01 January 2021
New Year message to members
A Happy New Year to all our members and, hopefully, a better 2021 than 2020!
Athletically, 2020 was decimated with the cancellation of league fixtures and championships with little else available. The club were fortunate in being able to stage two Open Track and Field Meetings in September, with the appropriate COVID-19 restrictions and limited number of entrants. Nonetheless, it was welcome competition with club members setting over 100 personal bests.
January 2020 seems a long time ago but there was cross-country activity before the coronavirus struck. In the Hampshire Championships, there were individual medals for Cassie Thorp (3rd Senior Women), Sam Charig (2nd Under 20 Man) & Jacob O’Hara (3rd Under 20 Man).
There were Winners Team medals for the Under 13 Girls (Finney Coomber, Daisy Robbins, Chloe Jones & Lauren South) & Under 20 Men (Sam Charig, Jacob O’Hara & Callum Crook) & 3rd place Team medals for the Veteran Women (Emma Jolley, Emma Montiel, Elly McMeehan & Katie Carew-Robinson).
Notwithstanding the limited competition, 3 new club records were set in 2020 so congratulations to Serena Vincent who set an Under 20 Shot Put record of 16.10m, which is also an outright club record for the 4kg shot, Callum Taylor with an Under 17 Javelin record of 66.14m and Tyler Pattison with an Under 17 Discus record of 47.91m.
The number of personal bests and new club records suggests that members were finding ways of keeping fit and a big thanks to the club’s coaches who found ways, many innovative, of arranging training sessions.
We did not expect many new members to join the club in 2020 but were surprised, and delighted, that 44 chose to join us so a warm welcome to them all. On the subject of membership, the committee have decided that the reduced membership fees which applied to 2020 will be extended to 2021 for those members who paid the 2020 fee. New and re-joining members will pay the standard fee which was previously in place.
With most members in Tier 4, the immediate prospects are bleak but, with luck, adherence to the restrictions and dispensing of vaccines will bring a positive outcome.
Stay safe &we look forward to a full athletic year in 2021.