Vicky Silk celebrates gold

ASHFORD AC can boast their first junior world record holder after an outstanding spell of results from Folkestone’s Vicky Silk.
The talented young athlete has had a busy summer with four meetings at Hemel Hempstead, Crystal Palace, Czech Republic and Berlin.
The highlight came in the Czech Republic in the IWAS World Junior Games when she produced a stunning final throw in the javelin to claim the title.
Despite really hot conditions she powered to 20.63m on her last throw claiming a new European record and an Under 20 world junior record.
Competing in a mixed class against competitors from around the world she had already thrown 19 metres consistently but produced a an extra effort to secure the gold.
The day after was the shot and she was quite nervous not having done much training recently in the event. The weather was even hotter and in a nother mixed class they were against their own world records.
Remarkably she threw over her personal best of 6.20m by 3cm then it kept going up into the 6.30’s and on her fifth throw secured another best of 6.45cm to claim the bronze medal.
The rain came in for the following day’s discus competition but she still managed to still get an 18.40m throw in for the silver medal.
Vicky and the rest of the Welsh team drove on to Berlin to finish off the season and again it was wet in the discus.
However, she threw better than she had in Czech, with a throw of 18.83 and a silver medal…very close to her personal best of 18.88m. The weather cleared up a little bit in the afternoon for the shot and her fifth throw gave her another personal best of 6.51m and another silver medal.
Said Vicky: “I was very pleased with this new persoanl best and proved to myself that my throws in Czech were not a fluke.”
Earlier in the UK she competed in the McCain Jumps and Throws Fest at Hemel Hempstead.
It was an able bodied competition but allowed para athletes to take part. She recorded 18.29m in the discus and 5.84m in the shot.
The weekend after was the UKA Disability Athletics Challenge and there was only discus for her class in the event. It was a combined class of dwarf athletes, cerbal palsy and visually impaired.
Overall she claimed the silver medal with a distance of 18.71, close to her best of 18.88m.
It was a period of extra joy for Vicky as while she on the continent she also heard she had passed her A Levels to confirm her place at university.

Kelsey Howard and Kate Funnell at Glasgow

ASHFORD AC’s Janine Brown stunned even herself in taking a superb gold at the National Police UK Championships held in Scotland.
Despite awful conditions with rain and wind she claimed victory in the 800m with a season’s best 2:29.3 and also took bronze in the 1500m race in another season’s best of 5:06.3.
The event was also trials for the European track and field championships being held in the Ukraine over September 22-25 but Janine said she was not seeking selection as she needs a break after a long and demanding season with injury and marathon training.
But she aims to be back with road and cross country events for Ashford and Kent Police after her break.
Another Shepway athlete enjoying success is Vicky Silk who was back on form with two golds in Dublin strengthening her claim for selection for selection in the world championships in New Zealand in January.
She threw consistently in the discus to win with a personal best 18.88m improving her best by 84cm and she went close to setting another best in the shot with a winning throw of 6.13m in another impressive series.
She now has two meetings left with the Diamond League meeting at Crystal Palace on August 15 and then in Slovakia in late August for the IWAS world championships.
Kate Funnell and Kelsey Howard represented the Folkestone School for Girls at the Four Nations U17 International Athletics meeting at Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow with Kate coming fourth and Kelsey fifth.

With race walking an emerging discipline within athletics at the moment, it is quite a coup for the school to have two athletes competing at this level, in the same age group and at the same time being good friends.

Kate also recently competed in the Aviva UK Championships at Birmingham joining Lisa Dobrisky in featuring the club’s colours at the highest level in the BBC televised event.

Former Ashford field events ace Hannah Hogben has been hammering the opposition setting a championship best in the Oxfordshire county championships with 42.97m to lift the gold in the hammer event.
Hannah, now living in Oxford, also shone in the Oxford v Cambridge University match setting a person best of 44.25m in the hammer but had to settle for the silver medal at Oxford’s Ifley Road Stadium.

The competition will be the Great Britain/Northern Ireland squad verses The Americas v Europe and a Rest of the World Team.

This is once again an indication in the belief and confidence the UKA Selection team have in the talented young Folkestone athlete

As part of her preparation she will be flying out to Monte Gord in Portugal in mid March for warm weather training along with UkA coaching staff.

VICKY SILK - CONGRATULATIONS to Vicky who has been included on the World Class Performance Programme (WCPP) list of athletes. This means she will now receive UKA funding for 2009-2012. AAC now have two WCPP athletes – Vicky and Lisa Dobriskey. Well done Vicky.

Sportswoman of the Year - Congratulations to Kara Gibbs who was awarded Thanet’s Sportswoman of the Year. Kara is ranked 17th in the Under 20s in the country after several times recording a personal best of 3m. Well done Kara.

