Colchester Harriers Athletic Club
During the evening of Thursday 27 March 2008, I attended a Meeting of the representatives of the 53/12 Cross Country League, held at The Arena Club.
Most participating Clubs attended.
All those present expressed a view that the season was a success and all the races were well organised, the courses were good and generally the feed back from those taking part had been positive. 53/12 expressed a view that they will continue with their sponsorship.
The league AGM will be held at the Arena Club on Thursday 19 June 2008 at 8pm. Numerous observations and suggestions were made with a view that they should be taken back to Club members for feedback to the AGM so that if changes are to be made they are as far as possible agreed by the majority taking part.
The following is a précis of my understanding of the suggestions:-
Club Vests. Should that mean official Club vests or just any old T shirt in Club Colours? It seems that club colours are now accepted. This could be the cause of some of the confusion arising out of guest runners taking part. I believe that Club vests should be worn. NO CLUB VEST, means NO DISC GIVEN. End of story.
Guest Runners – should they be allowed? Do we have enough entries without them?
Juniors. This season results have been a problem. Peter TANNER kept this one to himself and as a result, those picking up the pieces have had difficulty. The problem may be due to the fact that the sponsors are giving out too many prizes, added to the fact that they are numerous age groups all adds to the problem. 53/12 will look at this, there may be less prizes for positions and add some spot prizes for interest. It was also suggested that the junior race should start after the main race in an effort to retain runners and the extra time will allow results to be announced promptly. I can see problems with this as most juniors attend with parents who are not themselves taking part and a late start for them may interrupt other arrangements for that day. Most parents have other kids who are participating in other sports and the result may be that we lose some of our juniors.
Ladies. Numbers have decreased, ratio to men about 2 to 1 therefore it has been suggested that team numbers should change to Pool A- 8 men and 4 women. Pool B – 6 men and 3 women. Any observations on this?
Results. One Club suggested that results could be left until later in the day and then circulated via the internet. Some thought a good idea but not well received.
Additional Clubs. Some representatives suggested that other Clubs had shown an interest in joining the league. My view is that if we are having difficulty now with results, finding suitable courses and facilities, why cause additional problems with larger numbers. Even a poor turn out is really more than most hosts can safely handle and refreshments would be a nightmare.
Host Clubs. Additional help. Suggested that teams provide Marshals to assist. Good idea, I’ll leave that for others to decide.
Generally it was a good meeting and it seemed to me that in the past one or two representatives have got their own way on rule changes. I believe that all those interested should have some input and this is the reason I have circulated this information to all of the Committee. I don’t want rule changes imposed on us without proper consultations and the views obtained from runners and parents of our juniors, who may be affected the most.
This item will be on the agenda at the next meeting for your views please, so that we can instruct Gerry to make our suggestions known at the AGM.
Yesterday I received a copy of the meeting minutes and on reading them it appears that what was put forwards as suggestions have now in general become proposals. May be a typing error but who knows. Time will tell.
Any ideas please? hopefully only those I dare put into print.
Lance Williams
Chairperson