Track & Field fixture lists sent to every club member

With the outdoor track & field season fast approaching, every member of the club has been sent a league fixture list specific to them.

Whether you are 8 years old and taking part in the quadkids at the Wessex League or 80 years old and taking part in the Hampshire vets league, you know the dates of the fixtures and how the teams are chosen.

This is a historic year for WADAC as we compete in the NAL for the very first time and we are looking forward to record numbers of athlets representing the club in league matches this year.

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.

LAG Team come 2nd on their Premier league debut

The club made a piece of history in a chilly Woodford Green yesterday as they came 2nd in their first ever match at Premier league level in the Southern section of the lower age group Youth Development league.

This league is for athletes in the U13 & U15 age groups and boy did these young athletes do the club proud.

Feeling more like Gretna Green on the scottish border rather than Woodford Green, the north wind delivered freezing cold conditions and when you turn up to a mighty tailwind in the homestraight the tempation is to turn the coach round and go home but yesterday was for the team rather than individual performances and the athletes rolled up their sleeves and every single one of the 53 strong team got the job done.

Their are too many brilliant performances to mention but a special mention should go to our officials who hopefully managed to pour themselves a mug of bovril when they got home. Timekeeper Stuart stood on the stand all day as did track official Chris who braved shorts for the day! Lead field official Karin lead the field team ably assisted by qualified field official Martin and our 3 volunteer officials the two Steve’s and Rob.

The coach was full, the team spirit was amazing and this was undoubtedly from a team perspective one of the clubs best days in recent history. Congratulations to everyone that took part.

Provisional results below.

LAG YDL Results match 1

Weekend track & field preview

The first legue match of the season is upon us as the lower age group YDL match takes place at Woodford Green in London today.

This represents a piece of history for the club as it our first appearance in the premier league of the YDL and a strong team of 53 athletes has been assembled to represent the club in this league for athletes in the U13 and U15 age groups.

Elsewhere today Laura Clark & Elsie Brindle (both coached by Mark Upton) and Bella Wilson (Andy Fisher) will be chasing world ranking points at the World Athletics permit meeting in Loughborough today which doubles as the BUCS 10,000m championships. Laura, Elsie & Bella will all the run the 400m with Elsie also on the start lists for the 200m.

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.

U17's/U20's reach the YDL Premier league

The U17 & U20 young athletes join the U13 & U15s in reaching the Southern premier league of the YDL next season.

Along with our composite partners City of Portsmouth AC, the team finished 2nd in terrible conditions in Perivale, West London on Sunday and in doing so secured the Division 1A league title and won promotion to the premier league next season.

Some amazing performances on the day and some great filling in with the team missing a few athletes away on holiday saw the team home and remarkably this is the clubs 3rd league title of the track & field season with the final match of the SAL still to come.

Huge thanks to our 4 officials, Karin, Paul, Andy & Patrick for standing out in the pouring rain all day and to Paul Farres from Portsmouth who manages the team and gets the very most out of all the athletes.

Conditions were so bad that some of the events were abandoned but nevertheless the team boarded the coach at the end of the day soaking wet but very happy.

Young athletes win league to seal promotion

Updates from lower age group YDL

There have been two lower age group YDL matches since my holiday. This is the league for U13/U15 young athletes and the matches couldn't have gone better with the club winning both matches to secure the league title with an unblemished record of 4 wins from 4 league matches.

On the 8th July, the 3rd league match took place in Guildford and despite the fact that a broken cage meant that there were no long throws which is a great source of points for the club we still won with some amazing performances from the whole team.

The 4th and last match of the season took place in Eton on Saturday and again the club came out on top sealing the league title. This secures the club promotion to the premier league for the first time in its history.

There are lots of people to thank but I want to pay particular thanks to our officials who give up their time to ensure the matches can take place and to Team Manager Polly who has made sure everyone got to their events on time and with the right numbers on their vests.

Most of all however, the young athletes have done their club and themselves proud with amazing performances across all event groups and the club has now won an astonishing 3 consecutive promotions going from division 3 to division 2 to division 1 and now to the Premier league all in consecutive seasons. This league will be fiercely competitive next year, but we are up for the challenge.