Website - The latest update to the website are the coaches’ profiles. If you want to learn more about your coach, then click on the link under the coaches’ tag on the website www.ashfordac.org.uk

Coaches/Team Managers Meeting - The meeting on 21st October was very well attended. The meeting began by highlighting all the coaching/Club issues in the last six months – the changeover of Lease to the Council in March; new Chairman and Treasurer appointed; new Club laptops and printer purchased; training in the Dartfish programme; increase in membership; the new induction evenings are successful; we have a new coach – Barry Watson; the new AAC website has been launched and The Baton has also been launched; there are new nets for throws cages at the Stadium.

Items agreed at the meeting:
- The Club would hold Club Championships next summer to be held on Thursdays for different events every two weeks – details to be given out at the beginning of the year.
- Everyone was keen to hold two Open Meetings next year but we need to have someone who will coordinate it – if you would like to help start the open meetings at AAC, then please let Stella know.
- Bad weather plan – it was agreed that Stella would put together a bad weather plan should everyone suddenly need to train the chute because of thunder or icy conditions on the track. This will be displayed inside the chute.
- The Club’s Mission Statement would be rewritten
- Pete Le Rossignol and Claire Le Rossignol will set up some timing equipment to which athletes and coaches will be invited to take part in a 30m run competition in the chute. Dates and details to follow.
- Equipment – a list of equipment was put together to be requested from the Executive Committee. Safe storage of the equipment was also discussed.
- Leagues and competitions – At the moment there will be no changes to the Leagues that AAC currently enter in the summer competitions. However, these are under review, and will be discussed further at the next coaches’ meeting and this may well be modified before the end of the year. An athletes’ questionnaire will be distributed and all views will be taken into account before any decisions are made.

Need for Speed Timed Challenge - please see the posters regarding the challenge that AAC have set athletes, coaches and parents or anyone else that wishes to join in. On 1st December, 5th January, 2nd February and 2nd March, equipment will be set up in the chute for a timed 30 metre run. There is no charge to do this, it is a fun activity for everyone who wishes to take part. League tables will be put up on the website and there will be prizes for the winners in each category.

Fundraising Committee – Ashford Leisure Trust who are the agents for managing the Julie Rose Stadium, have generously offered AAC free hire of the Colin Jackson suite, the chute and cafe for two fundraising or social events each year. If you would like to have a say and help organise these events, could you please let Kate at the desk know.

Dartfish 2 training - A second evening of Dartfish training will take place at the Colin Jackson Suite, at 8pm on Thursday 26th November. All athletes and coaches are welcome.

Official’s Courses - AAC really need more officials to volunteer to be a field (throws, jumps etc.) or a track judge, a timekeeper or a starter. In order to qualify, you must attend an official’s course run by England Athletics. If you are interested in obtaining your Level 1 or 2 Licence, please follow the links below to book yourself onto a course. The next Level 1 courses in the South Area will be held at Lee Valley Athletics Centre, Picketts Lock on 7th December and on 8th February. The next Level 2 course will be held at the same venue in January and again in April. The course fee will be reimbursed to you from the Club.

How to book onto a course
Level 1 & 2
1. Fill out a Licence Application Form indicating which course you want to attend (please download from the England Athletics website www.englandathletics.org/officials)
2. Send the form to PO Box 179, Dereham, NR19 9DN with a cheque payable to England Athletics

Level 3
1. The application form can be found on the UKA website http://www.uka.org.uk/competitions/officials/

Vacancy Executive Committee - One of our long serving members of the Executive Committee, Mike Mein, has resigned his post. The Committee would like to thank Mike for all the work he has done on behalf of the Club, in particular putting together the Projects List. This leaves a vacancy on the Committee. If you would like to have a larger say in what happens at the Club, then please let Dominique Huxley know.

Vetting procedure - In order to comply with Part 1 of Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) which was mentioned in the last Baton, the club has to risk assess all personnel to identify who should apply for VBS membership. These are people involved a Regulated Activity such as coaches, officials, stewards, parent helpers, medical/first aiders, club welfare officers, catering staff, regular drivers, membership secretary, photographers and team managers. The new scheme is law and non-compliance could result in criminal action. (So anyone in these roles should apply for CRB checks then they will be on the list for contacting to apply for VBS). Our Membership Secretary, Kate Dickinson, will be distributing the sheet which explains how to begin the CRB check process. If you do not receive this sheet and you fall into one of the above categories, please let Kate know.

Athletes’ Questionnaire - The Executive Committee would like to find out what changes the athletes would like to make to the Club and also plan for the future. Please complete the questionnaire to have your say and give your opinion – it will make a difference. The Club is interested in hearing from parents too – please take a copy and complete one so that we have everyone’s views. Everyone who completes a questionnaire will be entered into a prize draw for some athletics kit which will take place after the deadline on 26th November.

England Athletics Coaching Conference -The AAC Executive has agreed to pay the £25 fee for any AAC coach who wishes to attend the England Athletics Coaching Conference on the 5th December 2009 at Lee Valley in London. If you are interested in attending please contact Stella.

Awards/Trophy Evening - AAC held their summer awards evening for the junior section of the club on Tuesday 17th November. A report and photos can be found on the website.

