Harmeny Athletic Club Fact Sheet

Welcome to Harmeny Athletic Club. This fact sheet is for newcomers and their parents / guardians, but it may also be useful to existing members.

The Objectives of the club are to promote physical activity for all ages, especially youngsters from the age of 9 upwards, and to provide competitive opportunities for young talent to emerge. Training is based on running, jumping and throwing activities. We aim to improve general fitness and co-ordination.

Club Organisation: We are a self-funding, voluntary organisation run mainly by keen parents. We rely on parents to help out at training and the more enthusiastic ones are encouraged to take a coaching qualification. The club is a member of Scottish Athletics, and our coaches are registered with UK Athletics.

The sport of Athletics (sometimes called Track and Field): It is really several different sports as it includes sprinting, distance running, jumping and throwing. We encourage younger members to have a go at most things. We expect members to be available for club teams.

Membership: Our membership year runs from 1 Oct to 30 Sep. Newcomers can come along for a few weeks to see what it is like before joining. After 4-5 weeks you will be required to join (currently £25).

Nightly Charges There is also a charge of £2.00 per night at High School to cover the cost of the school facilities etc.

Training times: Children (from age 9): Balerno High School, Monday & Wednesday 6.00 - 7.00 pm. (Closed on school holidays) When there is sufficient daylight, and the weather is kind, we will be in Malleny Park, otherwise we will be in the Games Hall and / or Gymnasium. Registration is at the door of the Games Hall. Coaches: Dave Law, Bob Douglas, Derek Johnstone, Sue Torkington, Heather Packwood, Karen Cameron, Craig Stewart, Graeme Stewart Coaching Assistants: Gareth Mitchell (S)

Older Juniors – Adult): Saughton Track, Thursdays evenings, 6.45 – 8.00 All year track sessions for the more mature & committed athletes. Some LJ & throws work. Coaches: Bob Douglas, Craig Stewart

Development Groups: Additional Saturday or Sunday training will be organised for older athletes targeting specific events.

Adult Helpers: We require all families to take a turn once per child per term helping our coaches at training.

Harmeny Club Colours The Club's official colours are a red vest with a green diagonal stripe over the right shoulder. In inter-club league competitions and Championships club colours must be worn, but it’s not compulsory for most other events. We take a stock of vest to team events, but athletes who enter several events on an individual basis should consider purchasing a club vest.

The dream starts here: Over the years we have had several youngsters and adults who have won individual and team medals in District and National Championships. A small number of our former junior members have progressed to become Scottish Internationalists. You don’t know what you can achieve until you try.

Harmeny Athletic Club Brief History

Early Days: Harmeny Athletic Club was founded in 1977 by David Hammond of Harmeny School, Balerno, for the benefit of the school's pupils who were not allowed to compete in SAAA events. Early on, the School (and Club) won the Thistle Award for primary schools 2 years in a row, beating Rannoch, Heriots et al.

After two years, the club became open and under the leadership of Ken Jack members were recruited from the , Balerno and areas of .

For most of our history the mainstay of the club’s activities were Track & Field competitions in the summer and cross-country in the winter. By the 1990’s we were competing in five T&F leagues, which meant putting out teams covering all age groups from U11 to Veteran most week-ends in the summer, plus some mid-week teams.

The appeal of league competition has diminished in since 2000, as fewer clubs were able to compete across the age and event ranges (a trend encouraged by Scottish Athletics promoting single division super-club leagues). In spite of being a relatively small club, in 2001 our Men’s 4 x 100m relay team set the record in the Central & South of Scotland League with a time of 44.1s, and in 2002 we were runner-up club in the Scottish Athletics “Club of the Year” Awards following the successes of our juniors in National relay competitions where we had 3 medal winning teams, and at the Edinburgh International Games.

Since 2004 our focus has been on community based activities. Current Track and Field competition is geared towards local youngsters who compete in the Forth Valley League at U11, U13 and U15 level.

We also enter teams in various age group team or relay events.

We also field age teams in the local Cross-Country League

Harmeny Pentland Runners: Although the club has always had a few adult road-runners it wasn’t until 1997 that Bob & Anne Douglas set up a Sunday morning running group. In 2002 we were one of the first Scottish clubs to join in the jogScotland scheme launched by Scottish Athletics to promote the recreational side of running. We introduced the branding of Harmeny Pentland Runners to encourage non-competitive runners, and Bob & Anne worked with former UK Olympic competitor Christina Boxer to get our first Wednesday evening jogScotland beginner programme under way.

We have run jogScotland beginner programmes most years since, and the Sunday and Wednesday groups have expanded to encompass runners of all abilities.

Harmeny Athletic Club Competitions

Harmeny Athletic Club enters teams in several competitions, and as members progress through the age groups many enter individual competitions.

