Junior Christmas Party 2013

A Tasty Time at The Tosc
by Santa’s Little Helper
Photos
The Non-Runner is currently on holidays as she was under the false impression that, as this was not an actual race, there was no report necessary.  HA! How we all laughed at her silliness!!  Thankfully Santa’s Little Helper has stepped into the breach to cover up any unnecessary embarrassment.  (It’s still me folks, I’ve just put on a Santa hat)

Just over 60 of our Junior crew arrived to take part in their now legendary Christmas party, everyone turned up looking totally FAB-u-lous in their party gear and some were even seen to be sporting this year’s essential fashion item, The NAC fleece!  Some of us seniors need a new one, must have a word with Santa about that…It was a very relaxed and convivial atmosphere as the girls and boys of Newcastle AC mingled and awaited their delicious pizza and chips made by Marco of The Toscano. For once the weather wasn’t a factor in our gathering, but the view of the choppy sea must be mentioned, we had a lovely view of Newcastle promenade.  A word of thanks to Marco, Sheila, Lucia, Carlo and to all of the Tosc staff who were very efficient in their attention to our kids.  No-one was missed out and everyone who wanted a feast of pizza, chips and garlic bread were well satisfied with the lovely food. Some coaches were even seen to be tucking in to some of the surplus (I must say that pizza was very good…)

After our feasting we proceeded with the main event, THE QUIZ!  At this stage 10 of the coaches/adults present were appointed a team of young ‘uns to watch over.  It was at this stage that I instantly regretted not paying closer attention to the emails previously circulated by the coaches with their completed quiz rounds-including the answers to the questions!.  At least I was sure of my own Movie Quiz round.  The Red Dragons are a clever bunch and didn’t need my help-except for one question.  For once Darragh didn’t have to spend many hours over the spreadsheets to come up with the results.  If my memory serves me correctly the winners were in the lead from the very first round, we all tried in vain to catch up with them, but to no avail.  It must have been the cleverness of their team name that did it- they called themselves Quizee Rascals…gettit??  In no particular order, the rest of the teams were, The Red Dragons, Turbo, Twinkle Toes Team Awesome, Chagir Athletes, Google, Team 85, Tinsel, Seasiders and the ironically titled The Winners.  As we are an athletics club the competition was fierce, smartphones were banned and the coaches brains were pickled by the time the quiz was over, I KNEW there were 15 players in a Rugby Union Team, but would they listen to me?! No!  What was the prize we were all competing so eagerly for?  2 Chocolate Flakes for our ice-cream to the winning team and 1 Chocolate Flake to the runners up.  We would like to extend a big thank you to the guys at base coffee company, Central Promenade, Newcastle who generously donated the Flakes.  Surely chocolate is the perfect incentive and prize!  The rest of us could only watch in envy as the lucky guys tucked into their delicious winnings!

We rounded off the festivities with the raffle, thank you to all the parents who donated the great prizes, also another thank you to base coffee company who very generously donated coffee vouchers to accompany the raffle prizes.  The coaches are pleased that most of their children came home with a prize, some even managed a clean sweep.

Finally an important word about the young people that this is all about, the children of Newcastle Athletics Club.  Without those guys there would be no club, no McGrady FS XC series, and no party!  Thank you to everyone who came along today to support their club, it’s not all about racing.  It’s also about confidence, being sociable, making friends and having fun.  We hope everyone enjoyed the party, there was a great atmosphere and we would like to compliment everyone on their great behaviour.  Well done everyone!

We wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful, healthy and happy 2014.