JOINING THE CLUB INFORMATION
Joining the Club & Training Groups
If you are interested in joining the club that’s great. We take athletes from their 9th birthday of all abilities! We have limited capacity so, in the first instance, please contact Cressy Morgan by email on secretary.carmarthenharriers@hotmail.com
Depending on your experience in athletics the club secretary will guide you through where you will best fit. For some groups we are now operating a waiting list so we can continue to offer quality coaching with a safe coach to athlete ratio across the club. Having to wait can be frustrating but please be aware the club is run by volunteers, most of whom work and spend many hours coaching and ensuring the club works behind the scenes. Please be patient if it takes a few days to come back to you! Where athletes have met a high level of performance (EG medalling at county level or above) we will enable membership regardless of waiting lists as long as there is an appropriate group that can take the athlete.
If accepted into a group by a coach then anyone can come along for free and give it a try for a week. At this point, if athletes like it, then you will be asked to join the club. This membership fee covers your registration with Welsh Athletics, insurance for you, the club and coaches. You will also get a reduction on many entry fees to events. Without membership with Welsh athletics you cannot compete in most events in the UK, train with us or represent the club. Occasionally members of other clubs train with us and this is agreed on a case by case basis between coaches and the clubs. Juniors who join the club are required to compete for the club.
Equipment - what you need:
A pair of trainers is all you need to start. When competing, having running spikes is helpful and these can be purchased relatively cheaply. There are specialist spikes / shoes for jumps and throws and coaches can advise on these after you join and are only needed as you advance through the sport. We have a 10% discount code for start fitness that we can give you when you join
Running Shoes, Clothing and Accessories | Start Fitness
To compete you will need a Carmarthen Harriers vest. These can be purchased from the club before a competition and are not needed to train in.
Training Groups- what you can expect:
U11/U13 - School years Year 5,6 and 7:
Athletics is a late development sport – no one has any idea of what an athlete will be best at when they are under the age of 13. There are countless examples of international athletes who started in one event and by the time they were 18 were doing a completely different one.
For this reason we aim to give a skills based to junior athletes based on a run, jump throw philosophy. The aim is to have fun and develop their physical competence across a range of events that will serve them well in all sports. Transition from these groups to more specialist groups will be done through a conversation with the athlete, the parent and the coach.
Every athlete has a slightly different pathway and our process reflects this. You or your child may think they know what they will be best at but it is worth remembering that world medallists Dina Asher-Smith , sprints, and Steve Backley, Javelin, both started out cross country runners!
Years 8-11
Some of these secondary school athletes will be more appropriately matched straight into more specialist groups- There are opportunities in sprints, endurance, throws and jumps. At these ages we firmly take the view that athletes should continue to try different events. So don’t be surprised if, on occasions we encourage them to train in different groups to throw and jump as well as run! We realise friendship groups are important at this age and try to be flexible to keep these together or allow friends to train together.
Years 12, 13 and Seniors:
Depending on the athlete we will link you in directly with an appropriate group as long as there is space. A small number of our seniors train independently on club nights. As long as the club is aware and it is pre-arranged then there is no problem with that.
WhatsApp:
Most groups have a Whatsapp group and communication around training and events is done through these groups. When you join we will generally seek to add you into the appropriate group. So if on are not on Whattsapp then please join!
Club Training Sessions
Club training evenings are on:
- Tuesday 18:00 - 20:00
- Thursdays 18:00 - 20:00
Weekly at Carmarthen Leisure Centre Athletics Track in Johnstown.
Weekends: by arrangement
