The groups action plan will appear above shortly for 2007/08. We will also add reports on this page from time to time that document the successes of the partnership activity taking effect on the ground involving the counties clubs
Core Group Members
Margaret Powell - Stevenage North Herts AC, Terry Davies - St Albans AC, David Rice - Herts Phoenix AC, Dacorum & Tring AC, Herts Sports Partnership, Malcolm Wallace - Watford Harriers AC, Sally Gandee - Herts AA
Hertfordshire Athletics Association
Hon Secretary
Sally Gandee - secy@hertscaaa.org.uk
Website
www.hertscaaa.org.uk
NEWS FROM HERTFORDSHIRE
WATFORD HARRIERS CHAIRMAN RECOGNISED BY WATFORD BOROUGH COUNCIL FOR SERVICES TO COMMUNITY LIFE.....
Dr Vaughan Tayler - Chairman of Watford Harriers - has been named the 2007 winner of the Watford Borough Councils Chairman’s award for voluntary service. The award was confirmed because of his dedication to the support and development of athletics within the local community. During his 16 years at Watford Harriers Vaughan has worked at all levels and has given his time freely to many of our local schools as well as coaching many of our star athletes at Woodside Stadium.
Mayor Dorothy Thornhill said "A volunteer selflessly gives up their time for the greater good of the community. Watford Borough Council values the contribution one person can make - no matter how big or small the cause".
England Athletics East would like to extend congratulations to Vaughan for a well deserved award.
Background
Published originally in Athletics Weekly
Moving Forward In The East
England Athletics Eastern region councilor and Chairman of the Hertfordshire AAA development group, MALCOLM WALLACE writes about the ongoing post-Foster changes and tackles the question of, what’s in it for the clubs?’
Context
What ever you think about the Foster report, UK Athletics and AAA of England, history will show that the changeover happened in April this year and the new organization English Athletics came in to being.
We have seen a number of changes, arguments, the setting up of the Association of British Athletic Clubs (ABAC) and the resignation of UKA chief executive David Moorcroft, plus the opportunity for every club member to stand for election to regional councils and the chance for every club to vote in those elections.
I have always believed that changes only come from within an organization and I took the viewpoint that to make it work for the clubs we had to have a strong council. It was on that basis that I took the decision to stand and to my surprise I was elected with a lot of support from clubs across the Eastern region.
I felt my commercial background coupled with my straightforward approach would mean I could make a difference. Three months in and I believe the elected councilors in the East have made a significant difference to the way we operate.
Making A Difference
The question I am often asked l5: “What difference will this make for the clubs?”
I can only speak on behalf of the Hertfordshire clubs. As Chairman of the Hertfordshire AAA development group I was at the time of the election negotiating the budget with our regional performance manager, Gwyn Potts. As a regional councilors with one meeting under my belt, it was obvious that many of the functions previously looked after by UKA would be passed down to the regions, the big one being coach and officials education programme. Any “deal” we struck would have to take these changes into account.
There were a number of key factors which influenced the final agreement. In the East we had a new regional manager from outside of the sport, the rugby-playing cricketer Chris Jones, plus Potts, who has been Involved in Hertfordshire athletics for a number of years. We did not have a PADO (sports development officer) working in the county.
These factors enabled us to make the decision that Hertfordshire AAA would over the next year make all major investment decisions relating to developing athletics in the county and the clubs would be responsible for undertaking the planned actions.
One of the biggest criticisms from members of the athletics fraternity was that we would be seeing top-down funding and development planning with very little money for the clubs. In reality, Hertfordshire clubs planned the development programme and we have the finance to make it happen. Therefore it is very much a bottom-up development programme. With the appropriate funding we looked at what was needed, when it was needed and how much money was required to undertaken the plan as a whole.
Did we get everything we wanted? Of course not. Do we have constraints? Yes. We must be sensible with the investment and we must attain our key performance indicators.
Participation
The plan is to make sure that athletics in Hertfordshire has a firm foundation from which it can grow. The key area is the setting up and subsidizing of coach education for a wide range of participants, all of whom will have to undertake to participate and support club coaches over a given period of time.
We are also aware of the need for existing coaches to undertake regular updates and mentoring. Where clubs do not have specific coaches the clubs in Hertfordshire will work together to ensure athletes
have the opportunity to obtain the coaching from other clubs within the county The county will also be investing heavily in officials’ education and developing very strong links with the schools and other organizations within the community All in all the plan is a very clearly defined project designed to put into place the foundations for the future.
The Development Group
The development group, which is based around five of the larger clubs in Hertfordshire, is making sure that the future athletics development programme takes into account the needs, desires and aims of every club in the county.
Now that you have read down to this point, some of you will be saying, “It sounds too good to be true” or “Bet it’s a sweetener wait for next year”. Like all projects, there are the good parts, the bad parts and the unknown. First the good parts — we had the plan we wanted approved, with it in the most part untouched, and secured funding. It has brought all the clubs together and will enable us to forge stronger links with the schools and the local communities.
As for the bad parts, we have to make sure it works, and this will place a lot of responsibility on the owners of the plan. We have to find the volunteers and we may at some stage have to tell clubs their plan is not good enough or that they have not provided the right information. I am sure that some heated discussions will take place. I dearly hope they are minor and we maintain the united front we have now.
We are already talking about next year’s plan and the way in which we are going to link the development stages together over a much longer period. We believe we have the infrastructure to work with the programme and make it a success.
All the clubs involved have some development history but none on this scale. We are committed to making it work but only time will tell. Having worked in the business world as an independent marketing consultant, I suggest that one failure that can be attributed to both UKA and English Athletics is the lack of a good communications programme providing everyone involved in the sport some of the good news about developments that are taking place.
Moving Forward
Over the last few months we have had one bad news story after another but I have seen some wonderful developments take place, which are discussed on web forums and within the athletics world as yet another lot of bad news from UKA.
Now the question is, “Have I sold out?” To which the answer is an emphatic ‘no’.
I still have the right and the ability to tell UKA when they have it wrong. I do not agree with everything that I have seen in English Athletics but at least I have the opportunity to see first-hand areas that need reviewing. I know how to try to influence changes that need to be made. I am fortunate to belong to a council where the majority of the council has never held such important positions, but each one brings with them a unique attribute which has made us feel like a team far quicker than I thought we would.
I have had a few people say that what you are doing is wrong and we should all fight the introduction of English Athletics, but I hope that I have illustrated very clearly that if we work together we can change things in the right way for the benefit of local grassroots’ athletics.
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