Windsor Slough Eton and Hounslow AC - England Athletics x Athletics Weekly Club of the Month - March

Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow AC, our latest England Athletics x Athletics Weekly Club of the Month, are committed to providing an environment that is welcoming to all, and is a fun, positive environment for athletes.

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.

Providing role models for young athletes

Nick Pearson, the club's Chair, has been involved in various roles for almost 30 years - firstly as an athlete, then as a parent of athletes, and then as a coach and team manager before joining the committee.

"We're in a really lucky position that we've got an amazing facility. We're incredibly honoured to have amazing alumni - world champions, Olympic champions, world record holders. That acts as incredible inspiration to some of the youngsters.

"We're small enough and local enough that the young athletes get access to those stars of the sport, and it can act as a real point of engagement for them with elite athletics."

A family environment

Zoe Allan is a young athlete at the club, and really feels at home on training nights.

"I love it here because it's almost like one big family, and it's just so different to what I'd be doing with the rest of my week. Here, I've got what I love, and then my friends."

"I find I can always go to any of my coaches that are here, and I trust them fully - they know what they are doing. I do consider them like my family, because they're always there. They just always have the right thing to say to encourage me to give it my best and to do them proud."

Treasuring elite talent

Jake Norris, English hammer thrower and former U20 world champion, values his club membership with WSEH.

"The club has been really helpful with me. A few years ago, they ended up helping me buy a competition hammer. They've been behind the facility we train at, which is really convenient. I love doing the NAL comps for the club."

Looking ahead

Nick recognises that the key to future success for the club is engaging their youth, and retaining their members in their teenage years by creating a fun environment that they want to stay in.

"We're working on how we can change the focus of the club and make it more values-based, make it more about being a positive impact on developing and improving young people, make things fun, engaging, make it much more youth-centric. We feel that if we can do that over time, then the by-products will be that we'll have more good high quality athletes that want to compete for the club regularly and the club does better."