TRACK AND FIELD
Summer track and field
Sprints, endurance, jumps and throws, in a league built as a bridge between school and club competition.
What the summer season looks like
Vale of York competes in the West Yorkshire Track and Field League, founded in 1968 to bridge the gap between school and club competition. It is still doing that job. There are around six fixtures across the spring and summer, a mix of Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, with a championship meeting in September.
Each fixture scores points for the first six athletes in every event, and an athlete can enter up to three events. The club total is simply the sum of what its athletes score. That format rewards breadth rather than star quality, so a team of willing all rounders does well, and there is a genuine place for someone who is new to an event.
You do not need to be an established athlete to start. Newcomers are welcome, and most people settle on two or three events within a season rather than trying everything.
Coaching is led by England Athletics licensed coaches who are Enhanced DBS checked. Between them the coaching team covers sprints and hurdles, middle distance and endurance, jumps and throws. Our head coach is a national M55 decathlon champion, which is to say he has had to be competent at all ten of them.
The details
- League
- West Yorkshire Track and Field League
- Season
- Spring and summer, with a championship meeting in September
- Training
- Monday 6.30–7.30pm on the all-weather track at Tadcaster Grammar, and Saturday 10.00–11.30am at York
- Who competes
- From Year 5 upwards
- Age groups
- U12, U14, U16, U18, seniors and masters
- Events
- Sprints and hurdles, middle distance and endurance, jumps, throws
- Joining
- Open to newcomers, not only to existing athletes
- Cost
- Club membership £14.50 a month, with England Athletics registration included from U12 upwards. A club vest is £25, and race entries are paid by the athlete
- Coaches
- England Athletics licensed and Enhanced DBS checked
Where the training happens
Two sessions feed the summer track season. Both are coached, and both are open to age group athletes and adults.
Mondays, 6.30 to 7.30pm
Tadcaster Grammar School
The club’s main weekly track session for age group athletes, on the school track. Athletes train in groups rather than all doing the same thing.
Saturdays, 10.00 to 11.30am
Track at York
Ninety minutes on the all weather track at the University of York from September to May, moving outdoors to York St John over the summer.
Athletes who want to race
If training on its own has stopped being the point, this is where the season goes.
Anyone with an event in mind
Most athletes settle on two or three events. Three is the maximum per fixture anyway.
Winter runners in summer
Cross country and road racing fill the winter. This is what the summer is for.
Ask about track and field
Tell us roughly where you are now and what you fancy trying. A real person reads these, and there is no obligation.
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