City of Portsmouth AC News Articles

IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO MEMBERS

Peter Newton 0335 — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 14:16:04 +0000

The committee held our March meeting on 18th March via conference call to deal with urgent business.

In line with the guidance issued by our governing body, England Athletics, to reflect the latest government advice, the Committee confirmed that the Club is suspending all its activities with immediate effect. Clearly we are living in unprecedented times and this will lead inevitably to some disruption to the way we normally lead our lives. If we all follow the advice then the quicker we will come through these challenging times. Activities will therefore remain suspended until such time as England Athletics notifies us that we are able to resume training and competition. We will continue to keep members informed of the latest guidance as it relates to our sport via the website.

There are a number of practical consequences that flow from this:

First, our Annual General Meeting, which was due to be held on Tuesday 31st March is being postponed. We will aim to hold it as soon as possible after England Athletics advise us that we are able to resume normal activities.

Second, as there is no activity going on, and there will be other priorities at this time for family budgets, the Club will roll forward existing memberships. We will not be collecting at this time membership fees for the new membership year. When we are clear when training and competition can resume we will review the situation and ask members to renew at that point, with the appropriate membership fee. With regard to athletes’ competition licenses, we have sought from England Athletics clarification of how they intend to handle this in light to the disruption to the events calendar. There is time to deal with this, as the cut-off point is not until the end of June. We have requested though that England Athletics provide clarification as soon as possible.

Third, our Portsmouth Open Track & Field Meeting is being cancelled. Entrants have been advised and entry fees refunded,

The Committee is also very aware that we have not yet been able to hold outstanding awards events. We have not forgotten these and will organise dates in the diary as soon as we are able to so that we can celebrate the successes of our athletes.

So to re-iterate, the Club will continue to stay abreast of the latest guidance and inform you via the website of fresh development as soon as we are able to.

In the meantime, please all of you in the club stay safe, keep fit, and we will see you all soon.

Coronavirus - Statement from England Athletics

Peter Newton 0335 — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 14:09:44 +0000

Coronavirus Statement

Athletics in England suspension extended until 31 May 2020

24 March 2020

Following the further restrictions on movement put in place by the UK Government last night, UKA and the Home Country Athletics Federations have made the following updates to our previous statement issued on 17 March:

Extending the suspension of all athletics activity in England to the 31 May. [Initially this had been agreed to the end of April]. This suspension includes all organised athletics activity in the UK, including all competitions, formal club activities, running groups, and all Education activity (coach, official, teacher).
Strengthening our position on coaching activity - We are now mandating that all physical coaching ceases, and only be conducted via virtual means during this period. Bringing groups of people together to train, however small, can no longer be permitted under the strict ‘Stay at home’ measures implemented by the UK Government.

These decisions have not been taken lightly and have been made in light of the continuing and real risk to life and to the NHS posed by the spread of the COVID-19 virus in England. We must now do all we can do. We would ask that the athletics community in England continues to help one another by staying connected and supportive of each other whilst at home in these unprecedented times. We will continue to review the situation in line with Government and Public Health guidance.

In addition to providing clarity to clubs, athletes, runners, coaches and officials, we are acutely aware that a number of competition providers have already made the bold decision to postpone their events in recognition that they stand to incur additional contractual costs on facilities that they have booked should they not make that decision now. We will continue to review this decision as the government guidance evolves, but one thing is clear - and that is that athletics, running and sport in general is special and is an important contributor to our way of life, but it is very much secondary to protecting and saving lives at this current time.

In its latest measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), the UK Government has announced that everyone must now stay at home except in exceptional circumstances.

From last night (Monday 23 March), the only permissible reasons to leave your home are as follows:

To shop for basic necessities and that should be limited to once a day
To take exercise once a day - but alone or with those you live with, no gatherings of more than two people
For medical reasons or to care for a vulnerable person
To travel to essential work if that cannot be done at home. Further guidance to employers is pending.

While athletics is predominantly an outdoor sport that allows athletes to exercise in the fresh air, the message to all of us is clear, we must play our part in containing the spread of COVID-19. We urge our members to utilise the opportunity to exercise as laid out by both governments, but as such, any informal small group training sessions of athletes or face-to-face coached sessions must now cease (*unless they are with your own household members as above).

We have witnessed some very creative home and/or garden-based training sessions (safely of course) during the last week, and we would urge clubs and coaches to continue to be innovative during this period. A number of schools have also been task setting for their pupils and it would be of immense value to continue to engage athletes and your members in similar style tasks for athletics.

There are numerous ways in which people can remain active whether that be core strength training at home, HIIT, Circuits, running and so on (whilst adhering to the government guidance) so we will be actively promoting these. We will of course be pushing out digital content relating to exercising at home during this week thanks to the work of our respective coaching and athlete development team members.

England Athletics CEO Chris Jones comments: “We all have a responsibility to play our part in mitigating risk and in reducing the spread of this virus. It will be deflating to many but if we do pull together and adhere to the guidance issued then we will come through this period. In the meantime we will be working tirelessly as partners to provide value to our member clubs, athletes, runners, coaches and volunteers and will be organising activities and providing resources utilising a range of methods such as online forums, webinars and podcasts that will help people prepare for a time when we can all look forward with renewed optimism as an Athletics & Running family.”

These decisions are difficult ones to make, but right now, it is our shared responsibility to prioritise the health of our local communities by working together to follow the Government guidelines. In doing so, this will ensure that we all get back to competing in the sport we love so much sooner.

