Craughwell AC is one of the largest Juvenile Clubs in Ireland. The ethos of Craughwell AC is focused on participation, enjoyment and achieving each individual athlete’s potential.  

Membership

Application for membership of the juvenile club is open to children in senior infants or older. You can register and pay online via the link below. Alternatively if you are not comfortable with online registration, you can still do it manually by printing off and returning the form contained in the link below.

• Juvenile / Junior / Student Membership

The ability of a child is not a factor as all children will be encouraged to achieve their potential and to participate in competition when possible, which includes both individual and team events.

Children are welcome to come for 3 training sessions to try athletics without registering. After that, they must register as a member of the club – otherwise, the club’s insurance is invalid for all members.

Fees

Annual Fees are as follows:

• €100 per athletes for 12 months
• €190 for 2 athletes from the same family
• €250 per family (i.e. 3 or more juvenile athletes from a family)

Fees are payable per annum. We have two annual cycles to cater for members joining at different times:-

• September to August
• January to December

If you join mid-year, you must pick the one of the above as its too difficult to administer otherwise. The membership fee covers insurance of the club member and registration with the national body and contributes to facilities rental, competition entry fees and equipment purchase.

Competitions

The athletics season is split into 3 seasons:

• Indoors track and field competition from January to April.
• Outdoors track and field competition from May to July.
• Cross-country competition from October to early December.

Each season comprises County, Provincial and National championships. These championships are roughly 4 weeks apart in each of the 3 seasons. The club encourages all members to participate in the Galway championships. Selected athletes will be entered for the Provincial Championships, from which qualification must be obtained in order to compete in the National championships.

Children will be informed regarding competitions in advance and parents are normally expected to accompany their children to competitions. If there is a difficulty with this, the parents should contact one of the Club’s officials to make alternative arrangements.

Training Times

See a separate article regarding training times.

Coaching

Most of the club’s coaches have received training as athletic coaches. Expert knowledge is not required to assist – as this knowledge can be built up over time. Training sessions focus on preparation for competition, on fitness and on technique for various events. Events in which club members participate include sprints, relays, middle distance running, hurdles, long jump, high jump, shot putt and ball throw. Times and venues of training sessions vary during the year – and are different for Primary School and Secondary School age groups.

We are always under pressure for coaches/supervision at training sessions, so please contact Mike Tobin @ 087 659 1879 if you would be interested in helping out at any session.

Athletics Clothing

Please contact Mike Tobin at 087 659 1879 for more details on any of the following items.

Club members should wear the following gear:

– Track suit bottoms and shorts (no jeans – they are totally unsuitable for running)
– T-shirt and tracksuit top or light top
– Wooly cap (if cold or wet weather)
– Light rain-coat (if wet weather)
– Bottle of water (for light drinking during training session)

Vest: Athletes must wear the Club’s running vest when entering competitions. It is advisable for younger athletes to wear a plain white t-shirt beneath the running vest. The running vest is available for purchase from the Club at a cost of €25. Where these are maintained in good condition, they can be exchanged for a larger size as the athlete grows. 

Hoodies, Halfzips, Hats, Tshirts: Club gear is available for purchase.

Running Spikes: Partly as a means of fund-raising and partly as a means of reducing costs to parents, the club operate an exchange or donation facility for 2nd hand running spikes. 

In order to help with this and make the sport cheaper for everyone, please look after your spikes as follows: –

– Always open the laces before taking off or putting on your spikes
– Take care when inserting or removing the metal studs so as not to destroy the threads. Ideally an adult should do this.
– Clean the shoes regularly – removing dirt from around the metal studs.
– If they get wet during training, insert newspaper in each shoe to help dry them out.
– Do not put them on or under a heater, as this will damage them.

Note also that many shops in Galway will give a discount on running gear to members of the club – just ask!. 

Lost Property: Frequently at club training sessions, items of clothing (and shoes!) are left behind. If you are missing such belongings, please contact one of the coaches – chances are they have been collected by a coach. Because of the build-up of such property, the club will have to donate it to charity if it is not claimed before the end of the year.