April might bring showers but it definitely sees the start of SYCAA competitions for 2008. 

The Road Race League and the Track & Field League both get under way this month. Details of both Leagues have been sent out to your Club Secretary. The first Road League is at Hayfield Lakes, Doncaster on Wednesday 16th April and there will no doubt be the usual friendly competition as runners chase the awards in the various age categories or just try to beat last year’s time for the event. 

The Track & Field League has its first fixture on Saturday 26th April at Cudworth with a 10.30 start. Athletes should be aware that there are some changes in the format reflecting the comments made after last summer’s events. There are four weekend meetings and two evening meetings as detailed on the fixture list. The four meeting programme for the Senior and U17 age groups has been reorganised so everyone should have an event in which they can compete at each meeting. The programme for Under 11/ 13/ 15 age groups will be similar to last year. The biggest change will be in the Track and Field Championships. Championship events will be held throughout the season in conjunction with the league meetings as listed in the League programmes. When an event is designated as a Championship it will require four eligible competitors if medals are to be awarded. Events attracting less than four competitors will still take place as part of the League programme. In common with other leagues, clubs have been allocated Field Events for which they must provide officials and helpers. It is hoped this will ensure the smooth running of the meetings and prevent events being conducted in the gathering gloom as happened last year. 

Numbers can be obtained from your own club officials. The charge per number in both Leagues is £6 which entitles you to compete in all four fixtures. 
We are facing increasing costs for facility hire but have tried to keep charges down. 
In comparison with the commercial road races this is excellent value for those for whom the goody bag is not an essential part of the competitive experience. 
Whether you compete on road, track or field best wishes for a successful season and we hope to see you at SYCAA events

South Yorkshire Athletes at the Northern Cross Country Championships
Roundhay Park 26 January 2008
A day of high drama for South Yorkshire athletes saw clubs in the area return with winning teams in three age groups, a top three finish for one other team and three individual athletes finishing in top three positions. For one of these it was a case of so near and yet so far. After losing the U20 Women’s race to Mary Ferrier of Gateshead in the last few strides, Rosie Edwards (Rotherham Harriers) was philosophical: “If the race had been 5995 metres I’d have won.” However, it is difficult to see what more Rosie could have done – having run a near-perfect race. Natalie Grant (Rotherham Harriers) and Calli Thackery (Hallamshire Harriers) produced their best runs of the season to take third places – Natalie just behind Rosie, and Calli in the U15 Girls event. Stephanie Burns (Rotherham Harriers) just missed out on the medals in the U17 Women’s race and for James Gray (City of Sheffield) it was even closer: he missed 3rd place by one second. Our congratulations to all those who took part and did themselves, their clubs and their district proud.

Senior Women
1st team Hallamshire Harriers
Hattie Dean(4) Julia Russel (8) Liz Such (28) Nikki Squires (32)

Under 20 Women
2nd Rosie Edwards (Rotherham Harriers)
3rd Natalie Grant (Rotherham Harriers)

Ist team Rotherham Harriers
Rosie Edwards (2) Natalie Grant (3) Karen Cheshire (8) Jade Allen (14)

Under 17 Women
4th Stephanie Burns (Rotherham Harriers)

1st team Rotherham Harriers
Steph Burns (4) Laura Spence (14) Abbie Vernon (25) Robyn Lanceley (29)

Under 15 Girls
3rd Calli Thackery (Hallamshire Harriers)

Under 13 Girls
5th team Hallamshire Harriers

Senior Men
5th team Hallamshire Harriers

Under 17 Men
3rd team Hallamshire Harriers
Richard Spooner (17) Joe Gratton (17) Tom Butler(43) Harry Thorpe (83)

Under 15 Boys
4th James Gray (City of Sheffield)

Yorkshire Cross Country Championships
5 January 2008
Fartown High School, Huddersfield

What a successful Yorkshire Championships for South Yorkshire clubs and athletes! Was it the weather? The hilly courses? Being close(ish) to home? Below are details of all athletes and teams, finishing in a top five position. Congratulations to them, and to all the other runners who took part:. When was the last time a South Yorkshire club got 1st, 2nd & 3rd in a cross country race?

