Editorial:
Over the past twenty years the club has changed enormously: The 8-11’s, this newsletter, club records, the statistics, charity status, metrocentre day, school children’s cross country event, Tartan Games, Open Medal meeting, Indoor winter meetings – all these have been introduced.
Twenty years go there were no Junior teams, no Young Athletes(Girls) team ( though there was a team for boys!! ), no disabled group, and we never won any track league trophies – not even the Tyneside League.
Today our teams – especially in the younger age-groups - appear on the National stage. Our athletes represent England in schools and other matches.
But twenty years ago it was possible for one person to know by name every one of the members. Today that is no longer possible- the club has become too big. And that is why the committee has decided to restructure and to introduce more, smaller, more focused sub-committees each to concentrate on one aspect of the clubs’ activities.

WANTED!! WANTED !!
Some team managers for next year.
We desperately need some volunteers to lead the boys next season and carry on the good work that Kevin Flannery has carried out.

At the AGM there will be a need for more people – younger people – not old-age pensioners – to take up the reins of Gateshead Harriers and to carry the club forward into the future.
A vibrant club needs new blood that changes with the changing face of society. Without new people volunteering to help produce the Gateshead Harriers of the future will remain the Gateshead Harriers of the past.

Chris Betts

PRESENTATION NIGHT
Friday 14th November

CLUB PROMOTIONS
The following events are once again being promoted in the next few months.
Please contact Chris Betts if you are willing to assist at any of them.

Schools Cross Country – 15th October – marshals required
Officials Training Course – 21st September
Indoor Meetings - 16th October, 20th November, 18th December, 16th January, 19th February, 18th March and 15th April
Metrocentre Indoor Triathlon – February 2003 – various helpers needed

Chairman’s Report
Wow, what a track and field season it has been with the junior men and both young athletes teams reaching their national finals, Stephen Miller retaining his European title and Peter Gordon once again ruling the world in the World Vets Championships, school and AAAs champions Chris Parr representing GB in the European u20 championships in Finland and another world record was broken during the Tartan Games. The under 17 boys successfully set a new UK 4x400m record and then did a 4x400m team win a national final by over 10 seconds as happened in the YAL final. Well done to everybody – athletes, coaches, team managers and officials for making it happen.
I would also like to thank Jonathan Edwards for his contribution to the club in particular and the sport in general and I hope that all club members will join with me in wishing him a happy and successful retirement. I can still remember watching Jonathan compete for the club at Luton where he took part in the triple jump, the javelin and the 100 metres ( ps don’t tell anyone – he didn’t win the triple jump! ). On another occasion when competing for the club he was denied a British record at Carlisle because they didn’t have a wind gauge – thank goodness they did in Gothenburg.
Many of you were present when Syd Robson had his 70th birthday. It is a measure of the dedication of Syd that even when he reached this milestone he was still at the stadium coaching his group. What many people will not know is that Syd has been awarded the Gateshead Borough Community Award from the Mayor of Gateshead for his services to the youth of Gateshead for over 30 years – well done Syd.
I cannot finish without thanking everybody associated with the club for their hard work and commitment. I just need to refer you to the top of this article for you to see the outcomes.

Tony Gardner

Senior Men – Northern Div 1
Once again our seniors did well in the league, this after a terrible start to the season when we finished last in the first match at a rainy, unpleasant Blackpool. Second place at home, then at Leeds and Derby saw us eventually finish in 2nd position so just miss out on a play-off position.
In the sprints, Stuart Connelly and Ben Geddes were impressive, while at 400m new member Steve Redshaw and Nic Little performed well. Marc Elliott was an ever-present in the middle distance, together with Ray Robinson enjoying the steeplechase until injured. Low Fell athletes Mark McDonald and Jon Archer and Elswick’s Steven Horne were the mainstay of the longer events.
New multi-event members James Hardie and Chris Bell added to our strong field presence, David Maggs threw some useful points in the hammer, Craig Sturrock in the shot likewise. Daniel Burns and Ian Burns (unbeaten in the javelin all year) continued where they left off last year, and Chris Boundy did well in the pole vault.
With some more middle distance and steeplechase performers we could be Northern Champions next year.

Chris Betts

Senior Women – UK Div 4
Competing in the National league is not easy, especially when the league hierarchy ensure that a North eastern club never, ever gets a home fixture and has to travel long, long distances to all the fixtures, usually overnight.
Therefore most of the matches turned into a question of who was willing and able to travel to fixtures held way away in the South of England, and, unsurprisingly, the answer was very few, so that all our teams were well understrength.
Those that did go performed well, but next season the women will be back with the men competing in the North, and we hope for a new start here.
Written by the editor.

