As a club, Newcastle AC has created a name for itself as a successful running club. Yet the name clearly indicates that Newcastle is an Athletics Club and it is a club that has nurtured the track and field talents of its members from an early age and has been represented by athletes at the highest levels.

Yet this nurturing of talent all begins on a Monday Evening, in the grounds of Shimna Collage with our junior squad.

As a club dedicated to its members, it equally invests in its coaches with regular opportunities to complete certified coaching courses and attend various CPD events to ensure that our members, young and old, receive the best possible training available across all disciplines.

On Friday, 38 Junior members attended a joint coaching day in conjunction with the Athletics NI, StarTrack Programme. We welcomed Eilish Ward and her team of Athletics NI coaches to Newcastle where the groups had the opportunity to embrace a multi event programme across the day.

From age 8 to 18, our junior members got expert coaching in Javilin, High Jump, Long Jump and Hurdles. With many members showing a natural flare for individual events.

The Junior training is developed inline with the the Athletics 365 programme which encourages a multi event approach to athlete development covering the fundamentals and foundation levels of Running, Throwing and Jumping.

This coaching day also allowed for the current coaching team to develop their theoretical knowledge, learn from specialist coaches and discuss planning and various approaches to the incoming term.

It was a very successful and fun day. Even the soaring midday heat of the warmest day of the year didn’t deter everyone from gaining something from the day. A bonus of a delivery of ice lollies was a welcome addition. A massive thank you to the junior coaches, Ryan, Sinead, Judith, Thomas, Siobhan, Lynda and Catherine who gave up their day to support this event.

As always the team look forward to working collaboratively with Athletics NI in the near future to further develop their knowledge and skill base to benefit the club and their members.

Report by Siobhan Grant

The junior squad show off their ANI merchandise

Testing out their throwing skills under clear blue skies

The P7 and under group work on their High Jump approach with U runs