Welcome to Longford AC for 2015

Registration for 2015 is now open, this is good for Jan-Dec of each year. Registration Night was held on Friday January 9^th in the gymnasium at The Mall Sports Complex. 1 year registration cost €20 per child or €50 for family of 3 or more. Every athlete must be a registered member of Longford AC in order to attend training and enter competition.

Senior Training

Senior training takes place every Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm in the Mall. Tuesday’s routine consists of 15 minutes warm up and stretches followed by 40 minutes of strength and endurance and finishing with a warm down. This training is adapted to suit all levels of fitness. Thursday night is long distance training with one group running 3- 6 miles at a comfortable pace and a more advanced group running 10-12 miles at a slightly faster pace. On Saturday morning the group meet at the mall at 8am for a long run of 10-20 miles, for the more experienced runners, with turn back points for anyone in between. New members are welcome to join us any Tuesday or Thursday at 7pm.

Age categories are calculated from 31st December in the year of competition.  No athlete may obtain a birthday in the year of competition and compete in that age.

In 2015 Child will turn Age 8 years (Born 2007) = U9

In 2015 Child will turn Age 9 years (Born 2006) = U10

In 2015 Child will turn Age 10 years (Born 2005) = U11

In 2015Child will turn Age 11 years (Born 2004) = U12

In 2015 Child will turn Age 12 years (Born 2003) = U13

In 2015 Child will turn Age 13 years (Born 2002) = U14

In 2015 Child will turn Age 14 years (Born 2001) = U15

In 2015 Child will turn Age 15 years (Born 2000) = U16

Little Athletics

Little Athletics takes place every Friday evening at 7pm in the Mall Complex. Little athletics is for children in the 6 to 8 year age group and focuses on Agility, Balance and Coordination. This session lasts 1 hour and we request all parents remain for the hour. Each session cost €2 and every child must pay a €20 registration fee to cover AAI insurance.

 Juvenile Athletics

Children must be aged 9 years and above to attend Juvenile training sessions. Training costs €2 per child per session, every Wednesday 7-8pm indoors at St. Mel’s College gymnasium and Friday evenings 7-7:45 pm outdoors on tarmac or on the pitch at St. Mel’s College. A child must be a registered member of Longford AC in order to attend training. Sessions are organised once a month, and more frequently before competitions, at the indoor track at Athlone IT. Everyone involved in the club can attend these sessions at the track.  When scheduled these sessions replace the normal juvenile training sessions on Friday nights, so there is No training offered in Longford when the track sessions are on.

The Club is always looking for parents to become actively involved in running the Juvenile section as coaches, registering athletes online for competitions and giving additional support weekly at Wed\Fri training sessions. If any parent would like to gain coaching skills the Club will pay for training available through Athletics Ireland. Anyone interested please speak to Paddy McPhillips or any of the Committee members.

Training at AIT indoor track

It is very important that any athletes age U12 and above intending to enter the Indoor Track & Field competition (at the end of February) attend training sessions that are booked at AIT Indoor Arena so they are familiar with starting blocks, relay teams and field events. This is a fantastic facility right on our door step and an excellent opportunity for the juveniles to get experience. The sessions are 7-8:30pm, ALL athletes to arrive by 6:50pm in order to be fully ready to start on time. Parents to make their own arrangements regarding transport to and from AIT.  Extra help is always needed on the night so all parents are most welcome to lend a hand. Dates for the coming months in 2015 are as follows:

FRIDAY Jan 16, Feb 6, Feb 20, March 6 and March 20

Rules & Regulations for Indoor Competition

The Connacht Indoor Track & Field Championship is scheduled for Saturday Feb 28/Sunday March 1^st at AIT. Longford AC Singlets (cost €25) must be worn by all competitors, white shorts & white socks. This competition is for juvenile athletes U12 (Born 2004) up to U19. An athlete may compete in 3 individual events plus the relay.  Athletes are confined to their own age group. The first 3 medallists qualify for the National Championships in March. Athletes U13 upwards must use starting blocks. ONLY 5mm Spikes can be used. IAAF False Start Rules apply: U16 upwards First false start leads to disqualification. For U13, U14 & U15 One false start and all are on warning of next false start leading to disqualification

Coaches and parents are not allowed on the track at any time. Any parent or club official found on the track risk the possibility of their athlete and club being disqualified.  ALL FIELD EVENT ATHLETES MUST BE TECHNICALLY PROFICIENT AND COMPETENT IN THE EVENT IN THE INTEREST OF SAFETY. Warm up marks for field events should be completed where possible before the time schedule.

In the Indoor Relays an athlete may move up one age group as long as at least 2 members of a competing relay team, participating in that event on that day must be of the correct age.

Athletes can chose 3 events to compete in plus relay

Competition for younger juvenile athletes age U9-11 (Born 2007-2005) take place outdoors in June 2015. Competing together with a partner they have the choice of 2 events: 60m sprint, middle distance, long jump and turbo javelin, where they work as a pair to combine their times\distances.