Good luck and stay safe!

England Athletics Title for Serena Vincent

Peter Newton 0335 — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 11:58:47 +0000

A Personal Best for Serena with 15.47m at the England Athletics Indoor Championships - Sheffield 23rd February 2020

Well done, Serena!

Competition cancellation

Peter Newton 0335 — Sat, 21 Mar 2020 11:55:19 +0000

The following competitions have been cancelled:

Track & Field Leagues

19th April Youth Development League – Upper Age Group

25th April Southern Athletics League

26th April Wessex League

27th April Southern Counties Veterans League

2nd May National Athletics League

Hampshire Track & Field Championships

8th May Hampshire Multi-events

30th/31st May Hampshire T&F Championships

Hampshire Road Race League

29th March Salisbury 10 mile

Club Events

5th April Spring Open T&F Meeting

29th April Lakeside 5k Road Race

Portsmouth young sports person of the year.

Nobody — Thu, 20 Feb 2020 10:11:37 +0000

Portsmouth Young Sports Person of the Year

Terms & Conditions

Portsmouth Young Sports Person of the Year is an award for Portsmouth residents who are 18 and under and currently competing in sport at a high level. The scheme is established by Portsmouth City Council and Portsmouth Sports Council as a commitment to support local young people with the talent, dedication and prowess to compete in sport at the highest level. This is an open award and we encourage nominations for those with disabilities or learning difficulties.

The award will be in the form of a trophy and an award of £250 from City of Portsmouth Sports Council to assist financially in the cost of competing in sport at a high level. There will also be other awards for excellence in sporting achievements

Eligibility:

To be eligible applicants must:

• Must be 18 years or under

• Must be permanent residents of the City of Portsmouth (PO1-PO6 postcode areas).

• The sport should be recognised by Sport England with an established national governing body

Terms:

• The nomination may come from parent, coach, club, school, college or other recognised body in sporting activity

• Applicants will need to provide appropriate supporting documentation and contact details from their regional or national governing body to support their application.

• Applications will be considered by the Awarding Panel from the Portsmouth Sports Council Executive, which will be the final arbiter for any application

• Portsmouth City Council along with the sponsors may wish to use images for promotional purposes. To comply with the General Data Protection Regulations

2017, we need specific permission before we take any photographs or recordings of you or your nominee. The parent or guardian must sign and agree to these terms.

Criteria:

Individual Sports Team Sports

All Sports

All athletes must show evidence of dedication to their individual sport and carried out the training requirements set by the trainer/coach/governing body. Athletes must show willing in that they wherever possible, they have applied to represent their region or national championships

For those athletes who are ranked in the top 50 regionally or nationally they must show evidence of this in the year of nomination Athletes must show evidence of dedication to their regional or national squads, even if they have not finally been selected. The important part of the selection process is the dedication shown by the young athlete

Athletes may be a member of a national or regional level squad Evidence of training and competition whatever the outcome needs to be shown.

For further information or an application form please contact:

Leisure and Sports Facilities Manager

Portsmouth City Council

Civic Offices

Portsmouth

PO1 2AL

or email sportscouncil@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

2020 Annual General Meeting

Peter Newton 0335 — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 10:28:48 +0000

2020 AGM Agenda & Information

2020 AGM Announcement

AGM Meeting date - 31st March 2020 commencing at 19.30

AGM Meeting venue - Gymnastics Centre, Alex Way, Portsmouth PO2 9AD

Proxy

2020 AGM Agenda & Information

Message from the Chairman

Peter Newton 0335 — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 09:05:56 +0000

Chairman's message

Hampshire Sportshall League, match three details

Nobody — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 10:37:49 +0000

Hampshire Sportshall League, match 3.
Sunday 26 January at Hart Leisure Centre, Emerald Avenue, Fleet, GU51 5EE with first event at 1300. I’m planning on being on site by 1200.
Can I have names of those wishing to compete. Open to all our u11 and u13 athletes. That’s school year 4,5,6,7&8. No selection just declare your child’s availability and I’ll forward to the organisers.
As usual I’ll need help with collecting entry fee (£4), issuing numbers, and assisting in officiating. Those parents that took the officials course a couple of months ago, here’s a chance to get one event added to your record of experience.
Most are familiar with Sportshall but for those new to athletics here’s a link to England Athletics Sportshall info, with further links to Sportshall websites; https://www.englandathletics.org/young-athletes-and-schools/sportshall/

And here's a link to Hart Leisure Centre.

https://www.everyoneactive.com/centre/Hart-Leisure-Centre/?utm_source=Web&utm_medium=GoogleBusiness

2020 Spring Open Track & Field Meeting

Peter Newton 0335 — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 13:51:30 +0000

2020 Spring Open Track & Field Meeting -Click for details

ENTER ON LINE

Hampshire Cross-Country Championships

Peter Newton 0335 — Sat, 11 Jan 2020 14:31:07 +0000

The Hampshire Cross-Country Championships at Fairthorne Manor produced an individual Silver medal for Sam Charig in the Under 20 Men and Bronze medals for Cassie Thorp in the Senior Women & Jacob O'Hara in the Under 20 Men.

There were team wins for the Under 13 Girls with Finney Coomber, Daisy Robbins, Chloe Jones and Lauren South and the Under 20 Men with Sam Charig, Jacob O'hara & Callum Crook. The Veteran Women win a team bronze with Emma Jolley, Emma Montiel, Elly McMeehan and Katie Carew-Robinson

FULL RESULTS