Has anyone got any children or family members (juniors) who go to Rotherham Harriers as i am taking my son tonight. They read like a very good club for juniors and even have a trail and fell section for him.I just wondered if anyone had actual experience with the club.
They called me mad and i called them mad and damn them they outvoted me !!!.
No direct knowledge or experience, but they have successfully participated in the English junior championship in recent years.
Going downhill fast - until I fell over
I don't often disagree with you Jim, but that is stretching it a bitOriginally Posted by FellJunior
2011 - no athletes in any race
2010 - 1 athletes running 1 race each.
2009 - 1 athlete with 2 runs and 1 athlete with 1 run.
2008 - 1 athlete with 4 runs.
It's a shame really with the Peak District and South Pennines on the doorstep that junior fell running isn't more prevalent in the South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Cheshire areas.
Assuming you live in Rotherham, Rotherham is the logical choice of club, have had some success with junior endurance runners as well as some decent seniors and will serve you well, but you will probably have to go down the fell route on your own or look to develop it yourself.
I would suggest approaching the endurance coach and see what their views are on Junior Fell. Some don't like it. But they may be happy to support it and for you to actively encourage it so that you get a small group together.
That's really how we got it going around 6 years ago at BBH - with 2 families going to races and others joining in the fun
Slightly farther afield Holmfirth and Mansfield are your nearest clubs that "support" junior fell.
Worth a thought for sure. I know who the endurance coach is and i will ask him.
They called me mad and i called them mad and damn them they outvoted me !!!.
I was thinking more of the 4th and 8th final placings, admittedly achieved by the same runner, but nevertheless perhaps in some way due to the club's encouragement and coaching. Not in the same league as the mighty Blackburn, but from small acorns etc..I don't often disagree with you Jim, but that is stretching it a bit
Going downhill fast - until I fell over
The "mighty" BBH is more about quality juniors than quantity on the fells - we do have some particularly good individuals and of course fell running is promoted in the club as a positive and enjoyable branch of the sport for a young endurance runner that can also be a great day out for the family as well.
It really is difficult though. If someone asks for a junior fell club in the Lancs area you have a good few options, same for West / North Yorkshire and Cumbria. But outside of these areas we have only a few isolated clubs in England that support junior fell running.
Ask about a good senior fell club though and it's likely to be a different answer. Fell clubs tend to be good senior clubs or good junior clubs.
Look in Lancs at the Junior clubs - BBH, Rossy, Pendle, Horwich, Lancaster & Morecambe - then look at which of these can punch it's weight in senior fell club terms and it's more difficult.
Clubs like CLEM, Bowland - even Pudsey & B and Northumberland Fell Runners now have Lancs based senior fell runners.
It seems to me though that too many of the fell clubs (and one might argue endurance clubs) are fell only senior groups aiming at placing in the team events. Where do they think the next generation of younger athletes are going to come from?
Team events are great fun and I can tell you from my young athletes' experiences that they love the road and XC Relays and as they get older I get enquiries about when they can take part in the Pennine Bridleway and FRA Relays.
If all the juniors progressed through it would be fine, but of course there is a drop out rate, so the 6 - 8 U13 Girls that we often have at any one time can be 4 - 6 U17 Women and then 1 Senior Woman if we are lucky.
The 1 x Senior Woman cannot run in a Endurance Relay event alone so then what?
I'm not sure how this is resolved. But I do think the trend of the last 30 years for the one local club to split through factions and differences of often individual disagreements needs to be reversed.
It looks like Chorley AC and Chorley Harriers may resolve to merge in the near future and we have seen locally Blackpool Wyre and Fylde form from 2 clubs successfully. I think it makes sense for all concerned at the Chorley Clubs and I wish them luck with it.
I think it might be best for others to all look at for the good of the sport and the athletes.
How is this relevant to the thread?
Well the Rotherham area doesn't have a "Fell Club" and could it be that there are so many clubs operating in the patch of say a 12 mile radius of Rotherham that the coaches and volunteers are spread so thin that they cannot offer a wider choice.
Hallamshire
City of Sheffield
Barnsley AC
Doncaster AC
Dark Peak
Pennistone Footpath
Steel City Striders
Wombwell AC
That's off the top of my head - I expect there's double that. Now it's a large area and can handle having 3 or 4 clubs, of that I'm sure, but there's too many really.
Interesting to read your posts on this thread Witton. I know my club Pennine has lots of kids running and there's a few tasty juniors in the ranks. I'm not sure about English Champs but I'm pretty sure theres been a couple racing.
Pennine has a series of winter races for juniors attached to the senior handicap series and it seems very popular as do races like the Hayfield May Queen and Lantern Pike Dash. But I don't see too many races for juniors in the Greater Manchester/Lancashire area. Is this because of a lack of volunteers or because most of them are concentrating on track and cross country?
Sorry to take the thread off topic just interested that's all!
See this link. First (experimental) year, with the possibility of inviting more clubs as it becomes established.
Going downhill fast - until I fell over
Penistone FPR have a very active junior section with twice weekly training sessions, Not sure how much is fell, probably mainly road/Cross country as have Hallamshire Harriers.
Penistone have quite a waiting list though
That's brilliant it would be good if there was something like that this side of the Peak.
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