NEWS

Annual Christmas Road Race - Saturday 17th December

Everyone is invited to take part in our Christmas Road Race on the 17th.  If you would like to take part, you should meet in the Pavilion at Scotstoun in time for a 12pm start.

Competitors should arrive bearing a gift for the Lucky Dip. (Value in the region of £4 - £5. e.g. Selection boxes/sweets/chocolates for the younger athletes and Bottle of Wine/Box of Biscuits, etc for the adults.

We're hoping for a large turnout on the day with cash prizes up for grabs.

Calendar for December 2005                             Link to Kelvin Hall closures (December)

All of the U11's to U17's should follow this plan unless they have made alternative arrangements with their individual coach.

For the information of our new members, when you attend training nights at the Kelvin Hall, you should pay for a junior ticket for the track at the reception and then make your way to our rendezvous point between sections K and L of the grandstand.

 

	Thursday 1st - Scotstoun
Sunday 4th - Kelvin Hall - Indoor League
Tuesday 6th - Kelvin Hall	Thursday 8th - Scotstoun
Sunday 10th - Schools Pentathlon International KH / West Dist X Country - Irvine
Tuesday 13th - Kelvin Hall	Thursday 15th - Scotstoun (Starters Hut)
Saturday 17th - Xmas Handicap - Scotstoun
Tuesday 20th - Kelvin Hall	Thursday 22nd - Scotstoun

Thursday 15th - Starters Hut (Pavilion Closed)

The sprint group will also train at 10.30am on Sundays at the Kelvin Hall.  Ricky has asked for the sprint group to meet him in front of the pole vault mat at the 60m start.

Coaches Meeting - Wednesday 7th December

A reminder to all of the club coaches that a meeting will take place in the Pavilion from 7pm on Wednesday the 7th of December.  Please attend if at all possible.

Special Training Event - Kelvin Hall - Friday 16th December

Joanna Ross, our current club record holder at 800m and 1500m and a current GB international athlete and her coach (John Lees) have accepted an invitation from Graham Smith to host a training session at the Kelvin Hall on Friday 16th December at 7pm for a 7.30pm start.

This is an excellent opportunity for any of our young athletes to come along and get the experience of working with and listening to one of our top athletes.

Graham is hoping to arrange more of these training sessions with our other international athletes in the near future.

Glasgow City Council; Indoor Open Graded Meeting

Date, Start Times and Events.

30 November 2005 - 19:00 - 200m, 800m, 2000m, 60H (2 runs),  High Jump, Triple Jump, Shot Putt.

Registration begins two hours before the first timetabled event and closes one hour after the first timetabled event.

Entry is £2.00 per event.

Track events will be run from fastest to slowest heats.

Field events will be organised so that Senior and Under 20 athletes compete against each other if numbers and time permit.

Bag Packing – Sunday 27^th November

What a result, a tremendous effort by all the bag packers.  We were so proud of everyone who was able to attend. Over 30 athletes, parents and coaches turned up on the day.

We appreciated all of the help we received from those who manned the checkouts from 12pm till 6pm, those who managed a few hours between their other commitments and parents who helped out with duties from bag packing to providing the transport.

It was a great success, I can tell you that it took a family of five over 3 hours to count the takings which are listed here:

Well done to everyone who helped with an enjoyable and profitable day.  It came as no surprise to anyone connected with the Club that the behaviour of the athletes was a credit to Victoria Park.

Kelvin Hall - Closures for December

Bag Packing – Sunday 27^th November

Everyone who has volunteered to help with the bag packing should meet if at all possible at 1145 hours in the main concourse of Braehead shopping centre.

We will meet in the passageway that runs between Woolworth’s and W H Smith which is only 50 yards from the main entrance of Sainsbury’s.

If you are arriving later, you should still find some of our group at this location or failing that we’ll be at the checkouts.

It is most important that all of our athletes wear their Club colours.  We will not be allowed access unless we can be identified by our dress.  You can wear either an old VPAAC jacket or a club vest worn over a T shirt.  If you have out grown your club jacket, please bring it along and one of the smaller athletes could wear it.

