News

The Youth Development League (YDL) welcome Janice Kaufman as the New Chair

On Saturday 30 November at the Youth Development League (YDL) AGM Janice Kaufman was voted in as the new YDL Chair. Janice is an active volunteer in the athletics community wearing many different hats; she is a coach, an official, the chair of the England Athletics Northeast Regional Council, and an England Athletics Board member. Janice takes over the reins from Grace Hall who has held the position for 11 years.

To thank Grace for her ongoing support for the YDL the committee and clubs voted for Grace to become the president of the YDL, a role that was last undertaken by the late Norma Blaine, when she passed the Chair role onto Grace back in 2014. England Athletics would like to thank Grace for all her work over the last 11 years, her attention to detail with athlete and club affiliation and registration for the YDL is second to none. She will still continue in other roles within athletics including her position on the UKA Members Council. This year the committee also welcomed Tim Soutar, Blackheath and Bromley, Dave Paver, City of York, and Mick Bond, Cambridge Harriers (Kent).

Committee structure

  • President – Grace Hall, Spenborough and District AC
  • Chair – Janice Kaufman – Gateshead Harriers & AC
  • Finance Officer – Nicola Thompson - Blackburn Harriers
  • Administration – Marian Williams
  • North Coordinator – Nicola Thompson
  • Midlands Coordinator – Vacant – to express your interest in this position please contact Janice@ukydl.org.uk for an informal discussion.
  • South Coordinator – Stuart Horsewood, Winchester & District AC
  • Scottish Co-ordinator – Lesley Roy
  • General committee members:
  • Tim Soutar – Blackheath & Bromley AC
  • Mick Bond – Cambridge Harriers
  • Dave Paver – City of York AC

There is an additional vacancy as a general committee member, if anyone is interested in joining the committee please contact Janice.

Full details of the agenda and documentation relating to the AGM can be found on the YDL website. A key decision made related to the 2026 age group change, the YDL committee and clubs voted to continue with matches in two different age groups, comprising of U18/U20 for the Upper Age Group and U14/U16 in the Lower Age Group respectively. It sparked debate in the room as it was felt there would potentially be very few U20 athletes, but the majority in the room felt that even though there would be fewer athletes, an opportunity should be provided for this age group. The committee will now work on proposals as to what the format for these matches would looks like. There will also be a working group set up to discuss one of the motions presented by Cheltenham Harriers & AC on composite clubs.

England Athletics continue to be a grant funding to the YDL and look forward to seeing what the competition options look like for 2026.

If you are interested in the competition landscape and using competition formats and types to increase participation, come to the free Competition Conference hosted by England Athletics on the 14 December at Alexander Stadium.

More information and book tickets

There is still the opportunity to join the YDL for 2025; if you are interested, please contact YDL administrator, Marian, to discuss: Marian@ukydl.org.uk