Northern League a total shambles

[salford]

Guest.......no need to thank me. My pleasure.

I read into this that opinion is only worthwhile if it comes from someone who is a member of the club? Take the blinkers off......there is a big wide world out there of people who could help if asked.

It seems that you have all the answers already....but arent sure what the question is. If outside' opinions arent welcome then dont have a public board. Some agree & some differ which is the whole point of debate & these kind of boards isnt it? Is it for athletes & athletics fans or for some small world mutual back slapping club?

I wont be wasting anymore time posting in future. I will leave you to enjoy your relegation whilst some of the most prominent athletes question their futures.....nothing to do with me as you say.

Aidan

[Carl]

Excellent post Aidan. If no1 else does, you now know that me, Sean and Rick all value your opinion. Thank you

[David Rigby]

I don't normally get involved with these kind of arguments, but on this occasion i decided that i had to say something. I think that it is totally unacceptable that this club is now in the position it is in, and there is no acceptable reason for this being the case. I accept that most of our talent lies in the juniors but we cant be totally relied on to 'bail out' the seniors as it were. The adults cannot expect the junior athletes to turn out for them on a regular basis when they have commitments both individually and team wise with young athletes and junior league. I appreciate that those athletes who do actually bother to turn up from the seniors give their all in these meetings but the fact of the matter is that if a larger proportion of the seniors in the club actually turned up to compete we wouldn't be in the mess we have now wound up in. Another thing i would like to point out is that athletes like Carl have genuine ambitions and need the highest level of competition on a regular basis. To be honest we need these athletes to stay in order to get the club back on it's feet at senior level; but can anyone really blame them for wanting to compete elsewhere! The future for the senior team does not look promising if the slump continues. And again, next season, who will be relied on to get the team promoted once more- the juniors of course! To put it simply the people to blame here are not the seniors who give their all at every meeting, even when they may have prior commitments, nor is it the fault of us juniors who by the way have no obligations to the seniors whatsoever. We compete voluntarily for the seniors even if we should be training or racing elsewhere instead. The ones to blame are those seniors who simply cannot be bothered to make an appearance. (If we had filled all the events last Sunday we would have stayed up- id just like to point that out!) Anyway, i really have nothing more to say except that being relegated to the third tier of the league is totally unacceptable for a club of our size, and although I would never even dream of competing for any other club, i feel that when the senior competition becomes the main league i compete in, the standard is not going to be at the level at which i need to be regularly competing. Something has to be done to rectify the club's position with immediate effect, or the problem is just going to escalate further!

[Not from Salford]

Aidan you misunderstand me in many respects. I am not against you or anyone coming on this board and offering CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. I was merely pointing out the fact that the only time I have seen your input on these boards apart from the encouragement you offered Adam Sutton recently is when you seem to want to stir up an issue at this club (ie. National 12 stage/ evening post articles about the club, the current issue). Your patronising response to me pointing this out certainly demonstrates to me the kind of perspective you are coming from and how you believe you have all the answers. When you come on this board and the best advice you can offer to some of our best athletes is "leave the club but don't piss too many people off when your leaving" I really have to question how constructive anything you have to say is.
I certainly don't know all the answers and don't claim to know them I was merely offering something constructive to try and solve this current issue.
I don't run for Salford, I run for Preston Harriers, I have always been a Preston Harrier and will always be a Preston Harrier, consequently I feel no need to go onto Salford's message board and seek out touchy subjects and add fuel to an already volatile situation because ultimately it has nothing to do with me.

[Carl]

Well David I'd like to thankyou for your input. It's good to hear a junior perspective on this. You seem to grasp the same basics as me. The only bit I would add is the reason I think we are in this situation lies with the people who are 'above' us in this club. Like 'Not from Salford' stated, the infrastructure as well sa the organisation.

Not being a junior anymore so I can't comment but maybe I could ask you, in your opinion after running in all 3 leagues? In your view which is the better organised? Maybe thats not the right question. What day were you asked to run for Sunday?

Now it might be two days before in which case is about right, maybe a few more days. It could be the same across the 3 T+F leagues but as we are discovering we have a lot more junior and youth athletes so the same issues dont arise.

One rule for in team may not apply for another.

[Andy Leat]

Although i have only been with the club for about 2 months i have competed in the NJAL, Mid Lancs and the Northern League and to be honest i had about two days notice for the NJAL and Northens but i love my athletics so much that i moved things around and only got 4 hrs sleep so that i could compete.