U15 Boys
3. James Gray (City of Sheffield)
U17 Men
2. Abdirsek Ahmed (Sheffield RC)
Junior Men
4. Andy Heyes (Hallamshire)
Senior Men
4. John Thewlis (Rotherham)
4th team Hallamshire
U13 Girls
3. Hannah Fletcher (Hallamshire)
4. Claire Wilsher (Hallamshire)
1st Team:Hallamshire
U15 Girls
4. Calli Thackery (Hallamshire)
1st team Hallamshire
U17 Ladies
1. Stefanie Burns (Rotherham)
2. Robyn Lanceley (Rotherham)
3. Laura Spence (Rotherham)
Ist Team: Rotherham
2nd Team: Hallamshire
Junior Ladies
1. Natalie Grant (Rotherham)
4. Jessica Fawcett (Rotherham)
Senior Ladies
2. Julia Russell (Hallamshire)
4. Rosie Edwards (Rotherham)
1st team: Hallamshire
4th Team: Rotherham

(posted 10/9/07)  Team result from under 15 Inter County Fixture at Cudworth on Saturday 8.9.07
1st Warwickshire 537
2nd Derbyshire 486
3rd South Yorkshire 429.5
4th Notts 413.5
5th Lincolnshire 413
6th Humberside 387
Abigail Bishell for City of Sheffield A C was awarded the trophy for the best under 13 gitls track performance in 100m in 12.6.
You can get full results from www.dcaa.org.uk

(posted 26/8/07)  Thanks to Terry Foster, Caroline Conway and Jan Lever for the above shots of athletes at the recent SY series. Development will seem slow but bear in mind SYCAA will only place pictures of junior athletes with parental approval.
Hopefully now, more photos are becoming available for display- not as a gallery but in order to make the front page appearance more interesting and more representative of all the clubs that are a part of SCAA.
Before too long I will probably make them appear different each day.

(posted 26/8)  The following two fixture will not take place 
27th August Armthorpe 10Kms 

SYCAA is attempting to get the ROAD RELAYS  organised although it is well past the usual date.  An October date in Rotherham is being examined.

( posted 28/6)  An EGM will be held on Monday 17th September 2007 at 7.15 p.m. at the Outukumpu Sports & Social Club. The business of the meeting will be to consider and if thought fit accept a new constitution for the Association.The Annual General Meeting will follow the EGM. Clubs should notify any items of business to the Secretary by 20th August 2007. Nominations for officers will be accepted at the meeting. The AGM will be followed by a committee meeting.

( posted 28/6) Secretary's Report - Les Outwin thanked all those who had contributed to the success of South Yorkshire events over the past couple of months. Mick Hill had organised another successful Road League with good turnouts at all four races including the presentation after the Dinnington Race. Perhaps the pies had something to do with that. Competitors were able to show their appreciation of Mick, results man Roy and sponsor Mike of 'Keep on Running'. On the track the Relays Championship organised by Malcolm Fletcher was well supported and produced some exciting competition. An encouraging start has been made to the Track League in its new format. Janette Tomlins deserves our thanks for all her work on the programme and a special word of thanks to Peter Humphries who has designed and operated the software which is being used to record and score every performance. So we can all feel positive about the local competition the Association is providing and at the top of the sport congratulations to Jessica Ennis and Hatti Dean who lead the rankings in their events, Hatti with a new UK record in the Steeplechase. 

Officials Report Terry Bailey has been working hard to ensure that all our Technical Officials have been registered with UKA and transferred to the appropriate level in the new scheme. Thanks to Terry for that but there are still 14 officials who have not registered and the following statement from UKA will apply to them."After 31st August 2007 any official that has not transferred to the new level structure, who still wishes to operate as a Track & Field Technical Official, will need to work through the new official's education and training structure starting at level 2 and progressing up the levels." The UKA Technical Committee has issued guidelines for meeting organisers and referees and those taking charge of individual events. The text is on the UKA website and we hope to include it here as well.Seventeen people recently completed the level 2 Officials Course and we look forward to welcoming them at South Yorkshire events over the summer.

Road Secretary's Report Mick Hill thanked Doncaster A.C., Penistone F.R., Barnsley A.C. and Rotherham H. for staging the races, Roy Veall for the results and Mike Theobald of 'Keep on Running' for their sponsorship. Over 370 competed in the series. The presentation was notable for the wide spread of award winners, 16 different clubs were represented and nearly everyone was present to collect their voucher in person from Mike. Results have been sent to clubs and also appear on the website. Clubs should send in their fees to our Treasurer as soon as possible. Relay Report Malcolm Fletcher reported a good entry and there was plenty of support from the stand for the competitors whose enthusiasm did not seem to be lessened by the wet weather resulting in some exciting races. 

Track & Field Report Janette reported a considerable increase in numbers for the two junior fixtures held so far and also a good turnout at the Senior event at the new track in Doncaster. The sprint handicap created much interest. It looked as if we might have a problem for the Junior event at Cudworth as we seemed to be short of officials. Many thanks to all those who volunteered to help on the day enabling us to get through the programme. With many newcomers to our League this season this is an opportunity to mention that we take part inan Under15 Inter County match later in the season. Our team will be selected from performances in the League fixtures. This year South Yorkshire is hosting the event at Cudworth on Saturday 8th September. 