Please arrive early if possible and we can brief you on your responsibilities.  We will have one parent or coach with each athlete until they are confident about their duties.

We’ll make sure everyone has sufficient breaks over the afternoon.

If you are having difficulty with transport, give Gordon or Linda a call on 563 7013 and we’ll try to help.

Found Property - Running Spikes

Two pairs of running spikes were left behind at Scotstoun on Tuesday 22nd November.  If you know who they belong to, contact Linda or Gordon on 563 7013.

New Club Tracksuits

We will be ordering the first batch of the new tracksuits and training tops in the next couple of weeks.  If all goes well with the bag packing at Sainsbury's on Sunday 27th, the cost of the tracksuits on the left will be £20 and £15 for the new training tops on the right.

Please speak to Linda or Gordon at one of the training nights if you want to order any of the new kit.

Concentration Game

Try out this interactive game and see how many faces you can recognise.

If you take less than 18 tries, you really need to brag about it on the message board.

Scottish Athletics - Annual Awards

Scottish Athletics held their Annual Awards Ceremony at the Strathclyde Hilton in Bellshill on Friday 18th November.

Around 300 people attended the evening including athletics legends Liz McColgan, Yvonne Murray and Steve Cram and prominent politicians Patricia Ferguson MSP and Rt Hon Sir Menzies Campbell MP.

Victoria Park's David Martin won the Bank Of Scotland U17 Male Athlete Of The Year award as a result of his successes at the British Schools, AAA's in Birmingham and for Scotland at the Celtic Games in Carmarthen.

More success followed for Victoria Park when it was announced that John Innes had won the Services To Officiating Award.  John who is currently our Membership Secretary has many other responsibilities including being Vice Convenor of Scottish Athletics Officials Commission and Chairman of the Central and South Of Scotland Athletic League.

Congratulations to David and John, everyone at Victoria Park is delighted at their success and very proud of their strong links with the Club.

The full list of Award winners can be found on the Scottish Athletics Web Site.

Coaches Meeting - Wednesday 7th December

A coaches meeting will take place in the Pavilion from 7pm on Wednesday the 7th of December.  All of the coaches are invited to attend.

Road Race - Thursday 17th November

Well done to everyone who took part in the first of our series of Road Races.  The results are recorded below.

 

U11		Time		U11		Time
Girls				Boys
1st	Iona Wilson	16.16		1st	Max Aitchison	11.03
2nd	Ruby Gray	17.49		2nd	Robbie Pollock	14.34
3rd	Danielle McLellan	17.59		3rd	Steven Thistleton	16.10
4th	Eve Dunlop	18.14

Closure Of Pavilion

Our let of the Pavilion at Scotstoun has been cancelled for one night only.  There is a special event on Thursday 15th December.  We will meet at the starters hut by the track on that date.

Dunbartonshire AAA Cross Country Championships - 12th November

A good day had a great start when Max Aitchinson won the U11 event by 23 seconds from the rest of a large field.

Paul McFarlane was 3rd in the U13 Boys race and Michael Gray was 3rd in the U15's.

Well done to all of those who took part, especially Iona Wilson who was our only female runner with so many away representing their schools at the Scottish Schools Road Relay Championships at Grangemouth.

The full results can be downloaded here.

Retiral Presentation

Tony Grundy is leaving the Club and returning to his native Cornwall.  He will be calling into the Pavilion on Thursday the 17th November at 7pm.

We would like as many of the Coaches and athletes as possible to be present at this time as we intend to present him with a parting gift.

Scottish Athletics Indoor League - 6th November 2005

The results have finally arrived and make very good reading.  The full results and total scores can be downloaded from this link as an excel spreadsheet.

U11 Boys - 1st out of 16 Clubs	U11 Girls - 5th equal out of 16 Clubs
U13 Boys - 3rd equal out of 13 Clubs	U13 Girls - 4th out of 20 Clubs
U15 Boys - 1st out of 17 Clubs	U15 Girls - 9th out of 21 Clubs
U17 Men - 3rd out of 13 Clubs	U17 Women - 3rd equal out of 16 Clubs
U20 Men - 7th out of 12 Clubs	U20 Women - 6th out of 6 Clubs

Calendar for November 2005                             See Kelvin Hall closures below

All of the U11's to U17's should follow this plan unless they have made alternative arrangements with their individual coach.

