Young Athletes

Where and When We meet
Club night for the junior section is on Tuesdays. There are two groups: 11 and under, and the over 11's. Each week's training is different, but whatever you do you'll be working on your stamina and your fitness, and the idea is to have FUN.

We meet every week at Sevenoaks School for our training. When the evenings are light enough, we train outside on the track. In the winter months, we move indoors to the gym. Training starts with a warm up at 6.20, and ends at 7.30 after a warm down.

What We Do
When outside, you might practice your sprints, or jog around Knole Park, or perfect your long jump. In the gym, you might do circuit training or practice with special indoor javelins and shot puts made from foam. Older members have a separate room for training, and occasionally go out on road runs.

Throughout the year, there are competitions to enter, usually against other clubs in the area. The main ones for the under 11s are the Sportshall Athletics competitions, which are held at each local club in turn. For the older juniors, we already enter open track and field competitions and are introducing league competition from this year. The points won at each event are totalled at the end of the season to produce a winning club.

Please click on the underlined text to see what is currently on our calendar

Every year, there is a special presentation ceremony to celebrate the achievements of the club's junior members. We hope you'll be able to attend, as there are medals and certificates for all levels of achievement.

Kit
Remember to bring a sweatshirt for the end of the session, and a drink. Don't worry about buying spikes to begin with; just wear trainers with well-cushioned heels. The club kit can be bought from Bat and Ball Sports on the Otford Road (part of Godfrey's). We suggest that you start with a yellow club T-shirt, which you can wear for training and the Sportshall Athletics competitions. You'll also need a club vest, if you take part in club meets (track and field competitions) at other venues.

Minimum age
We normally ask that juniors are a minimum age of 9. In exceptional circumstances we do accept younger athletes, but it is usually on condition that an adult responsible for that child is available to assist with coaching. A child under 9 should not be left at a training session if the adult is not coaching that evening. For further information please contact Clare Higgins.

Subcriptions
Annual subscriptions are £17 (over 11s) and £12 (under 11s). In addition, we collect termly fees which go towards the hire of the sports facilities from Sevenoaks School. These are £15 (or £25 for 2 children) for the winter and spring terms and £25 (£40 for 2 children) for the summer term and throughout the summer holiday.

Juniors who are thinking about joining the club are welcome to attend for 3 trial sessions, free of charge. We will then ask for a completed membership form, and payment of the subscription fees and term fees if you decide to join.

PLEASE NOTE THAT, AT THE MOMENT, THE U11s GROUP IS OVERSUBSCRIBED AND WE ARE UNABLE TO TAKE ANY NEW ATHLETES. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED TO THE WAITING LIST PLEASE E-MAIL YOUR DETAILS TO CLARE HIGGINS AND WE WILL CONTACT YOU AS SOON AS A PLACE BECOMES AVAILABLE. WE CAN STILL ACCEPT U13s and U15s FOR TRIALS, BUT PLEASE CONTACT CLARE FIRST.

You may download a membership form by clicking on the underlined text. The form is a pdf file. If you do not have the Acrobat reader installed on your PC, click on icon for a free download.

One final note: please make sure you have an adult to collect you at 7.30 when it is time to go home. If your parent is late, just wait with one of the coaches until you are collected.

Child Protection
Please read our child protection policy which applies to all juniors under 17 years of age.

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Kelly Holmes meets members of the junior section at a recent training session