City of Plymouth AC - England Athletics x Athletics Weekly Club of the Month - April

City of Plymouth AC, our latest England Athletics x Athletics Weekly Club of the Month, are powered by faithful volunteers and are bringing through some top talent among their youth ranks.

Each month, we will be selecting one affiliated club to celebrate with a mini-documentary, produced with our partners at Athletics Weekly, which captures some of the unique stories at our clubs.

The power of volunteers

City of Plymouth AC Club President, Paul Crutchley, used to sit in the stands and watch when bringing his daughter to athletics training, before deciding he was going to start volunteering to help the club out.

"It's all because of my eldest daughter. When she was eight, we were watching athletics on the TV, and she said when she was watching the pole vault, 'That looks fun!' So, I came along here and sat in the stand for a little while, and realised that actually, why don't I offer my services. I was raking the sandpit, and all of a sudden, it's, 'Do you want to become a coach?'

Paul started with his Coaching Assistant course, before completing his full Athletics Coach qualification, before realising his club were short of officials, particularly for Starters, so completed his officiating qualifications in that field, and ended up on the club committee, having now been with the club for 20 years.

A thriving youth section

City of Plymouth AC Head Coach, Neal Edwards, leads on youth provision, with the club putting sessions on every evening from Monday to Thursday. On their busiest evening, Monday, the club will often have upwards of 80 athletes of different events, groups and abilities attending.

"The sessions are all being delivered by some really cracking coaches who give up their time and volunteer to be here, free of charge to deliver."

Treasuring star talent

Promising young sprinter Annabelle Fasuba ran a Championship Record of 7.36 in the U17 girls' 60m at our Indoor Age Group Championships back in February, and trains with Neal Edwards at City of Plymouth AC.

Club President, Paul Crutchley spoke of the importance of nurturing budding talents like Annabelle.

"Every now and again, an athlete comes along that rekindles a huge amount of interest, and Annabelle is that at the moment. She's an incredible athlete. We've had some incredible success in the past. For a relatively small club, we've had quite a decent amount of success internationally. It's something that the coaches really manage to strive and be able to pull forward."