With Summer finally here, we are coming up on our last training session of the term next Tuesday, June 15.
We want to thank all the athletes for their hard work and compliance with the Covid regulations since we started back, we’ve really enjoyed our time at training over these past few weeks.
With the reopening of the country and the return to normal activities, we have been informed that Connacht Athletics and Athletics Ireland will be holding competition for juvenile athletes this year. However, there will be severe restrictions on numbers allowed to compete at provincial and national level which ultimately means that qualifying for both competitions will be much more restricted.
It will, in all likelihood, mean qualification through County competitions – in the past, the only athletes who needed to qualify to compete in Connacht were those competitors who are U9, U10 and U11 and they competed in a “Team competition” in units of two where their combined scores determined who are the winners.
Leitrim, the county to which Carrick AC is affiliated regardless of whether our members live in Leitrim, Roscommon or Sligo, will also have to hold qualifying competitions for U12, U13, U14, U15 and right up to U19.
To help us organise these championships smoothly, we need to know which members are interested in taking part and if they will be available at the time of the competitions.
We know with the last 12 months that we have had, people are planning on taking holidays over the Summer and these competitions are normally over by the end of June/mid-July so we don’t want to interfere with anyone’s plans or cause any problems for anyone.
Just to let everyone know, the following are the dates for Connacht & All-Ireland competition:
- Saturday July 10: Connacht U9, 10 & 11 Team Games (U9 is for athletes born in 2013, U10 for athletes born in 2012, U11 for athletes born in 2011)
- Saturday July 17: Connacht U14 to 19 Track & Field individual (U14 athletes born in 2008)
- Sunday July 18: Connacht U12 & 13 Track & Field individual (U12 athletes born 2010, U11 athletes born 2011)
- August 7 & 8: Athletics Ireland U14-U19 Track & Field
- Saturday August 14: Athletics Ireland U12-19 Track & Field (U12-13 Field events)
- Saturday August 21: Athletics Ireland U12 & U13 Track & Field and U9, U10 & U11 Team Events
If your child is interested in taking part and attempting to qualify for the Connacht or All-Ireland events, please let us know either via WhatsApp to one of the club coaches or to club secretary John Connolly at connollyjohnb@gmail.com. If you don’t let us know, we will take it that they are not interested in competing.
It is very important that if an athlete is picked for the Team competition, they must be available as it is the combined scores of two athletes, not individual competition – if one member of a selected team does not turn up, the other member cannot compete.
Knowing who wants to compete will enable us to hold training for those athletes and those who qualify for further events.
When we get some clarity as to when the Leitrim qualification events will be held, we will let everyone know as soon as possible.
Thank you and we hope everyone enjoys their Summer.
- Carrick-on-Shannon AC Juvenile Coaches
