Sunday saw a return to racing at Whitley Bay for our young Birtley AC team, with an amazing first team place for the Birtley AC/Tyne Bridge partnership.
There were some really fabulous performances by our athletes at all levels. 
The U13 boys had a win with Noah Williamson in the 1500m and the discus, Gabriel Curtis in the Long Jump and 100m, and Callum Chambers in the shot. There were also some great efforts by Jamie Mcteer, Riley Weeks and Ollie King,  and Ben Storey.
The U13 girls were represented by Niamh Phillipson who took part in the 100m, 1500m, and Long Jump. Well done Niamh.
The U15 boys saw a win for Martin Rahamann in the 200m, who also performed well in the 800m and 80mh. Mathew Drummond, Ben Brownless and Lewis Watson also gave some really great performances for their team.
The U15 girls included Ami Leigh Dodds, Terri Bouma, Maggie Graham and Daisy Graham. The girls all gave their all in their events and made us proud.
The U17 boys saw Chris Perkins win the 400m and  800m. George Beevers and Rowan Mason both had some fabulous results. 
The U17 girls saw Katie Francis win the 1500m and Abigail Thwaites did a great job in the 200m.
It was lovely to see some of our newer members trying out track and field for the first time. They all tried to so hard for the team, while battling those first time nerves, so a special mention goes to Ami Leigh Dodds, Jamie Mcteer, Ollie King, Ben Storey and Niamh Phillipson. Huge congratulations on your efforts on the day.
The team won by 40 points overall and a great day out was had by all.

A relay is being organised for all Club members. The route will be from Whitehaven to Sunderland along the Sea to Sea (C2C) Cycle Path plus laps of the fields at Lord Lawson School, or if the school isn’t available we’ll detour to Chester le Street Riverside (C2C+). The idea of the relay is to encourage all Club members to participate in promoting the Club and to actively seek publicity for the event and therefore the Club.

The relay will start at 8:00pm on Friday 25th June and continue through the night until the finish at Roker Beach before (hopefully) 4:00pm Saturday 26th June.

There will be 24 legs on route, plus short legs at Lord Lawson or Chester le Street, with distances ranging from 2 miles to 11 miles and if you feel that 2 miles is too far then club members can still take part by completing a short leg, of 100m or above, at the school.

Hopefully a social night can held soon afterwards for all Club members/family and friends (venue to be confirmed). The event will require a large amount of organising and also help from as many people as possible i.e. cyclists to be with the runners, drivers for support vehicles, help at Lord Lawson School, and of course RUNNERS. We will need at least 2 mini buses and drivers, 6 cyclists to take it in turns from start to finish, 24 runners (although of course more than one runner can be on each leg).

Hopefully we can get local companies to sponsor towards the cost of the buses and also some event t shirts. We will also be asking members/parents/friends to raise sponsorship for Club funds and a local charity which will be confirmed. The Club has previously, successfully, done the event in 2008 and raised a large total for the Evening Chronicle Sunshine Fund. Everyone can take part in this unique event, (members/parents/guardians/friends) either as a runner on one of the relay legs or as a supporter. If you would like to take part please keep checking the face book page and/or web site, or if you need any further information send Tom a message or see him on Club training nights.

Further information.
For those who are considering taking part in the above event, I’ve detailed some further information below regarding the times that would have to be committed, i.e. pick up and drop off times.

Minibus A - Pick up from Birtley 5pm with 5 runners, 2 cyclists, 4 drivers/helpers
Minibus B - Pick up from Birtley 9:30pm with 4 runners, 2 cyclists, 2 drivers/helpers
Minibus A - Leaves Penrith approx 3:15am to return to Birtley approx 5:45am with runners, cyclists and helpers wishing to go home.
Minibus A - Pick up from Birtley 7:15am with 6 runners, 1 cyclist and driver to meet Minibus B at Rookhope
Minibus B - Leaves Rookhope approx 8:30am to return to Birtley and will then return to relay on route at approx Waskerley.
Buses will then follow runners and cyclists to Lord Lawson and Roker

So the first 5 runners on Minibus A have to commit to leaving Birtley at 5pm and returning 5:45am.
The next runners on Minibus B have to commit from 9:30pm to 9:30am.

As you can see, if the event is to go ahead then we need people who are willing to commit to the above times. At least 24 runners (although some are willing to do more than one leg), 6 cyclists, 4 drivers/helpers are needed for the whole of the relay.

There’s 6 weeks to go and to date there’s about 8 people who have offered to either run or help, although no one has committed to a particular leg or when they’re available to cycle or drive. There’s buses to book, hopefully t-shirts to organise and the route to be double checked, which need doing about 2 to 3 weeks before, therefore, unfortunately, if there’s not enough commitment in the next 3 weeks then to C2C+ relay will not be happening. The list of legs with times and distance is shown below, please message Tom (or email and it'll be passed on) if you’re available for any (especially Whitehaven to Rookhope). See this link for the route.

Due to a kind donation by Müller in association with British Athletics, we have a pair of tickets for the Diamond League on 23rd May at Gateshead Stadium to raffle to our members. All proceeds will go to a charity (to be decided) and the draw is open to all paid up members of Birtley (athletes and/or parents of athletes). Entries will close on Tuesday 18th May (UPDATED due to ticket provision restrictions) and the draw will be streamed live on our FB page. Current draw hopefuls are shown on our noticeboard page

First, and most important for us as an athletics club, there is the National Association of Boys & Girls Clubs UK  Club Athletics  Championships 2021 which will be taking place on 12th June at Middlesbrough Sports Village.

This event is open to athletes from U11 to U20 age groups:-

U11 max 2 events + relay:- 75m, 200m, 800m, HJ, LJ, Shot & Relay
U13 max 3 events + relay:- 100m, 200m, 800m, 1500m, HJ, LJ, Shot
U15 max 3 events + relay:- 100m, 200m, 300m (boys), 800m, 1500m, HJ, LJ, Shot, Discus, Javelin
U17 max 3 events + relay:- 100m, 200m, 300m (girls), 400m, 800m, 1500m, HJ, LJ, TJ (boys), Shot, Discus, Javelin
U20 max of 5 events inc relay:- 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 3000m, HJ, LJ, TJ (boys), Shot, Discus, Javelin

Your coaches will soon be asking you if you'd like to represent the club by competing in this competition, and it's a great opportunity to compete against other athletes from all over the UK in a really good venue.  Entry is free but the club is only able to put forward one athlete for each event in each age group, so places are strictly limited, and places must be confirmed by 4th June.

Do we have any aspiring pool players in the club?  The annual County Pool Competition will be held at Lambton Street Youth Centre, Sunderland,  in accordance with COVID-19 safety guidelines, on the 27th May 2021.  

This competition is open to any young person in the club - if you'd like to enter, please email me for an entry form. There is a £10 club entry fee but this is only payable once, so if several people wanted to enter, the cost could be shared - there is a limit of two players per age group:-

• Over 10 and Under 12 on 1.9.20
• Over 12 and Under 14 on l. 9.20
• Over 14 and Under 16 on l. 9.20
• Over 16 and Under 19 on l. 9.20

Winners from this competition will go on to compete in the National Championships later in the year.

Next up they have a "Britain's Fittest Teen Competition!"

Prior to lockdown NABGC had hoped to start their new ‘Britain's Fittest Teen’.  Unfortunately that had to be put on hold due to lockdown.  Now however, they are re-launching this event.

They are pleased to say that this will be taking place after the summer.  For more information on this, please click on this link or check out the promotional video