Members must be 9 years old before they can compete, however we organise a number of informal events internally and with other local which are open to 8 year-olds to give everyone a flavour of competition.

We expect everyone 9 & over to be available for team competitions at least two or three times a year, hopefully more.

Harmeny Team Competitions Summer: Forth Valley League (FVL): Track and field team matches for U11, U13 and U15 age groups. Matches are held in April, May/June and August. The format of this competition requires us to select two competitors per event for the events on the programme.

Autumn-Winter: East District Cross-Country League: Racing over grass or trails for U11, U13, U15, U17 and Senior age groups. Matches are usually held in October, December and January. There is no limit to the number of team members we can enter in each race, so everyone should expect to run at least once.

The age groups in for the 2015 track season are: U11 1/9/04 – 31/8/06 (and at least 9 years old on the day) U13 1/9/02– 31/8/04 U15 1/9/00 – 31/8/02 U17 1/9/98 – 31/8/00

U12 Superteams: This event is organised by Scottish Athletics for teams of four. All team members do three individual events and a team relay. Scoring is based on points for everyone’s performances.

There are Indoor and Outdoor Superteams competitions:  Indoors (Jan / Feb): Emirates Arena, Glasgow. Events: Long Jump (or HJ), 60m sprint, Shot Putt and 4 x 200m relay.  Outdoors (June/ July): Events: Long Jump, 100m Sprint, Shot Putt, 4 x 100m relay.

There is no limit on the number of teams clubs can enter, so will be looking far all members in this age group to set this competition as one of their goals.

Scottish U13, U15, U17 Relay Championship: If we believe we have squads of athletes who are capable enough we will enter teams in 4 x 200m (indoors) 4 x 100m and / or 3 x 800m Championship Relays. In the last few years we entered several relay teams in both the Indoor and Outdoor Championships.

Individual events: East District and National Championships (U13, U15, U17, Seniors, Masters): Competing, and winning medals, is a realistic target for many members. We will organise specific training for those who are targeting Championships.

Open Graded Meetings: There are a number of clubs and Local Authorities who organise events that anyone (aged 9 & over) can enter. An increasing number of our more capable athletes regularly attend these. The best ones are organised by Falkirk Council at Grangemouth Stadium on the first Wednesday of each month.

There are other competitions which appear during the year which we’ll publicise if we think there will be interest.

Information about these and other competitions or Fun Runs is on the Scottish Athletics Website at http://www.scottishathletics.org.uk

All of the above depends on the support and active involvement of parents! Your help is required and appreciated.

Harmeny Athletic Club Contacts

Core Committee Club Secretary Craig Stewart 453 6623 Welfare Officer Judith Campbell 466 7179 Membership Secretary Norma Bone 449 2384 Treasurer Lorna Broadhurst 442 1798

Coaching Team BHS Monday Dave Law 478 3014 Bob Douglas 449 6105 Derek Johnston 339 0290 Heather Packwood 466 2252 Craig Stewart 453 6623 Karen Cameron 447 5174

BHS Wednesday Dave Law 478 3014 Sue Torkington 441 3399 Karen Cameron 447 5174 Graeme Stewart 449 9818

Saughton Thursday Bob Douglas 449 6105 Craig Stewart 453 6623

Competition Team Management Forth Valley League Sue Torkington 441 3399 Cross-Country Craig Stewart 453 6623 Superteams / SAL Relays Craig Stewart 453 6623 + co-opted parents

Any Parent or Helper who wishes to be actively involved in coaching, team management or admin tasks is eligible to attend Committee meetings and post-training reviews.

Harmeny Pentland Runners Kirsty Stoddart 449 6624

Harmeny Athletic Club Important notes for Parents

We’d like to welcome your child / children to Harmeny Athletic Club and hope he / she / they enjoy their time with us. We also hope that some will emulate many previous members who have gone on to win Scottish Championship medals and represent Scotland in international competitions.

Harmeny Athletic Club is entirely self-organised by parents and some of our older athletes, and is entirely self-funded. As part of the condition of juniors attending the club we will require parents / guardians from every family to take turns at assisting the coaches on training nights and to help out with team management at inter-club competitions.

Once you have been contacted with a date for helping out, it will be your responsibility to find a replacement if you are unable to attend.

Our coaches (who also have day jobs and their own personal commitments!) have the right to limit the number of children they will take on any given night if there are insufficient helpers.

Occasionally, we or Balerno High School may cancel training at very short notice.

Attached is some of information about what’s involved in helping out – it’s quite simple once you’ve been along a couple of times.

It is the responsibility of parents to bring youngsters into the school for registration at 6:00 pm and remain until the coaches on duty accept them into the training session.

Please ensure that your child is collected promptly when training finishes at 7:00.

