Following the constitutional changes made at the EGM in August, the Eagles can now offer sessions to juniors (and admit juniors as official members) but, like the many great things, we are starting small. Here's what we have on offer for juniors this autumn/winter season:
XC: Along with the Met League - where we had up to three (unofficial) juniors running in the junior races last season - we've joined the North West London YA Cross Country League (which is exclusively junior races). Each of the leagues offers 5 fixtures from October to March, which means a packed calendar and lots of choice for juniors wishing to run XC for the Eagles this season. The minimum age for the league is school year 5, and juniors in year 7 (and above) need to be EA registered to run.
To support those juniors who would like to try XC racing, we have organised a few XC training sessions - about one a month on a Saturday or Sunday morning starting mid-September - which will be lead by Richard Tuson. Although these are drop-in sessions, juniors must apply for junior membership so that we have all the necessary consents and emergency contacts. The minimum age to participate is year 5. If you have a junior (year 5 or older) who would be interested, please email juniors@ealingeagles.com for more details.
Athletics 365 sessions: We will be continuing with our athletics 365 sessions (which we piloted in June/July). These will take place in the Elthorne 5-a-side courts from 7 to 8 pm on Mondays and are for juniors from school year 3 to year 8. They will be led by Kelvin Walker.
We are limited by the size of the venue and the number of qualified coaches, so can only accommodate up to 30 juniors and are requiring everyone to sign up in advance to a full term (they are not drop-in). The sessions are already full (!) but if you have a junior (from year 3 to year 8) who would be interested, please email juniors@ealingeagles.com to be added to the waiting list.
Volunteering: We have a great volunteer team involved already with the juniors, including Jen Watt, Kelvin Walker, Lisa Dumais, James de Vivenot, Richard Tuson, Sarah Mackenzie, Lisa Emerson, Maria Fitzgerald, Catherine Mulrenan, Neil Enskat, Ben Cale and Hannah Copeland - but more help is always welcome. If you're interested in getting involved, please contact juniors@ealingeagles.com.