The worst thing on sunday was when i turned up and only had one event when as an u20 i was eligible to do 5!
i had to scrounge the long jump which i ended up doin quite well in and then i noticed that there were a lot of gaps with people only doing one event or 2.
Had i known that people were needed for discus and shot i would have brought something other than spikes but as it was nobody told me so i couldnt do either.
I only found out about mid lancs because someone mentioned it at training! I understand that carl and such need a higher level of competition but what i have noticed is that everybody wants to be a sprinter and maybe people need to take part in other events that maybe aren't their forte but will still earn points. I dunno maybe im just naive and such but it seems that there arent enough field event specialists?

[David Rigby]

The problem with the club is that the organisation is there, but when we try to put a team out notice how it's always the same people! The simple solution to this problem is to get onto more of the seniors beforehand to get them to turn up! If the same few are asked to compete every time how are we ever going to fill up the events! There are more than enough seniors in this club to fulfill our potential, but do we ever see most of them at track and field meetings, i very much doubt it. Notice how loads of them are prepared to turn up to road races, fell races etc, but where are they when we need them on the track and field. Even if they are nothing special, surely they can be expected to fill in some of the events that so desperately need covering. Next season the team manager (Whoever it may be) needs to get onto some of these people. And for Carl's benefit, i got told about 5 days in advance for the meeting last Sunday, thats fine by me, and Young Athletes is the best organised. Junior League is pretty well organised, but with so few Under 20's in the club, it can be difficult to put a team out when the U17's have prior commitments.

[Steve G]

This is well off the original subject but to be fair to Aidan he offered advice from one (ex) athlete to another having been in a similar situation. His postings in the past I have seen havent been critical of named individuals & he thought the club was wrong to let Pete Benson resign without effort to change his mind. Thats constructive. I also remember him being on the committee, organsing the senior champs 10k & marshalling all sorts of events. He contributed & still seems to care. The club still seems to be having same problems it had when he left & doesnt learn from mistakes hence Carls original posting. It didnt warrant the 'not your business' reply he got

[Carl]

Cheers David, that makes sense too me

In regards to Andy I appreciate that u 'scrounge' around but, u will have to excuse my brutal honesty u will become used to it. Your tryin to make your mark in the club, I did the same. Every credit to you. I hear you could have a bright future so perservere. Your view though as you say is slightly naive (no offence) you haven't been around long.

Not everyone wants to be a sprinter, and lets face it those who do sprint are of at least county standard, altho all in the senior ranks competed at at least the northern seniors and either run PB's or qualified for finals. Hoewver they're aren't a vast amount of field eventers, that is not the fault of us sprinters though. I get the feeling that a few people think Im blaming junior athletes, I made the point clear at the track last night, I blame the people who are far above me and most of the other athletes at the club for the reason we got relegated. I don't accept or choose to blame the fact we lack 'field eventers', it does not excuse the fact we have been relegated 2 seasons in a row. I've done Long Jump, Discus and Javelin for the team at some point, but I refuse to put my body on the line anymore. I repeat I dont blame juniors I blame the organisation of the club and its mentality switch between young athletes to senior league matches.

Seriosuly Andy thanks for the input though I wish more juniors would post.

[johnwiggler]

Just my two pence worth..

I've just turned 35 and haven't missed a season of athletics since I was 15yrs.. I started off with Preston Harriers all those years ago and it was no different then. It is an individual sport at the end of the day and I felt my development was being hindered by not competing at a higher level. I therefore moved to Blackburn and then Blackpool for a stint in the British league.

I've since returned to Preston and compete when I can (being a policeman working shifts ie 3 weekends out of 5, it is difficult).
I do however whatever I can for the club, including the other day jumping over the 110 hurdles to pick up a few points...

What has struck me is that nothing seems to have changed over the years.

Where are all the athletes that train so hard? Why are they not competing? Would you find a footballer train all summer then not bother playing the games in the winter?
I love competing and always have..Even when I was earning North vests and doing the AAA's I would still do whatever I could for the club. I can even remember doing meetings on a Saturday and a Sunday.. Do others not feel the same? Why train but not take part?

[Billy Elliot]

rights folks we have all had our say - i have been watching from the sidelines! -anarchic discussion is excellent from the inside out; not the outside in. So can we get this discussion moved forward to what we are going to DO.....from the inside out!!!....its not difficult.

[Carl]

Well yes Billy Elliot I have been trying to......if you haven't noticed??

[guest x 2]

Hi

[Simon]

its all good everybody making their point on this message board but when will we do something about it? I would like to know since im considering my future with other clubs how match my ambition. thanks guys!

[Simon aka sydey]

ermm..simon but sydey to all that know me. Just thought i'd say.