Race Walking Report The City of Sheffield Club have a dedicated squad of young walkers and Brian Adams provided details of their recent exploits including victories for the U20 Girls team in the UK 10 Kms and for the U17 Girls in the RWA 5Kms with Kathryn Granger finishing first. Rebecca Mersh won the UK 10Kms event and competed in the Junior Race at the European Race Walking Cup 

As cameras have to be registered at our meetings under welfare guidelines we know there are a number of people taking photographs. Would any of you be prepared to supply pictures for use on the website ?

(PH posted 22/6)  The multi-event analysis of positions is now available (see left).
The grand-prix analysis will follow before long
Some site updates are due this week-end (23/4-6)
I have addressed failure to carry over "officials points" from previous meetings.
Thanks to all parents, officials and supporters who have sent corrections to performance, date of birth, etc etc. It is very helpful. Also for your comments and queries about scoring tables and meeting scoring format; it all helps towards clarification and to possible amendments for next season.

(PH posted 20/5) Mr. Rowbotham's message to South Yorkshire athletes and potential athletes has only recently dropped into my mailbox for some reason. Though later than planned, it is linked HERE

(PH posted 20/5) Clubs are invited to send their entry forms if they want them to be available on this site. Send Word. Excel, Textfile, acrobat pdf of jpeg for preference. If I get a lot I will add a menu section for forms.

The entry form for the Barnsley Open meeting on 15th July is HERE as (Word File) or (Acrobat pdf)

(PH posted 19/4/07) Thanks to Martyn Cartwright at Penistone we now have directions for the second meeting of the road league at Oxspring. The link (left) is to a pdf file; if you can't open it email me
There is also left a link to first meeting results. I have not updated the drop-down menus yet; will do next week.

  (Les Outwin: posted 15/3/07) A wind-swept Herrington Country Park at Sunderland was the scene for the highlight of the domestic Cross Country season. Over a testing and exposed course we saw a excellent performance from the Under 17 Girls from Rotherham as they retained the National title. It is some achievement to retain a title in the younger age groups and to place all four counters in the first twenty at national level is really outstanding. 
So congratulations to the team, Natalie Grant 8th, Laura Spence 12th. Jade Allen 15th and Jessica Fawcett 20th and to all those in the Rotherham club who have helped along the way.
The highest placed athlete from a South Yorkshire club was another Rotherham member, Rosie Edwards who finished a superb 4th and led the Rotherham U20 Women's team to 4th place.
Leading South Yorkshire performers and teams on the day in other events were
-
Under 15 Girls.  6th S Burns (Rotherham H.), 10th C.Thackery (Hallamshire H.) with the Hallamshire team placing 11th.
Under 17 Men.  15th A.Heyes (Hallamshire H.)
Under 15 Boys.  31st Y.Mohamed (City of Sheffield)
Senior Men.        32nd A.Thake (Hallamshire H.)
Under 20 Men.    55th L.Stafford (Hallamshire H.)
Under 13 Girls.    66th L.Quin (Hallamshire H.)  Rotherham H. 23rd team
Under 13 Boys.    91st T.Hutton (Hallamshire H)
Senior Women.    93rd J.Johnson (Hallamshire H.)
Sadly team results were rather thin on the ground. In all the men's races there was only one team South Yorkshire closed in and that was Rotherham Harriers in the Senior Race. Barnsley A.C. provided our only complete team
in the Senior Women's Race.
Congratulations to all who ran. There were many first class performances by South Yorkshire runners

  (posted 27/1/07)  at Heaton Park, Manchester Jan 27 
A cool day, only moderate winds and no rain guaranteed good running conditions at Heaton Park, although it was more than a little cloudy underfoot in places. Despite illness and injury depriving South Yorkshire clubs of some of their best runners, there can be no doubt that this was a highly successful day for clubs in the area. 
Hattie Dean swept aside the opposition to win the Senior Women’s event, and with Nikki Squires in 10th, Hallamshire were a very worthy second team. No less impressive was Yasin Mohammed’s 3rd place in the U15 Boys race. I can remember running his first cross country race (a Sheffield Schools event) a mere three months ago. Some progress! 
Rotherham athletes picked up 4th places in the U20, U17 and U15 Women’s/Girls races, but were left to rue the unavailability of runners who would have guaranteed team success. 
Hallamshire took 3rd team in U15 Girls race. Some really gutsy performances, typified by the normally reticent Andy Heyes, who could hardly contain his delight with a top ten placing in the U17 Men’s race.

