Training Groups

The clubs prefers that athletes should train in the session for their age group for a number of reasons including:-

– The athlete will be competing in this age group on competition days so making friends in this age group makes sense.
– The coaches of this age group decide on relay teams based on what they observe at training.

Exceptions can be made with the agreement of the club’s chairperson or the agreement of the coordinators of both training groups impacted.

The main coach of each training group will handle all communications with the athletes and their parents in that training group.

Cross Country Team Selection

A cross country team is made up of 6 runners. The club will often have more than 6 runners taking part in a race. In this case, the club has to nominate the 6 members of team A, team B etc when submitting entries. The club’s policy is not to inform the athletes of who is on team A, team B etc. If the club do well enough to win team medals, the first 6 athletes from the club to finish the race will receive the medals irrespective of what team they are named on.

Track Relay Team Selection

A relay team is made up of 4 runners and a sub. The coaches of an age group determine who runs on a relay team for each race based on a number of criteria including

– Speed
– Baton passing ability
– Dedication
– Attendance at training
– Whether the race is a qualification round or not

The above are continually assessed at training and in some cases at additional run-offs. As with any team sport, selection of a particular team does not guarantee same team will be selected for next round. The decision of the coaches is final.

Relay teams will be selected from the group they consistently train with unless otherwise agreed by the coordinators of each age group.

Competition Entry Fees

This policy applies to all members of the juvenile club as well as former members of the juvenile club who continue to pay the full annual individual membership fee or family membership fee to the juvenile club but are now seniors. The club will pay for the entry fees for the following competitions

• All Galway AAI track & field and cross-country competitions
• All Connacht AAI track & field and cross-country competitions
• Juvenile and Junior National A Standard AAI track & field and cross-country competitions
• Juvenile and Junior Scottish, Welsh and English National Championships and English AAAs

For U23 and Senior National AAI track & field and cross-country competitions, the athlete or parent or coach will pay the entry fee in advance and the club will refund the entry fee afterwards for each event in which the athlete competes, subject to a maximum of 2 events per athlete per competition.

Transfers

If any athlete who has transferred from the club, wishes to transfer back to the club – the request must first be discussed and agreed at a meeting of the Executive Committee before it is allowed to proceed.