Sportshall – The first Sportshall competition took place on 1st November at Folkestone Sports Centre and AAC had a very successful day. Well done to all those who took part. Results can be seen on AAC’s website. The next competition will take place on 29th November 2009 at Astor Sports Centre in Maidstone. If you are U13, U15 and U17 and would like to take part in these winter competitions, please contact Pat Hanys.

Level 1 Coaching Courses - are you interested in becoming a Level 1 coach for the Club? If so, please speak to Stella who will discuss what you would like to coach and will advise you about coaching courses. The course fee is paid by the Club with an expectation that the newly qualified coach will assist with training at the Club for a minimum of a year.

Induction Evening - The next induction evening for new athletes will take place on Tuesday 1st December at 6pm at the Julie Rose Stadium. All new athletes and their parents are welcome.

Use of indoor chute at weekend - ALT have confirmed that the indoor chute will be available for athletics training as arranged with your coach at the following times: Saturday 0830 – 1145 and Sunday 0900 – 1145. These hours assume that there are party bookings at 1200, if there isn’t then the chute will be available for longer.

On the following dates the chute will not be available due to indoor boot fairs: 22nd November, 17 January, and 28 February. The outside track will be available.

Meeting with Ashford Borough Council and Ashford Leisure Trust - Simon Harris from ABC started off the meeting by addressing the Council’s future plans. He said that they were planning to develop the lakes by having small huts along the lake that can be hired and the money generated from that would go towards developing the lakes further and also to the JRS and future developments there.

Following a recent mugging of one of our AAC athletes, we discussed the possibility of a bus route to JRS, CCTV, lighting and cutting down hedges and Simon reported that although he had spoken to all the relevant agencies about this, there are no plans to provide any of these services due to lack of funds.

Emma Wood from ALT reported that she has sorted out the situation regarding the floodlights and they will be repaired in the next 2 days. She has applied for funding for electronic timing for JRS and the application is currently with Chris Metherell at KCC.

On several occasions, AAC have requested permission from the Council to build their own Clubhouse at JRS but this has always been refused. Another request was made to them this month and AAC asked for a Club HQ that would provide storage and access for our throws equipment and pole vaults, storage for the 10k equipment and a room to host the home meetings held at JRS. This was met with an agreement that they would consider this proposal. AAC are to put together a firm proposal at our next meeting with ABC and ALT. This is great news for the Club.

Kent Coach and Athlete Development Days (formerly County Squads). All coaches welcome to attend.

In Kent we are concentrating training and learning opportunities around the 4 Coach & Athlete Development Days The programme for the four days, which is still under development and will be added to, is set out below. To these events all coaches who want to take advantage of watching quality coaching sessions and workshops are invited to attend. There is no cost. The second day will take place on 6th December:

Day 2; 6th December 2009
Venue: Canterbury
Event specific strength & conditioning with Mark Chapman (Regional Throws Coach).
Coaches presentation/lecture – Sport Science overview

England Athletics – Check out the latest athletics magazine from England Athletics, Setting the Pace, on-line at www.englandathletics.org.

Vicky Silk

TWO Ashford Athletic Club athletes have been earmarked for glory with inclusion in UK Athletics’ World Class Performance Programme for the 2009/10 season.

Olympic and Commonwealth runner Lisa Dobriskey has been included in the Podium funding programme while young Vicky Silk from Folkestone will get funding from the Development programme.

 The programme, which runs annually from December to November, is split into two levels of funding; Podium and Development, each with strict criteria and standards which must be met in selection and maintained with the support of UKA staff.

Lisa, the former Southlands pupil from New Romney, now lives in Loughborough but maintains her affiliation with Ashford AC and has risen to be a medal contender in middle distance running despite battling through several testing injuries.

She first showed her class winning the Commonwealth Games 1500m gold and is now a strong medal prospect for the Olympics after her World Championship silver medal this year. Another major breakthrough was beating the four minute barrier for the first time for 1500m in Zurich in August.

Vicky has continued to impress as a multi talented disability athlete to earn her place on the Development funding programme targeting the Paralympics.

The bubbly Folkestone teenager recently took two golds and a silver at the World Dwarf Games in Belfast and is a talented field athlete doing discus, javelin and shot putt.

The talented 17 year old from Folkestone was outstanding in taking the Under 23 world title in the shot putt with a personal best 6.14m.

She went over six metres for the first time four times in her series of throws to secure the title.

Then she also claimed the discus world crown despite some awful conditions throwing 16.33 in the pouring rain.

The Pent Valley School pupil is already an experienced competitor on the world stage having taken a bronze in the javelin in the IWAS world championships in Taipei two years ago.

Her success was a real lift to her poorly club coach Ted Hawkins who said he was thrilled with her rise to the top of the podium.

There is just time to show Ashford members her medals this week before flying off to Belfast for the World Dwarf Games where she will be looking for a triple success competing in the shot, discus and javelin.