National Young Athletes’ Boys
The boy’s team won all of their matches in the Northern Premier League and finished Champions for the first-ever time, we therefore qualified once again for the Main Final at Birmingham. We finished 7th one position better than last year, and with 16 more points and 25 medals, almost everyone had a good weekend. The team won 217 medals at County, Inter County, National, International or at English School Championships.
The end of season sees the team lose 9 boys who have given great service to the club; Tom Patton and Jamie Carmichael have had 3 seasons with the team and both have made good progress this year. Chris Breckon and Michael Hedley have been injured for most of this season but have run consistently well for the team since they were 12. Danny Pope has had three great seasons with the team and deserves all the success he has had, English Schools Finalist 400m Hurdles. Ben Walpole has developed into one of the clubs best 400m runners during his two seasons with the young athletes team, he has a lot of potential. Greame Simpson club champion in throws last year and in jumps this year, a very likeable talented athlete who will be missed next year. Craig Crawford Glanville has been with the team for five seasons during which time he has broken 13 club records, 11 of which he currently holds, which make him the most successful athlete ever to compete for the club at this age level. He has also two English Schools and three AAAs titles to his name. Kieran Flannery is the only athlete to have competed in every match during my five years as team manager (30) During this time he has recorded 52 wins and 27 second places in 16 different events, irreplaceable. Kieran was also part of the 4 x 400m relay team along with Lewis Robson, Danny Pope and Ben Walpole that set a new UK all time Club Record of 3:21.9 at the North Eastern Counties Relay Championships. Their time was also a new Club record at under 20 level and at senior level. These 9 young men have achieved all this, at the same time as achieving excellent GCSE results. I wish you all every success in the future and thank you for the loyalty you have shown towards the team and the club.
I wish to thank all the athletes for their efforts and behaviour during the season, also the large number of parents who have supported me and the team during the summer, special thanks to Bruce Horsburgh, Mike Stacey, Tom Breckon, Eddy Dalby, Andy Hubbard, David Miller and Gary Carmichael. On behalf of the boys, a big thank you to their coaches Syd, John, Tom, Bob, Joe, Derek, Bruce, Kirk, Garry, David and Richard. Finally this year has seen a new league structure with the boys and girls teams coming together to form a joint team. It has been a great success for the club with the team being placed second in the Northern Premier League. It may well be that joint teams will contest next years Finals but this will only happen if the league dictators consider it to be in the interest of their own clubs. I have enjoyed working with the many talented athletes that have represented the Boys Team during the last five years, however I will be taking a break next year to help organise the English Schools Championships at Gateshead.
I wish the new team manager and athletes all the best for 2004

Kevin Flannery

National Young Athletes - Girls
After the end of the season it was an anxious few hours to find out if we had made the main final, this was a brilliant achievement especially when you consider at a few matches we had some athletes competing at events they've never attempted before, this was reflected in the impressive dedication, hard work and team spirit of all the girls. A number of the girls competed at the English schools in July, Lauren Arthur, Lauren Kirton. Kinita Kelsall, Sam Duffy, Mary Ferrier, Sophie De La Hunt, Anastasia Dopierala and Ashley Maddison who became National Schools Discus champion and along with her sister Portia (U13) are also Scottish National Discus champions. The U17 4 x 100m relay team (Carly, Jenny, Sophie and Roisin) broke the Gateshead club record and Anastasia was part of the 4 x 400m junior womens relay team who also broke the Gateshead record.
Laura Welsh U13 equalled the 150m and 70mH records. We would like to wish Carly Jones, Sarah Scorer, Jenny Baron and Amy Kell a fond farewell and good luck for the future and a huge thank you for all their hard work over the season.
Special thanks also to David Gill, Paul Kelsall, Betty Young, Thomas Riley, Colin Dewdeny, Stewart Brown and Mr Maddison who have helped officiate and also gained invaluable points for the team. We hope to make the finals again next year especially for Vicky Young who travelled down to the finals but was unable to compete. A huge thank you to each and every one who has competed and thank you also to the parents for their support.