(posted 27/1/07)  The Association is very pleased to congratulate Rother Valley Swallows on the award of Clubmark by Sport England. One of our more recently established clubs, they are the second in South Yorkshire to gain this award. The other is Rotherham Harriers, one of the longest established clubs. The award involves a lot of work for club officials to ensure the club conforms to the highest standards in all aspects of their activities. Well done to all concerned. Les Outwin

(posted 17/11/06 from Dave Allemby) Wombwell S.A.C. are saving Tesco Sports vouchers, if anyone has any spare could please pass them to Jeanette Tomlins or Dave Allemby

Aren't you getting fed up of seeing the same pictures? 
Any photos of (a) South Yorkshire athletes, or (b) different member club athletes would be more than welcome. 
email as jpegs or pass on to scan

NOTE DATE CHANGE AGAIN
FINAL CROSS-COUNTRY FIXTURE 
(inc. CHAMPIONSHIPS) NOW BACK TO JANUARY 14th
VENUE & DETAILS SAME AS BEFORE
Yorkshire Committee have reverted to the original date, forcing us to change again. Hopefully this will now be final.  Hopefully.

South Yorkshire Clubs were successful in the Yorkshire Relays at Don Valley Stadium today 16/9 as Hallamshire Harriers took the Women's 4-stage gold award with Rotherham Harriers silver. In the men's event however Hallamshire were shaded into silver position by Otley AC. Results expected here soon

(posted 12/9/06)South Yorkshire finished sixth on Saturday 9th September 2006 at the Moorways Stadium, Derby with some good individual performances A report from Janette Tomlins and Les Outwin is here

(posted 3/9/06)  The league venues and details are available from the main menu ('events') 
or click here

A number of local athletes were among the medals at recent AAA Championships and gained selection for the major Championships later in the season. Becky Lyne (Hallamshire) won the 800m., hatti Dean (Hallamshire) won the Steeplechase, Sam Ellis (Barnsley A.C.) was the Silver medallist in the 800m and Jessicca Ennis (City of Sheffield A.C.) was equal third in the High Jump and 4th in the 100 Hurdles. They will all be at the European Championships in Gothenburg. 
Travelling a little further will be Luke Cutts (Dearnside H.S.) who was selected for the World Junior Championships in Beijing following his Pole Vault victory in the AAA Under 20 Championships. Some others await decisions by the selectors. 
Congratulations to all these athletes and best wishes for further success at international level.

The Association acknowledges athletes gaining their first international vest with a small award. The latest recipient received his award from our Chairman, Malcolm Fletcher, at our last committeee meeting. Abdi Risak Ahmed of City of Sheffield A.C. had an outstanding cross country season, with medals in the Northern, National, Inter Counties and English Schools Championships. He was selected for England Schools and placed second in the Schools International. We offer Abdi our best wishes for future success. 

Counter and some results links now done. More links to follow, and e-mail.
ORGANISERS: guide us to your results!  We will host your results on this site if you have no web space. 

The revised site is just about ready and now posted on the web.
It is now in a format which makes it easy to alter appearance very quickly (css files) as you can see by the 'large text' option.
Sections done are: home, about, officials, listed clubs, websites, fixtures, results (though results are not yet linked)
'Permits' NOW DONE
Next (a day or so) is: contacts, 'SY e-mail' and linkage of results. Then visit counter (already done but not displayed)
SY e-mail is a facility which allows you to quickly email any club contact listed, or all at a stroke; likewise any or all official(s). The addresses are not stored but created on the fly by javascript so that 'spam' should not be a problem.
Please remember that 'CONTENT' is the business of SYCAA, apart from that I welcome the comments and suggestions of SY officials, club officials or members.

Have you any photographic material for the website? Either as electronic files or scannable photos?
I have thousands of photos but few are in a "South Yorkshire" context.
I could use any photos you have which are "SY"
In the absence of many SY photos, I will place photos on the front page and elsewhere covering the range of clubs which are in membership.
I can provide a Rotherham photo; can representatives send me a preferred photo of their members (I suggest in club colours) so that I can provide a random selection of photos of clubs? If you can, send the best pixel size you have; the web version will be best at about 100kB.

' Change of Venue' - The Herringthorpe track is currently out of comission following a burst water main requiring major repair work. Therefore we have had to move three South Yorkshire events to different venues. These are 
Thurs 22nd June Track & Field League 7.00pm now at Woodbourn Road.
Sat 1st July Young Athletes Multi Events & Race Walking Championships 11.30am now at Cudworth
Sat 29th July Track & Field League 11.00am at Cudworth

This scroller is included to give you information about web development.
Future use will be for news items.  Development expected soon includes:
On-line forms and information for permit application
Results links
Improved picture and other presentation

PLEASE LINK YOUR SITE TO THIS WEBSITE OR DIRECTLY TO ANY SUB-PAGE

Club websites are now linked on their own page (via Contacts--SY Club Webs)
Not all are yet linked.  Please contact web designer (Home--About this Website) with detail of any club website not included or with any official requirement for inclusion of new or different data or presentation.

This is the end of the scroller.  Click 'refresh' or select 'Home' to restart

During scrolling, hover your mouse to halt scroll, click and hold to reverse.