The Way It Works

St Mary's Richmond AC Under 13 and Under 15 Junior Teams compete in the Lower Age Group (LAG) Youth Development League (YDL), and are currently in the Southern Region - Division. 1E, In the 2024 season, we will be competing as one of 7 teams against: Crawley AC, Hillingdon AC, Holland Sports & Dorking and Mole Valley, Kingston AC & Poly, Walton AC and Woking Ac

The competitions for the 2024 track season will be held on the following dates:

Sat 20th April at K2 stadium (host Crawley AC)

Sun 19th May at Kingsmeadow Weir Archer stadium (host K&P AC)

Sun 16th June at Sir Mo Farah track, St Mary Uni (host SMRAC)

Sun 21st July at Hillingdon Athletics centre (host Hillingdon AC)

If you want to compete in this team, please download, complete and return this form https://forms.gle/7k4se5769pkQ9sU2A

All athletes must register with the SMRAC team manager 1 hour prior to their event. A copy of the full timetable (we are NON-PREMIER) can be found on here: 

https://www.ukydl.org.uk/LAG%20Timetables%202024.pdf

Our two team managers are Hansley Jones and Matthew Lamb, who select the team based on the athletes desired choices circled on the YDL Athlete Registration Form. The team managers enters two athletes per event ("A" and "B" athlete) in each of the four age categories (U13 Girls & Boys, U15 Girls & Boys). Points are awarded to each club depending on the finishing position of those athletes. It is really important for the team that all of those participating turn up on time or give their apologies well in advance!

We really want to encourage ALL OF OUR ATHLETES to firstly enjoy themselves but secondly to participate in their preferred event or at least try another event if the team needs you! Each athlete can only compete in the a maximum of 4 events at each match, 3 individual + 1 relay. There are also non-scoring sprints & 800m races for athletes on the verge of team selection to get valuable experience. And we also encourage parents to get involved too as we need both qualified and unqualified officials to be at each match, scoring valuable points for the team as well gaining invaluable officiating experience!

History

Following a successful 2015 season under the leadership of Ashley Grist, finishing top of the table with 26 league points, we were promoted from the Southern Region - North/East Division.  Our success continued with some excellent performances in the 2016 track season. The U13/U15 team finished 6th overall with 14 league points, in our debut season, therefore consolidating our position in the Central 1 Division for the following year. It was a very rewarding yet challenging track season at times, coming up against much stronger opposition, however the team were superb and rallied together tremendously, demonstrating some excellent individual performances as well as showing consistent team performances throughout to ensure that it was a positive end to the year!

In 2017 we were able to finish in 4th position with 22 points, only a few match points away from finishing in the top 2, which is a remarkable achievement! Our athletes were amazing throughout the whole season, going above and beyond to help each other if there was a vacant spot to be filled, demonstrating a positive team environment and excellent team ethic. There were some outstanding individual performances as some broke club records, with nearly all of our athletes securing personal bests to end the 2017 season on a high. Well done! 2018 saw a 4th place finish again, while 2019 we came 5th.

After Covid impacted 2020 & 2021 seasons, a restructuring of the league occurred, and in 2022 the club was promoted from Southern Division 2A after finishing 2nd to Southern Division 1A, just one division below the top leagues in the south of England. Unfortunately, relegation was to follow in 2023 back down to Southern Division 2A. With preparations underway for the upcoming 2024 track season, our aim for the season is to get back promoted and hopefully go one better next year and manage to stay in the Division 1A. Our coaches and team managers are working extremely hard both in training and with internal club competitions scheduled, to be able to make this aspiration a reality, with our athletes hopefully once again achieving many personal bests and enjoying their competitive experience.

Team Managers:

Hansley Jones

• Contact: ydl-lag@smrac.org.uk

Matthew Lamb

• Contact: ydl-lag@smrac.org.uk

Coaches:

Hansley Jones

Matthew Lamb

Gerard Williams

Kate Brook

Kim Weir (throws only)

We have a positive coaching team and athlete ethos, and our training programme stems from utilising valuable resources such as the Athletics 365 programme as well as the broad range of knowledge from our coaches; to coach, develop and nurture our athletes. However, we do welcome any suggestions in bringing success to this age group in the YDL, from parents, coaches and volunteers alike!