Congratulations and well done to all Trafford AC athletes who took part in last Sunday's fixture in the Cheshire League.
This fixture is probably the largest team competition that Trafford host and we had over 80 athletes turn out for Trafford.
There were also large teams from West Cheshire and Colwyn Bay in particular, along with Dash, East Cheshire and Stockport making up the rest of the teams and contributing to a very busy day.
This competition is ideal for giving athletes competitive experience and we had a high number of Trafford AC debuts which was great to see - the first of many we hope.
This is also the only competition where all members of the club get a chance to compete in the same competition and this was demonstrated by Trezeguet being the youngest to Ian Scholes (v55) competing.
There were far too many fine performances to name them all - 59 PB's in total.
As ever, thanks has to go to those who helped out by officiating - we'd be unable to attend these events without their help - Rashida, Linda, Neil, Tom, Cecil, Jane, Beryl, Mims, Byron, Lucy and David - many thanks, and a special thanks to Peter for a highly efficient job with the results.

Results on Powerof10Website

The season's starting to hot up now with events coming thick and fast.
The following is a brief summary of what's coming in the next few weeks.
We realise that a lot of you have exams etc - priority ought to be given to Youth Development League matches and English Schools qualifying competitions.
 
19th May - Cheshire League @ Longford Park
Ages - u11, u13, u15, u17 & Seniors
Open to all who wish to compete
Names to Andrew asap if you wish to compete in this and haven't done so already
 
21st May - Trafford GP (Sprints\ Jumps) @ Longford park
Ages: u17 & seniors
Open to all who wish to compete
 
27th May - Trafford u15 Medal meeting @ Longford Park
Ages: u11, u13 & u15
Open to all who wish to compete
 
29th May - Tom Pink Relays @ Sportscity indoor track
Ages: school years 5, 6, 7 & 8
Open to all who wish to compete
Names to Andrew by 22nd May if you wish to compete
Further details
 
1st June - Youth Development League Lower @ Longford Park
Ages: u13 & u15
By selection - please confirm as soon as possible if you are invited
 
2nd June - Youth Development League Upper @ Longford Park
Ages: u17 & u20
By selection - please confirm as soon as possible if you are invited 
 
4th June - Trafford GP (Distance\ Throws) @ Longford park
Ages: u17 & seniors
Open to all who wish to compete
 
8th June - Greater Manchester Schools AA @ Longford Park
(qualifying competition for English Schools finals)
Ages: school years 8 and above
Selection via your school\ borough - please speak to you teacher.

A week after the Upper League, the Lower League (u13 & u15) got started.
Fixtures for the Lower League are on Saturdays, and the Trafford Team made it's way to Blackburn for our first match in this revised competition.

It was one of those days were the weather just couldn't make it's mind up. We arrived under very heavy and threatening skies and left with blue sky and sunshine. It managed to stay dry, but the main issue all day was the wind which affected all events - and never it seemed in a favourable way!

We maintained the great habit that we got in to in the NYAL in the last couple of seasons and got off to a flying start by dominating the hurdles heats and were in the lead early in the competition.

Team North Cumbria chipped away at us all day and eventually turned out winners, with Trafford comfortably in second place.

It was great to see the year 6 kids in particular competing for the first time in this competition.

Highlight of the day was undoubtedly Jack Wilkinson in the u15b 1500m, he may have been the smallest physically in the field - but he had the biggest heart. In second place, and 15m behind the leader at the bell, he fought back to catch the leader and then sprint past him in the home straight.

The u15b 4x300m relay team (Josh, Mikey, Colin & Jake) proved to be as dominant as the u17b had been the previous week and blasted away to finish with an 18s advantage.

As with the Upper League the week before, the result is testament to everyone who took part and did their bit for their team. Well done to all who took part.

As ever our thanks has to go to those who made the competition possible, notably Linda Taylor (Track Judge), Rashida Watson (Track Judge) , Peter Snape (Time Keeper) & Sue Exon (Lead Field Official , along with the parents who helped with field duty and as great support.

Next match - Saturday 1st June

Power of 10 listing http://www.thepowerof10.info/results/results.aspx?meetingid=81724

Sunday 28th April was a landmark date as the new Youth Development League started nation wide.
The first round of matches where in the Upper League (u20 & u17) with Trafford's match being at Wrexham.
An early start, made a touch more interesting travel-wise due to road closures because of the Greater Manchester Marathon, saw the strongest team put out by Trafford in this age group for a long time, make their way to Wrexham for an 11 o'clock start.

One particularly pleasing aspect was the number of new athletes making their debut for Trafford. It's unusual for kids to come in to athletics at this relatively late age and its a great testament to the work that Tom Cullen and Steve Green in particular have been doing with local schools that sees Trafford able to attract athletes of this age.

In what turned out to be a long (make that very long!) days competition, Trafford where delighted to finish in second place to a very strong combined North Wales team.

There where lots of pleasing performances  but the ones that stick out are
 - Ryan Babcock's 3k - where, running in a combined u17 & u20's race, one of the youngest members of the team destroyed the rest of the field in what must be one of the most grueling events.
- Jerell Marchan with a Long Jump and Triple Jump double, matched by Chanelle Lauder for the girls.
- Danny Lawton, running on his birthday, with a win and new PB in 1500m
- u17w 4x300 relay team with a fine win
- u17b 4x400 team, set on their way by Jerell, taken up by Troy then Chris Brown and finished off By Rayan to finish  nearly 17 seconds in front of second place.

But the real story of the day is the overall performance by everyone who took part and all doing their bit to gain a very credible result.

A special note of thanks to Rashida Watson and John Horniman for acting as Track Judge and Timekeeper, and Mike Harris as lead Field official.

Power of 10 listing http://www.thepowerof10.info/results/results.aspx?meetingid=81634

Next Match - 2nd June