Originally Posted by
Travs
After Birmingham University once again completely obliterated some very strong competition in the first Birmingham League fixture on saturday, a fierce debate erupted in the Godiva Car Park last night....
That of course being the appearance of university clubs in the various XC leagues.
Taking just one example from B'ham Uni.... the race winner, Will Barnicote, helped his club Aldershot get within seconds of a gold medal at the recent National XC Relays... so shouldn't he be turning out in the league for them? Many similar examples across the results. Ditto Loughborough Uni and their Olympic Academy, who similarly dominated for a good part of the previous decade.
The older coaches and team managers are adamant this shouldn't be happening and club runners should be running for their clubs.
I'm a bit more 50/50 on the subject. Whilst i generally agree with their argument, having Loughborough, Birmingham (and indeed Warwick) Universities in the mix with some great teams like Tipton, Birchfield et al.... enhances the prestige of the league as one of the "best in the country".
And also gives young athletes the chance of regular good quality competition, when they might not be able to afford the expense of travelling home for a bread-and-butter league fixture.
To prevent civil war breaking out in the Cov Godiva car park, a compromise was proposed.... Let the Uni's race, but either they are con-competitive (i don't think this will work or they'll likely just not bother to race at all).... or have separate medals, top 3 in the league, and top 3 clubs.
I wonder what the die-hard XC guys such as GazB and WP think on this one....?