Hilary and Lynne

Junior Men Report
Having gained promotion to the National Junior League Premier Division last year, the team has now progressed to become the leading Junior men’s team in the North of England. This season has seen the team establish something unique- winning every match in the North of England Premier division against teams such as Birchfield, Liverpool, Sale and Notts AC.
The team became the highest placed track and field squad in the history of the club at National Junior level, when they were a creditable third in the National Finals behind the powerful London clubs Enfield & Haringey and Shaftesbury Barnet. Thirty-five junior men represented the club this season (25, 1st Claim members and 10, 2nd Claim members). It is encouraging to see so many athletes still involved at this age group. The future looks promising with only six athletes joining the senior level next year and many younger athletes joining the Junior ranks next season.
We wish Chris Parr, James Deacon Brown, Peter Middleton, Alex Haynes, Danny Burns and Nic Little every success at senior level.
I look forward to next season when I believe the team will be even stronger after their experience of competing against the best athletes in the country this year

Jeff Sturrock

Junior Women.
The Junior Ladies have had another successful season at the end of the day. After a good start in the league match at Jarrow where the junior ladies finished in 4th place. The "big guns" of the Northern Premier League got their teams together and despite a number of good performances and tremendous team spirit the girls were destined to finish in 7th (of 8 teams) place in each of the remaining 3 fixtures and consequently finished 7th in the league.
This left us in the unenviable position of having to go to Cleckheaton for the promotion match where only 1st or 2nd place would keep Premiership status alive. Sadly a few days before the match we were to lose a number of athletes to injury and although we can field a strong team on paper if we lose key athletes we have to rely on others filling in non-specialist events - we set off with only 14 athletes.
The day was bright and sunny and we knew what we had to do to retain our Premier League place with the boys - finish in the top 2. All athletes performed well with PB's for Rachael Forrest (400mH), Ashley Gibson (800m), Sarah Dodd (Discus) and Chloe Gilmore (3000m). At the end of the match we finished in 2nd place - a magnificent effort from all the girls involved and only 1.5 points behind the winners - sadly we were disqualified in the 4 x 400m relay or we would have finished as champions. I was however delighted with the whole team performance and attitude. Once again the girls have pulled out all the stops when it matters and retained their status up there amongst the elite of the Northern Clubs. Many thanks and congratulations to all who have contributed to the effort this season as an athlete, official or supporter. See you again next year.

Pam Wilde

8-11’s.
The junior group 8 - 11 years is very busy, we presently have approximately 16 people on the waiting list. A lot of the children are 10 and not quite ready to move up to the next group until after the turn of the year, so we are not able to take anyone from the waiting list. We also had a lot of interest from children wanting to join the Harriers after the Star Track events.
A lot of children are interested in joining sprints group for which we have no coach at present.
The children who entered the Tartan Games had a very good day and were all very happy. After that some children ran in the Derwent Doddle, again we had some excellent results.
Recently a group ran at Farringdon Cross Country which was a lovely day.
Anyone wanting to put their name down on the waiting list must contact me.

Liz Paton ( 07976585440 )

NEEDED: Parents/volunteers to help with these groups!!!

Veteran Men Track & Field
Though thin on the ground, there have been some outstanding individual performances this year from our older members. At the WORLD championships in Peurto Rico once again Peter Gordon won the discus gold, and Eric Smart won TWO golds in the 4x100 & 4 x 400m relays.
In the U.K. Championships, Steve Smith was the champion in the 100m event.

Disabled Group Report
This year has seen lots of improvement from all our athletes and we have acquired some new athletes this year, which is very encouraging. Our three main athletes, Rebecca Anson, Scott Renee and Mary Suggett have come of age this year building on last year when they were all called into the Cerebral Palsy England & Wales squad. This year they have competed more than ever before at a very high level. All have set personal bests this season in all their events, winning medals at the British Open, Tartan Games and Cerebral Palsy Nationals. They also took part in the Cerebral Palsy Grand Prix and did very, with Scott up with the leaders for male field and Mary and Rebecca battling it out for the female field title.
Michael Summervile joined the group this year and has shown a lot of potential and enthusiasm. He has made a lot of progress especially in discus and shot.
Stephen’s year has been very pleasing. He won 2 golds at the 1st European Championships in Assen and in his last competition at the CP Nationals in September he broke his World Club Throwing Record and it now stands at 33m 49cms.

Ros Miller

Norwich Union Star:track 2003
Two Star:track events were held during the year, Easter and Summer. Both were very well attended; 53 attended the Easter course and 41 the Summer course.
The purpose of Star:track is to introduce children between the ages of 8-13 to athletics and to give them the opportunity of participating in the three disciplines of athletics, running, throwing and jumping.
The Easter Star:track saw us restricted to the indoor hall because of the closure of the track. Despite some initial reservations the event turned out to be a great success and many parents said just how much their children had enjoyed it. The Stadium staff deserve some credit for its success as they looked after us and provided for all our needs.
During the three days that this course took place Jonathon Edwards did some of his training in the hall and took time out to speak to the children, including a question/answer session. On asking if anyone had anymore questions one boy put up his hand and asked “Was that you I saw in the toilet yesterday morning?”. Jonathon didn’t bat an eyelid and replied “ yes, it probably was, even Olympic Champions have to go to the toilet sometimes!”.
Roll on next year!
The next Star:track will take place between 11-13 April 2004.

