Junior Training
For the great majority of juniors aged 8-17 years old, training takes place on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 5.30pm to 8:00pm at Horspath Track. Some groups also train on Tuesdays and Thursdays and at weekends. Training is designed to be fun, and begins with introducing young athletes to the basics of good movement, while also progressively introducing strength and endurance. All athletes will be given an opportunity to learn the elements of running, jumping and throwing, and as they progress through the junior age groups will be given ever-more structured coaching in the various athletic disciplines. Athletes will also be given opportunities to compete, in indoor Sportshall Competitions and outdoor Quadkids Competitions, where they will compete against children of the same age and general ability. Competitions are generally short, and parents are encouraged to support and assist their children to learn about the sport.
At junior training all athletes must register with their coach so that we know who is training each night. There is a small training fee (the track pass) for each training session which must be paid online before arriving at the track. Parents are encouraged to arrive in plenty of time to enable their children to book in well before training starts and MUST collect their children promptly at the end of training.
Junior training generally continues throughout the year and in all weathers. Please make sure that your child comes properly dressed in warm clothes when the weather is cold – gloves, track suit and hat, and in cool clothes when the weather is warm – shorts and T-shirt. Children should wear trainers on their feet.
On a few occasions each year we cancel training due to extreme weather conditions or due to a shortage of coaches in peak holiday periods. As we are not always able to give distant advance warning of such cancellation parents are advised to regularly check the club website for announcements about last-minute cancellations.
Our junior coaches are listed on the Coaches page, but our core junior coaching team is: Ashley Barton, Mark Bristow, Wendy Fowler, Elton Jones, Emma Kentish, Agnes Ligeti-Pretorius, Laura Hutton, Bryan Walker, John Charlton, Richard Hart, Mark Pitt, Simon Jones, Jen Cotterill, Tony Hardy, Gareth Davies and Mel Lewis.