For the information of our new members, when you attend training nights at the Kelvin Hall, you should pay for a junior ticket for the track at the reception and then make your way to our rendezvous point between sections K and L of the grandstand.

The sprint group will also train at 10.30am on Sundays at the Kelvin Hall.  Ricky has asked for the sprint group to meet him in front of the pole vault mat at the 60m start.

KH Closures for November Sat 5/11 10.00am till 4.00pm Sun 6/11 10.00am till 6.00pm Sat 12/11 10.00am till 2.00pm Sun 13/11 10.00am till 2.00pm Wed 16/11 6.00pm till 10.00pm Thu 17/11 6.00pm till 10.oopm Tue 22 to Mon 28 (INCLUSIVE) Wed 30/11 2.00pm till 9.00pm

Fund Raising - Help Required

Victoria Park have been invited to take part in a Bag Packing afternoon at Sainsbury's store at Braehead on Sunday 27th November.

The purpose of this fundraising is to purchase a stock of a new style tracksuit and training tops which we can sell to our members, hopefully at a generous discount.

We are looking for as many volunteers as possible.  The bag packers must be at least 10 years of age on that date.  We also need some parents to come along and help with the supervision (no age restriction).

We will be allowed into the store from 1200 hrs till 1800 hrs.

Our packers must wear their Club colours, which would be either the last Club tracksuit top or the Club running vest over a T shirt.

I would ask any of our older members who have grown out of the last tracksuit top and are finished with it, to return it to Linda or Gordon and we can arrange for someone to wear it on the day.

We would like as many of the U17 and U15 athletes as possible to make themselves available for the full 6 hours if possible (with breaks).

We would like to break the participation of the U13 and U11 athletes down to a maximum of 3 hours starting at either 1200 hrs or 1500 hrs.

We expect the afternoon concerned to be hard work but also very enjoyable, if you are available, please give your name to Linda or Gordon.  The more packers we have in the store, the more money the Club will make.

The following athletes have volunteered to help on the day of the bag packing.  Any other volunteers will be added to the list.  We now need volunteers from the U11's, U13's and parents to come forward.

 

Athletes
Abbey McGhee U17	Aisling McGhee U17	Calum Innes U17
Gregor Innes U17	Stewart Booth U17	Rebecca Riches U17
Katie Riches U17	Alison Innes U15	Gillian Galloway U17
Moira Burton U20	Caitlin Tullett U15	Yvonne McFarlane U17
Rebecca Kay U15	Calum Hamilton U15	Michael Gray U15
Jonathan Byrne-Leitch U15	Chris Bennett U17	Jamie Sinclair U17
Sarah Simpson Gray U17	Niall Murray U17	Paul McFarlane U13
Martin Hayes U20	Lewis Wilson U13	Sam Andrew U13
Abby Marshall U15	Max Aitchinson U11	Emma Mills U15
Arriving after 1500 hrs
Andrew Craib U15	Daniel Craib U13	Lorn Menzies U17
Parents - Supervisors
Gordon Innes	Christine Stoops	Margaret Bennett
Linda Sinclair	Linda Innes	Kenny Gray
Jim Harvie	Donald Lewis	Catherine Marshall
Cathy Menzies	Robert Andrew

Glasgow City Council; Indoor Open Graded Meetings 2006.

Date, Start Times and Events.

30 November 2005 - 19:00 - 200m, 800m, 2000m, 60H (2 runs),  High Jump, Triple Jump, Shot Putt.

28 December 2005 - 14:00 - 400m (U20/Senior), 200m, 1500m, 3000m, 60H, High Jump, Pole Vault, Triple Jump, Shot Putt.

3 January 2006 - 14:00 - 60m (2runs), 300m, 600m (U17/20/Senior), 2000m, High Jump, Pole Vault, Long Jump, Shot Putt.

15 February 2006 - 19:00 - 200m, 400m (u20/Senior), 1500m, 3000m, 60H, High Jump, Pole Vault, Long Jump, Shot Putt.

Registration begins two hours before the first timetabled event and closes one hour after the first timetabled event.