Fees and Membership The nightly fees are £2.00 per person. Please ensure that your child has the money available when we take registration. (The right change helps enormously!)

Our membership year runs from the 1st October to the 30th September. Juniors who have been attending before the 30th September must join by the end of October. Juniors starting during the membership year must join within four weeks of their first week if they wish to continue attending. If for any reason the coaches need to limit numbers, priority will be given to paid-up members.

Training We provide juniors with a charter which set out some of the standards we expect. Ultimately it is the parent’s responsibility to ensure their child is suitably prepared for physical activity, and for the good conduct of their child.

If we need to exclude anyone from a training group due to misconduct we will contact the family. If there is repeated misconduct we reserve the right to exclude the individual(s) involved.

Inter-club Competitions We expect members who are old enough to be available for at least 2-3 club matches during the year. We require enthusiastic parents to help with team organisation for the various competitions we do or could participate in. From time to time we will call parent meetings when we will outline some of the forthcoming events, and where we will need helpers.

Communications Handouts: At training we often hand out fliers for forthcoming events, or brief newsletters. The same information will usually be emailed to families.

Web site: We’ll keep the club web-site updated with news at www.harmenyac.org.uk

Child Welfare Policy

ALL PARENTS OF JUNIOR MEMBERS SHOULD BE AWARE OF OUR POLICIES ON CHILD WELFARE

The profile of child safety increases every year. This places greater demands on all sports clubs, voluntary organisations and schools. Child welfare is the responsibility of all coaches and helpers and of parents whose children attend training or competition.

Coaching qualifications: Club training is taken by UK Athletics qualified coaches. To become a coach one must attend one or more coaching courses and supervise a minimum number of coaching sessions per year some alongside other coaches. Under the rules of UK Athletics all our coaches have given consent for a police check (some are in employment where this is now required)

Adult Helpers: To provide adequate supervision for younger members we will require a parent or guardian from each family to take turns at helping out at training and at competition.

Physical contact: Physical contact between coaches and athletes is kept to an absolute minimum and usually falls into one of two categories: • Technical correction of body position, usually in throwing events. • Assistance to an exhausted or injured athlete. There should always be a qualified coach or additional adults present.

Behaviour: It may seem obvious, but attendees at training are expected to train, attendees at competition are expected to compete. All club juniors are provided with a charter which explains the expected standards of behaviour.

Travel to competitions: As most of the venues are within an hour's travel of our main catchment area of Balerno / Currie we rely on parents to provide transport. If children are left with us, parents should be aware that they will be travelling in a car with other children, and wherever possible with families that they know, but this cannot always be guaranteed. For longer trips we will hire a coach, but we still need a quota of parents to travel as part of the club.

At competitions: All clubs are required to provide a minimum number of qualified officials and helpers to assist for the duration of the meeting. We need to ensure that we have enough adults to help with the smooth running of the event and the supervision of younger members.

Illness & Injury: If anyone is taking regular medication, or has a medical condition, please inform the coaches. If anyone is suffering from an illness or is injured and cannot take a competition they have been selected for, then please let the team organiser know as far in advance as possible.

Food & drink: It is strongly advised not to have a large meal before training or competing. Children should not be given large amounts of money to spend on "convenience snacks" at meetings.

First Aid: There is always First Aid cover at competitions.

Photography: Agreement to photographs being taken is increasingly a condition of entry for championships and major events. We have stated on the club membership form that members may be photographed for legitimate purposes (eg club publicity, a record of achievement, coaching purposes).

Welfare of all competitors, club officials and volunteers: Although the above has focussed primarily on child welfare, we are conscious of the need to ensure the welfare of all competitors and volunteers.

IF ANY PARENTS HAS ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT ANY OF THE ABOVE, PLEASE SPEAK TO ANY OF THE CLUB COACHES.

THE BEST WAY TO ENSURE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR EVERYONE IS THROUGH THE ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT OF ALL PARENTS.

Harmeny Athletic Club Parent Helper Tasks

This is a brief note describing the sort of things we need parents / guardians to help with. Help is always on hand to guide novice helpers.

Registration and collecting fees: In order to let the coaches supervise the juniors as they are gathering we require help with registration:

 We maintain an attendance register, and mark off attendees as the pay their nightly fees (currently £2)

Nightly Fees collected should be passed to the lead Coach (Dave or Bob), or to any club official who can pass it onto the Treasurer.

For New Starts (children attending for the first time):  They (or the accompanying adult) should be handed a New Start Registration Sheet to fill out. to provide us with contact details. (There is a supply of forms in the Register.)  Add the name to the bottom of the Register, and put the New Start sheet into the register.  (These will be gathered up each and an updated register will be printed.)  They should be handed a New Start information pack.

