Southern golf equipment clarify break up choice

Supporters of the Aldershot Relays have written an open letter to the South of England AA to say why they aren’t racing on the official space street relays on the identical day at Crystal Palace

A number of the largest athletics golf equipment within the South of England declare a “catalogue of errors” by their space governing physique has compelled them to organise their very own separate street relay occasion this weekend.

The Aldershot Highway Relays can be staged at Rushmoor Area on the identical day (Sept 24) about 40 miles away from the official South of England Highway Relay Championships at Crystal Palace.

The latter occasion in south London appears set to be poorly attended, however golf equipment collaborating within the Aldershot occasion declare last-minute cancellations and uncertainties over dates and venues lately along with issues with outcomes and lack of marshals has led to an “erosion of belief”.

It has led to the weird scenario of two street relay occasions going down for golf equipment within the space on Saturday. There are, in fact, no such points on the North of England Highway Relays or Midland Relays, which additionally happen this weekend at Sportcity in Manchester and Sutton Park respectively.

Main golf equipment similar to Aldershot, Farnham & District, Highgate Harriers, Belgrave, Shaftesbury Barnet and Tonbridge AC, amongst others, have issued an open letter to the South of England Athletics Affiliation (SEAA) the place they clarify that the Aldershot Relays have been created out of frustration as a result of SEAA being gradual to publicise the place its annual males’s six-stage and girls’s four-stage relays have been on account of happen.

One group supervisor who’s supporting the Aldershot occasion instructed AW it was “an unprecedented, pointless and undesirable dilution of our already small sport”.

In response, the SEAA has welcomed collaboration and invited members from the breakaway golf equipment to affix its endurance group in order that future occasions go forward extra easily beneath the official SEAA banner.

As we initially reported within the Dip End column of the September issue of AW magazine, the English Highway Working Affiliation (ERRA) has been left with a dilemma over how you can choose consultant groups from the South of England for the ERAA Nationwide Highway Relay Championships at Sutton Park on October 8 they usually have determined to select golf equipment from each the Aldershot and Crystal Palace occasions.

Golf equipment supporting the Aldershot Relays this weekend have gone into extra element of their open letter to the SEAA, which is printed beneath in full.

This letter is meant to make clear why membership group managers listed beneath have taken the choice to enter their groups on the Aldershot (Rushmore Area) Relays as a substitute of the SEAA occasion at Crystal Palace on September twenty fourth 2022.

The golf equipment listed beneath place nice significance on the SEAA annual street relays in September and March however a listing of errors over the previous few years has led to an erosion of belief that the SEAA can successfully talk, host and make sure the relays stay an aspirational membership championship occasion.

Earlier street relay points embrace:

» 2016 uncertainty if 12/6 Stage relay competitors would go forward on account of final minute cancellation of Milton Keynes venue resulting in lowered membership entries for the swiftly rearranged venue.
» 2016 Bedford Aerodrome 6/4 stage venue & end result points.
» 2018 race outcomes incomplete / downside for six/4 stage at Crystal Palace venue.
» 2019 lack of marshals & route signage at Crystal Palace 6/4 Stage / YAs going off track and so forth.
» 2021 final minute cancellation of 6/4 Stage Relays at Crystal Palace.
» 2022 lack of well timed communication if and the place 6/4 Stage Relays have been on account of happen, therefore Aldershot occasion being created and supplied to SEAA to host as per earlier years, earlier than SEAA then belatedly listed Crystal Palace venue on identical date as Aldershot relays.

Golf equipment listed beneath need to work with SEAA and supply their membership members trusted, pleasurable and a real depth of high quality competitors that assists athlete development.

And golf equipment are actively keen to work with SEAA to help creation, communication and supply of occasions however this requires much less opaque one-way communication and as a substitute an open, two-way dialogue. Subsequently, we request the next modifications:

» SEAA Endurance Committee to have better transparency by way of open membership engagement.
» SEAA Endurance Committee suggestions to have improved authority to impact change.
» SEAA conform to enhanced membership communication by way of quarterly open membership discussion board.
» SEAA to return to pre 2016 preparations and settle for bids from golf equipment to organise and promote relay championships of their entirety (on fee of an agreed levy per athlete).
» SEAA to publish the date and time of the AGM in good time on web site so golf equipment can attend and make representations.
» SEAA to publish date and venue for every championship occasion no later than 6 months prior.

We’re massively appreciative of the membership people already volunteering their time to help SEAA internet hosting occasions, nevertheless, we really feel they deserve higher help and their time ought to be invested in occasions that profit from the complete backing of their grassroots group.

Yours sincerely,

Full record of membership / group supervisor signatories: Ben Pochee & Ben Noad, Highgate Harriers; Mark Hookway, Tonbridge AC; Mike Boucher (Snr Males), AFD; Will Cockerell, Belgrave Harriers; Ric Park, Cambridge & Coleridge AC; Tony Forrest, Bedford & County AC; Jeremy Sothcott, Shaftesbury Barnet AC; Ken Pike, Kent AC; Ray Stevens, Studying AC; Jamie Taylor-Caldwell, Ealing, Southall & Middlesex AC; Geoff Jerwood, Herne Hill Harriers; Jamie Ashton, Bracknell AC; Catherine Holdsworth, Chiltern Harriers; Peter Witcomb Jnr Workforce Mngr, Brighton & Hove AC; Kevin Stilwell, Wycombe Phoenix Harriers; John Doyle, Hillingdon; Shireen Higgins, WSEH; Howard Bristow, Brighton & Hove AC; Stuart Flack, Epsom & Ewell Harriers; Terry Sales space & Andy Coley-Maud, Guildford & Godalming AC; Dave Buzza, Cornwall AC; Mark Pauley, Poole AC; Paul Leppard, Hillingdon AC; Andy Simpson, Stubbington Inexperienced Runners; Deborah Steer, St Albans.

The South of England AA, in the meantime, responded by saying: “SEAA’s goal is to offer championships for Southern athletes consistent with the necessities of the nationwide our bodies on the nationally prescribed dates. We are going to proceed to do that.

“The SEAA AGM provides member golf equipment the best to appoint people for Highway on the Endurance Group. At this yr’s AGM there have been no such nominations. The Endurance Group are additionally in a position to co-opt non-elected members and we’d welcome representatives of the Golf equipment which have signed the open letter to affix the working Group.”

As a way to resolve the qualification process for the nationwide occasion at Sutton Park, the ERRA basic committee met and defined: “The primary 8 ‘A’ groups can be invited to the Nationwide from each races. Groups filling the subsequent 10 locations at every race will then be thought of by the Secretary and Championship Secretary of the ERRA Committee to find out which different groups can be invited which will even embrace ‘B’ groups.”

Rushmoore Area staged the South of England autumn six- and four-stage street relays in 2015 (pictured above) earlier than shifting to Bedford and Crystal Palace.

Final yr’s nationwide occasion at Sutton Park 12 months in the past noticed Aldershot, Farnham & District declare each the boys’s and girls’s titles. For the report of the 2021 occasion, CLICK HERE

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