Tom Brown

24 RECORDS SET IN 2001!!!
25 RECORDS SET IN 2002!!!
24 RECORDS SET IN 2003!!!
Some things never change!!

Under 17 Men
400m           Craig Crawford-Glanville  49.17s
1500m S/C  Kieran Flannery                  4m 27.9s
400mH        Craig Crawford-Glanville  53.25s
Octathlon     Craig Crawford-Glanvile   4999(!)
4 x 400m Jarrow u17 team                     3m 21.9s
[U.K. club record]

Under 20 Men
400m         Craig Crawford-Glanville  49.17s
1500m       Chris Parr                            3m 46.9s
Triple Jmp Graham Jackson                  14m 82 cm
Shot Putt    Craig Sturrock                    15m 55 cms
Decathlon   John Stacey                         5399 pts
4 x 100m Grangemouth                        43.49s

Senior Men
Javelin        Ian Burns                            64m 75 cms

Under 13 Girls
150m           Laura Welsh                       20.80s
70mH          Laura Welsh                       12.00s
High Jump  Chloe Gill                           1m 24 cms

Under 15 Girls
Discus         Ashley Maddison                35m 65 cms

Under 17 Women
Pole Vault  Sarah Scorer                        2m 15 cms
4 x 100m Jarrow                                    49.70s

Under 20 Women
400m         Vicky Carmichael                58.24 s
4 x 100m Grangemouth                         48.90 s
4 x 400m Jarrow                                    4m 05.30s

Senior Women
Hammer     Lisa-Marie Shippen             45m94cm

HAVEUGOT£504US?
Many thanks to those who logged on to the website www.givenow.org with their credit card and donated £50 to club funds. Because of our charity status these arrived in our accounts as donations of £64 each.
Many thanks to all those who have made a donation, and to those who might make a donation in the future!!

www.Gateshead-Harriers.net
The club website is run by Angus Lumb and has received over 14000 visitors since it was set up. We receive numerous requests for membership etc via the website, where all results of the various events we put on are displayed. ("whenever I get them !!"- Angus )
We are very grateful for all the work Angus puts in to this important part of the club facilities.

Track & Field Helpers
The javelin needs five, the shot putt four, the discus five- the Tartan Games 130 (yes, that’s right!!), every team we enter needs five. There is helpers informal induction evening on the 21st October – come along!!!

SO YOU WANT TO BE A COACH?
I have been coming to Gateshead Harriers with one of my athletic sons for the past 5 years. I’ve shivered in the stands and drunk copious amounts of coffee in the bar. Last year my youngest son also became interested in athletics and I began to contemplate a further 5 years as a spectator. However help was at hand – I saw a notice on the board asking for volunteers to train as athletics coaches and I was very interested. Despite having no background in athletics the club were happy to sponsor me on the Level 1 course.
The course itself was run by UK Athletics and was extremely well run and informative. It was very participative and fun and gave me the confidence to actually believe that I could coach young people. Having passed the Level 1 course I qualified as an assistant coach and buddied up with one of the senior coaches at Gateshead. For a period of a couple of months I observed and assisted with the group, recording my sessions and generally helping out with the group. It was then time to take my Level 2, this course took place over a couple of weekends and despite being a big drain on my free time was hugely enjoyable. I met up with a number of other coaches from both Gateshead and other clubs and we worked together to achieve our ambitions of passing the Level 2 course and being let out on our own.
Having passed the course it was time to set up my own group. I started small but soon had a regular group of 5 or 6, 12 year olds who were eager to learn. I have had this group for a year now and am working towards my Level 3 qualification. A year ago who would have thought that I would have the confidence or the ability to coach young people in their chosen sport. I find it hugely rewarding, I don’t think I will ever coach anyone to national competition standard but my ambitions are just as important – to help young people achieve their potential and to provide a safe environment for them to try their best and enjoy their activities.

Janice Kaufman

Gateshead Harriers will always support and encourage those who are willing to give something to the athletes and the club. Coaches are the lifeblood of the club – we are the only athletics club I know of with a waiting list for members to join because we do not have enough coaches. Contact 01642 490 783 for information of the next course around.

NEW EDITOR REQUIRED
It is time for someone else to take over the twice-a-year-production of this newsletter. It is published at the end of the track season - before the Annual Meeting, when it reminds those who have not paid their subs for the year and at the end of the winter season when subscriptions are due.
Most of the articles are from team managers sent by e-mail and the treasurer prints out the address labels so it is not a big job. It is time for me to give up!!

Chris Betts

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