ANNUAL REPORT 2017/18 1 2017/18 ANNUAL REPORT INDEX REPORT PAGE President 3 Chairman 4 Honorary Treasurer 5 Cross Country 8 Road Running 15 Track & Field 23 2018 Track & Field Champions 28 Standards 35 Northern Athletics Executive Board 2017/18 President Kevin Carr Chairman Tony Wood Treasurer Nigel Orr Cross Country representatives Steve Gaines Arwel Williams Road Running representatives Bob Brimage Ken Smith Track & Field representatives Malcolm Fletcher Malcolm Rogers Elaine Williams (co-opted) Secretariat Judith Temperton Pat Schofield OBITUARIES Northern Athletics would like to extend condolences to the families of friends and colleagues who have passed away during the year, including: Sheila Bolland Jim Green Dave McDonald Dr Alan Neuff Mike Nicholson Brian Spriggs Roy West 2 PRESIDENT’S REPORT This has been a year that will stick in my memory forever, as never in my wildest dreams did I think that one day I would become the President of Northern Athletics. It has been a great honour for me and my club Sunderland Harriers as it was way back in 1907 that the honour of Northern President was last bestowed on a Sunderland Harrier. Shortly after my appointment, I was off on my first assignment to the Border Harriers Brampton to Carlisle 10 mile Road Race. This is the oldest 10 mile road race in the UK and played host once again to the Northern Championship. I competed in this event myself some years ago and I know how fast this course can be especially if the wind is blowing in the right direction. This was the case on the day with the winner just missing out on dipping below the 50 minute barrier. New Year’s Eve took me to Clitheroe and a warm welcome from our chairman Tony Wood for the Ribble Valley 10k, which had a class field to give the Northern title race the prominence the championship event deserves. Being a road and cross country man these were events that got my presidency off to a splendid start. The third Northern Championship race was at Silksworth in Sunderland – the 5k - organised by myself and just a mile from my front door! I’m pleased to say the times recorded lived up to the standard of a Northern Championship event which thankfully impressed Northern Athletics Championship Road Running Secretary Ken Smith. The Cross Country Championships were held at a new venue at Harewood, near Leeds, and was also used as a trial for the 2019 National Cross Country Championships. I’m pleased to say it came through the test with flying colours. I also visited Sheffield for the indoor championships and was very impressed with the facilities provided and their smooth running through the dedicated professionalism of the Northern technical officials. The Senior Track and Field Championship at Sports City and the Young Athletes Championship at Wavertree Stadium were other highlights for me over the summer. The Senior and Young Athletes Road Relays are a favourite of mine as we have hosted this event at Sunderland many times. It has certainly grown over the years at the Sport City venue and the facilities available here are superb. As well as attending the Northern Championship events I have also had the pleasure of attending the Executive Board committee meetings. The work done by a very small number of elected officials and the office staff is remarkable. They deserve our thanks for the commitment they give to Northern Athletics. Finally, I rounded off my year of office at the Northern Cross Country Relay Championships at Graves Park in Sheffield. The sun eventually shone to signal my year of duties as Northern Athletics President had come to an end. Thanks again for the support offered to me during my year of office. Kevin Carr 2017/18 President 3 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT You will recall that our annual meeting last year we asked you to vote in principle in favour of our proposed affiliation scheme which the clubs present did. We then moved into a period of consultation with all the clubs in the North and after listening to your input we asked clubs to express an intention to join the scheme in the period up to April 1 st this year. By that date we had over 100 clubs giving us the green light to adopt the scheme and on that basis we agreed it was viable both in principle and financially. We asked the clubs to commit to a club affiliation scheme whereby each club would pay a sum to Northern Athletics representing £2 per EA registered athlete within that club as at the 1 st October 2018. By the time that date had been reached we had over 170 clubs committed. Following letters from our office requesting payment we can now announce that we have received income of approximately £57,000.00 with some clubs still to pay. On behalf of the Board of Northern Athletics I want to pass on my heartfelt gratitude to all of you who are now part of this new era. It has not been an easy ride and much work has been put into this by people who believed in our aims. It also on occasions resulted in a number of you within your clubs standing up and fighting our corner. If it wasn’t a fight then it was at least a reasoned argument in favour of supporting Northern Athletics and all we stood for. If you had not been prepared to stand up and be counted we certainly could not have relied on anybody else nor any other organisation within our sport to ensure our survival. There are currently arguments and disputes between England Athletics and UK Athletics, there has been the resignation of UKA’s chief executive and the request for UKA’s chairman to stand down by the UK Member’s Council. There have been warnings to the national governing bodies to mediate a settlement from Sport England to avoid further loss of funding for athletics and of course there is always the potential reduction in government funding generally. It does not take much imagination to realise life is not peaceful for those that are using or applying for government money and of course using our money, in terms of registration fees. Whether some of that discord is of their own making only time will tell. Meanwhile the clubs, the counties and the areas need to look after themselves. By virtue of our scheme we have gone some way towards achieving that and the 174 clubs who are now part of us have played a huge part in making that happen. As Churchill said of a very significant turning point in history ‘This is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning’. So in that vein for the next year we shall consult the clubs on the way forward from here. This we believe would be best done by a survey and the clubs themselves can input into the questions to be part of that survey. We hope this is a democratic and useful way to proceed. We acted on the results of the last survey and we will use the results of this one to develop our plans. We shall keep everybody informed throughout. Meanwhile and thankfully we have been able to carry on doing what we are best at by holding great Northern Championships and this can now continue without the threat of closure hanging over us. We are grateful to all those who help us put on those events in particular the clubs who support us every time we ask and of course the officials who, rain or shine, make it work on the day. Today is a day to say to all of you ‘Thank You’ for saving a wonderful competition provider by recognising the issues we had and then committing to us. It will send out a message to the rest of the country that this can be done and clubs can determine their future regardless of the doubts others want to place on their ambitions. You and Northern Athletics have made this happen and in the future 2018 will be looked upon with pride as the year we managed to preserve an absolutely essential cog within the sport of athletics. Long may we continue. Tony Wood Chairman 4 HONORARY TREASURER’S REPORT For the financial year 2017-18, the income and expenditure account shows a net surplus for the year of £14,907, (2016-17 = £24,391) and the balance sheet shows that at 31 st March 2018 the net assets of Northern Athletics were £262,593. The surplus includes an annual competition grant of £41,000 from England Athletics and the overall financial position has been helped by a combination of organising increasingly popular and successful events and an ongoing review of the running costs of the organisation. The success of the events is primarily down to the hard work of the many volunteers and staff that promote, organise and facilitate the events. The income and expenditure account provides details of the long-standing support and sponsorship income from Start Fitness, an internet and retail-based sportswear supplier and manufacturer, who provide support of £12,000 for the track and field and cross-country championships, which remains a valuable and much appreciated source of funding. A concerted effort has been made over a number of years to review and reduce running costs of the organisation where appropriate. As a result, over the last three years there have been annual savings in running costs of £11,145 (12%); £7,401 (9%) and £1,333 (2%).