NORTHBROOK ATHLETIC CLUB COMMITTEE MEETINGS

held by video conference on 3 August 2021

Present:

A. French (President)
R. Adams (Chairman)
M. Baker (Secretary)
A. Mackness (Treasurer)
S. Duffy (Social Secretary)
S. Eason (Women’s Captain)

In attendance:

R. Cox (guest)

  1. Apologies – T. Hughes (Membership Secretary), S. Davies (Men’s Captain)
  2. Matters Arising from previous meeting – none
  3. Treasurer’s Report – Tony Mackness circulated details of accounts before the meeting. Approximately 221 members have paid subscriptions so far. The club is supporting ongoing CIRF/LIRF courses.
  4. England Athletics (EA) Coronavirus COVID-19 Advice – Current COVID rules are available, but they have been eased. The latest information is always available on the EA website or from the leaders and coaches. Leaders and Coaches are continuously reviewing the rules. The club COVID officer is also available for advice.
  5. Return to Training Pattern – Thanks to Rob Cox for attending. As ‘normality’ returns there are plans to return to Jaguar for Wednesday training on 8th September. Members will still need to observe Jaguar rules and pay Jaguar membership fees. Members will congregate outside, and not in the lobby area. The booking system for structured training sessions will be extended for a while, but it will be simplified. Rob circulated a survey to members about training sessions, and there was a majority for sessions starting earlier.
  6. Leaders and Coaches – As mentioned previously, the club is committed to increasing the numbers of leaders and coaches by funding CIRF/LIRF courses. A small part of the funding will be paid by the candidate, then claimed back later. There was a communication to members about funding and what is expected, with a commitment to organising a minimum number of sessions. There was a great response, and we agreed to fund 11 candidates (9 will attend courses online, 2 will attend face to face courses later). Qualified leaders who are less active, were also encouraged to help the active leaders to share out sessions.
  7. Events – there has been great club interest in all the virtual events, and ‘NOT’ race series. Virtual training sessions will be displayed on the club website. In July, many people ran in the 24-hour Thunder Run relays. In August, some club races will return including Good, Bad & Ugly relay and 3 Summer Handicaps. The handicap races will use the old disc system, and all races will count to the overall results. We will be funding 3 men and 3 women teams to the Sutton Park relays in September. Spencer Davies and all the leaders are doing a great job. Also, Kevin Coughlan and Roger Ladbury have been providing lots of running statistics and points tables.
  8. Social Events – Sarah Duffy organised a great ‘welcome back’ event on Saturday 10th July at Jaguar club. The event included some children runs, and a bouncy castle, as well as a 2.5 mile loop for members to run as many times as they liked in the afternoon, and a Jaguar function room catch-up later. Future events may focus on the cross-country season and Christmas, but there are no details yet.
  9. Runners of the Month – July 2021 – Men: Charles Jones (great running in East Midlands race series), Women: Elle Townsend (great running in Gato 10km series).
  10. Any other business:
    1. Club of the Year – our nomination has been submitted.
    2. Mental Health Champion – Jenna Davies has offered to be available for this role alongside her Welfare role.
    3. EA Funding – Mark Baker will apply for further funding for coaching costs. We will hear if this is successful or not after 6th September.
    4. Cross-country Events – dates and venues have been confirmed. Leagues begin in November.
    5. Parkrun – events have recently started again.
  11. Next Meeting – Tuesday 14 September 2021 at time TBC to be held by video conference.

Minutes prepared by Mark Baker