Andover.

That is quite a week with another Super week of action to come the following week.

Which track & field leagues are we in

With the Summer season fast approaching, it is worth famliarising yourself with which leagues the club competes in and which you are eligible for.

The club competes in 5 track & field leagues. These are great for team spirit and fun and brings a team element to what is an individual sport.

We are in division 1 of the Southern Athletics League or SAL and this league is eligible to those in the U17 age group and above. The team is selected by the head coaches but there is room for everyone that wants to take part.

We are in the premier league South of the upper age group Youth Development league or YDL where we compete as a composite team with the City of Portsmouth AC. This league is eligible to those in the U17 & U20 age groups and is selected by the Head coaches but there is plenty of room for everyone that wants to take part. We are also in the premier league of the lower age group of the YDL. This is eligible to the U13 & U15 age groups with the teams selected by the Head Coaches. We recognise there is not always room for everyone in this league where we field our strongest age group team so also compete in the Wessex League which is a development league with selection prioritised for those young athletes not selected for the YDL. This league is for U13-U17 with a few spaces for U20 non scorers and an U11 quadkids competition.

Finally, we compete in the Hampshire vets league which is for those age 35+ and this friendly league team is selected by the Vets Team Managers.

If you are in any doubt about which league is right for you please talk to your coach and we look forward to seeing you compete in league matches in 2024.

Track & Field success makes the Hampshire Chronicle

As promotion to division 1 of the SAL is confirmed

You may have seen that the Hampshire Chronicle featured the club’s amazing success in league matches this season. You can read the article through the link below.

https://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/sport/23781095.record-breaking-season-wadac-athletes/

A treble promotion year is certainly one to remember and I am extremely proud to lead the club’s track & field strategy and to support such a talented group of athletes and coaches. I would also like to mention our track & field officials without whom none of these promotions would have happened.

With the final match in the league having taken place this Saturday, our promotion to division 1 of the SAL has been confirmed where uniquely we will be wearing the letter T next season (WSEH having squatters rights to W). Dates & venues to follow shortly, get them in the diary for next year.

Club seal promotion to SAL Division 1

Historic result at last home league match of the season

In by far the strongest of our 4 SAL matches this season, the club came a very close 2nd behind South Bucks at our home track on Saturday and with that result seal promotion to the 1st division of the Southern Athletics league for the first time in our history.

It is very likely that we will win Division 2 South West but with one match to go for 6 of the teams then this cannot yet be confirmed. South Bucks are likely to win their last league match and finish on the same match points as Winchester but unless something amazing happens, our overall points score will be higher than theirs confirming us as league champions for the 2nd year running after winning Division 3 West last year.

Saturday gave us a taste of what we are in for next year as the standard was very high across all events but the clubs athletes responded as they always do not least in the throws where Shelley Parr may well have set a new British masters record in the discus and Erin McBriar broke a longstanding age group club record (U17W) in the same event.

A huge thanks to the officials who were extremely busy throughout the day and to the University site team who also had a busy day with steeplechase, triple jump, pole vault and both long & sprint hurdles to set up.

That's a wrap on the track & field league season for the club which has seen 4 league titles, 3 promotions and some outstanding performances. A big thanks to my fellow track & field Head coaches Martin & James for their support throughout the season and the club continues to go onwards and upwards.

Team WADAC win SAL match 2

The club won its second consecutive SAL match of the season when competing in Aldershot on the 18th June. With the usual mix of youth and experience that this league brings the club won points across run, hurdle, jump & throw with many athletes throwing themselves into events they wouldn't normally do.Sam Adams was a great example adding sprint hurdles and steeplechase to his usual long and triple jump and he also competed in both relays as the match concluded with the club winning all 4 relay events to seal the win.The match score hasn't yet been updated on the SAL website but all results can be found on pof10 through the link below.https://www.thepowerof10.info/...The third round of matches takes place in Bournemouth on Sunday the 9th July.