Hi all.
This is the version which I should have sent out yesterday ref Tuesday night sessions.
You can’t get it right all the time.
George Harris
TWH Chair on behalf of the committee.
Tuesday Night Speed Training Sessions
The Committee fully support maintaining the legacy that Bob Lawrence and Mike Jarvis created with their Tuesday night speed training sessions. This is yet another example of the outstanding contribution Bob and Mike made to the club, attending week in, week out, come rain or shine to provide these sessions.
At the first Committee Meeting of the club year held on 8th April, a lengthy discussion was had regarding how we could officially reinstate the Tuesday sessions in the club calendar. The priority is to get the summer training sessions up and running. These take place on playing fields away from traffic and residents. We are still actively looking at the best solution for the winter sessions, the issues with which have been compounded by TAC’s decision to use the same roads at the same time every week. Whilst this remains the case it will be difficult to support the use of the original location over the winter. An alternative winter location is currently being sought and any suggestions from members would be greatly appreciated.
The Committee has a duty of care to the club members and we need to ensure that sessions are run safely and that they are insured. For a speed training session to meet these requirements they need to be coached or led by a qualified and licenced coach. Bob fulfilled this requirement. Sadly, both Bob and Mike are no longer with us, and we don’t have anyone to cover the role they performed.
We are looking for a small number of volunteers to put themselves forward to qualify as coaches. Ideally these people would come from the Tuesday group (including Ali Farrell who has been great in covering the position for the last few months) but anyone from the wider club is welcome and encouraged to come forward. Many of the club functions require volunteers to enable them to happen. This is one such example.
The Tuesday night sessions always used to be less formal than the Monday night track sessions and could therefore be run as a ‘Group Session’ rather than a formally ‘Coached Session’. This would mean that the leader (coach) could also take part.
Gaining the level 1 coaching qualification – Leader in Running Fitness (LiRF) – is neither a lengthy nor onerous process and the club will pay for the training. All of the LiRF training is online and is a mix of self-guided e-learning modules which can be completed at your own pace plus one 90 minute virtual classroom session with a tutor and other participants. There is a requirement to submit two 5 minute videos demonstrating leading a group, under the guidance of a qualified coach. These would ideally be completed at the Tonbridge Track on a Monday but could be completed on a Tuesday subject to one of the qualified coaches being available.
At the April Committee Meeting we also discussed the recruitment of additional coaches and the coaching team giving a presentation to the club. We are trying to schedule a Wednesday evening to do this in the very near future. In the meantime, if you are interested in becoming a coach, please feel free to approach Sonja or one of the other club coaches to discuss further.