Entry is £2.00 per event.

Track events will be run from fastest to slowest heats.

Field events will be organised so that Senior and Under 20 athletes compete against each other if numbers and time permit.

Glasgow City Council - Coach Education Courses

The courses are;
Level II on 12/13 November - £120.00
Level I Course 0n 20 November - £50.00

Grants of up to 50% of costs, will be available from Glasgow City Council (as long as you meet requirements). You should also be able to get assistance from Victoria Park to attend such courses (usually 50%).

Coaches within the City, in particular technical field events are in very short supply. Athletes and Coaches interested will be given as much assistance from Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Athletics Association to support your coaching development.

Brian Donaldson, Athletics Coach and Development Officer, Sport and Recreation, Cultural and Leisure Services, Glasgow City Council, 20 Trongate, Glasgow.  G1 5ES

Tel. +44 (0)141 287 4725                                 Fax. +44 (0)141 287 3558

Glasgow Throws Sessions

Sunday 6th December sees the start of the Glasgow Throws Sessions.  They take place at Scotstoun from 11am till 1.00pm. The sessions are for athletes aged 15 and upwards.

The sessions are designed to support coaches and athletes in their development and I would strongly ask you to ensure coaches working with young athletes know that these sessions are available.

Please Note, these sessions are not come and try days.

Brian Donaldson, Athletics Coach and Development Officer, Sport and Recreation, Cultural and Leisure Services, Glasgow City Council, 20 Trongate, Glasgow.  G1 5ES

Tel. +44 (0)141 287 4725                                 Fax. +44 (0)141 287 3558

Scottish Athletics Indoor League

Victoria Park have once again entered teams for males and females from U11 to U20 in the Scottish Athletics Indoor League.  Three meetings over the winter at the Kelvin Hall arena will decide which teams make it through to the final on the 12th of March.

Anyone who would like to take part should contact their team manager as soon as possible.  Kate Young for the Boys and Linda Innes for the girls.

On Saturday the 22^nd of October the National Cross Country Championships were held at Cumbernauld.

Victoria Park entered two teams in the young males category and were placed 12^th and 52^nd out of over 60 teams.

The senior mens A team finished 27^th out of over 90 teams.

Full results can be found here.

On Saturday the 15^th of October, the Dunbartonshire Cross Country Relays were held at Garscube Estate with Victoria Park co hosting the event with Garscube Harriers.

Victoria Park U13 boys team comprising of Paul McFarlane, Jax Thoirs and Lewis Wilson finished in 2^nd place with an individual 2^nd place going to Paul McFarlane.

Gregor Innes took first place in the U15 race.

The U17 mens team comprising of Martin Hayes, Stewart Booth and Niall Murray finished in 1^st place.

For the girls, Emma Mills finished 2nd in the U15's, Laura Jean Struthers finished 10th in the U13's and Iona Wilson finished 8th in the U11's.

In the senior mens race, Victoria Park ‘A’ comprising of Andy Young, Derek Watson Jnr, Gordon Moore and Gerry Craig finished in 2^nd place with Victoria Park ‘B’ finishing in 9^th place.

Derek Watson Jnr recorded the fastest individual time of the Championships.

Full results can be found here.

On Saturday the 8^th of October, the West District Cross Country Relays were held at Ayr.

Victoria Park had two young male teams competing and finished 13^th and 32^nd  out  of 48 teams.

The senior men’s A team finished 19^th in a field of 54 teams.

Full results can be found here.

A4 Poster

Scotstoun Leisure Centre have agreed to display a new poster advertising the Club Web Site.  Copies can be downloaded here if your local school, Sports Centre or other suitable location is agreeable to it's display.

Copies can also be obtained from Gordon or Linda.

Previous versions of the news page are archived below.

June - July 2005.

August - September 2005.

October - November 2005.