Event Set-up: Setting up, keeping an eye on and tidying away equipment, eg:

High Jump (Gymnasium): High Jump Mats, Uprights and elastic “bar”. Long Jump (Games Hall): “Crash” mats (similar to our High Jump mats. Obstacle course: Various benches, mats, plastic hurdles, balls Inside Shot-putt: Mats from the Gym, shots from Games Hall cupboard Inside Javelin: Foam Javelins from/to Games hall cupboard Relays (Games hall): Reversa Boards from/to Gym cupboard, Relay batons from Games Hall cupboard

In the summer when we are in Malleny Park we carry across equipment from the outside Games Store.

Monitoring the kids: Small groups are so much easier to work with than large groups, but whatever the group size, coaches will need to spend a bit of time with each individual, so an extra pair of eyes on the rest of the group is essential. (It also reminds all parents how important good behaviour is !)

Once you have a bit more confidence and experience, you can also pass on some coaching tips.

Joining in: If you’re relatively fit, you may want to join in: Sometimes we organise the kids into teams and need a few adults to even up the numbers. Sometimes we take small groups on runs, and need a few capable runners. Sometimes the easiest way to learn a bit about coaching is to try the event … (within reason).

What to wear: For working in the Games Hall or Gym, trainers and comfortable loose clothing is advised eg track suit bottoms & T-shirt. It can get warm especially if joining in relays. If you’re a runner you’ll know what to wear if running outside.

The first step in coaching: If you want to take the first step in a coaching qualification, information on the entry Level courses (Level 1) should be at http://www.scottishathletics.org.uk

HARMENY ATHLETIC CLUB

Junior Member’s Charter

Harmeny Athletic Club will:

Encourage and support improvement in the athletic capabilities of our members.

Provide coaching in a safe and secure environment.

Provide competitive opportunities for all members, on both an individual basis and a team basis.

Regularly communicate to members on current and future activities.

Harmeny Members will:

Arrive at training promptly, suitably prepared for physical activity.

Try hard, to the best of their ability.

Only attend training when prepared and physically able to train properly.

Encourage and support their club-mates.

Be courteous and respectful to all coaches, officials and helpers at all times

Be courteous and respectful to club-mates and members of other clubs at all times

Respect the property and equipment used at training

Be prepared to compete for club teams and in individual competitions

Parents / Guardians of Junior Members are requested to:

Support the club in meeting our objectives

Provide help and support to coaches

Support their children in achieving their potential.

Member’s signature………………………………………………………………………….

Parent / guardian’s signature ………………………………………………………………..

Date ……………………..

(Return one signed copy to your coach)

Harmeny Athletic Club

50:50 PRIZE FUND DRAW

The 50:50 prize fund was set up several years ago and provides an invaluable contribution towards the financial health of Harmeny Athletic Club.

Participating members of the Prize Fund purchase one or more numbers in the draw at a cost of £2 per month per number. A draw is held at the end of each month, and the winning number drawn receives a prize equal to 50% of the contributions paid that month. For example, with 48 numbers in play this means that the monthly winner will receive £48.

The balance of the contributions received is used to purchase equipment and to keep subscriptions & attendance fees at training sessions at a reasonable level for our junior athletes.

We are looking to recruit members of the Prize Fund – we’d like to reach at least 75 contributors - and would like to ask you to think about supporting the club in this way and, of course, having the chance to win a significant sum in the monthly draw.

Payment is by Standing Order direct to Harmeny Athletic Prize Fund Account and payment shortly after the 1st of each month would be ideal, but not essential.

If you would like to join, please complete the attached Banker’s Order, and send or take it direct to your bank. Please also complete the tear off slip below, and return this to the Harmeny Athletic Club Treasurer, in order that we can keep a track of members and bank transactions.

If you have any questions, please contact the HAC Treasurer: Lorna Broadhurst, 218 Mains Drive, Edinburgh, EH14 3EA Tel: 0131 442 1798. Email: [email protected]

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I wish to join the Harmeny AC Prize Fund. I have completed the Banker’s Order form for a monthly contribution of £______, commencing on ______and have sent this to my Bank.

Name: ______

Address: ______

______

Tel Number: ______

Send this slip to Lorna Broadhurst, 218 Baberton Mains Drive, Edinburgh, EH14 3EA

BANKER’s ORDER

To: The Manager

______

______

______

(show name and address of your Bank above).

Please pay the BANK of SCOTLAND, 158 Lanark Rd West, Currie, , EH14 5NY (Sort Code: 80-06-20) the sum of £____ (amount in words) ______, on the ______day of each month for the credit of HARMENY ATHLETIC CLUB PRIZE FUND Account (A/C Num: 00465023), commencing on ______. This authority to subsist until recalled in writing.

SIGNED: ______

NAME (block capitals): ______

ADDRESS: ______

______

PostCode: ______

Please complete this Standing Order form, and present to your Bank.