comment jason henderson

Avoiding super-clashes AW’s Editor is frustrated to see three of the biggest meetings of the year taking place on the same weekend

MarkShearman

THIS issue of AW contains our annual track and field summer fixtures guide. The focal point of the season is the Olympic Games – a competition that dwarfs everything else. Beijing aside, the domestic highlight of the year takes place in mid-July when the Norwich Union National Championships incorporating the Team GB Selection Trials goes head to head for our attention with the Sainsbury’s English Schools’ Championships. There are two ways to view this. You can sit back in your armchair and relish the feast of athletics on television – as the Trials are on BBC and the English Schools are on Sky. Personally, though, I think it is a shame that two of the biggest domestic meetings of the summer have clashed and, like many, I will be faced with the dilemma of which event to attend, not to mention which of these meetings to put on AW’s front cover. To make things worse (or even better, depending on your view) these two domestic fixtures also clash with the IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The Trials are in Birmingham on July 11-13, the English Schools are in Gateshead on July 11-12, the World Juniors from July 8-13. So how has it happened and could it have been avoided? This is not the first time, after all, that the senior trials have clashed with the English Schools. The same happened in 2002, 2004 and 2005. Faced with these bare facts, it is easy to criticise the relevant organisations for lack of planning and communication. But when the myriad of factors are considered, the difficulties involved in creating a fixtures calendar that pleases everybody become apparent. The English Schools’ Athletic Association, for instance, puts its dates in the diary around two years in advance and then refuses to shift. There are, however, good reasons why it does this. For one, the ESAA has to book accommodation for more than 1650 athletes, 300 team managers and 120

Competition conundrum: top juniors Alex Nelson (centre) and Luke Fagan (left) took on

Marlon Devonish at the senior trials in Manchester in 2007, but this year the key fixtures clash

technical officials. The estimated cost of this is around £100,000, hence the need to book early. Linked to this, there is the need to book a venue that has sufficient seating for the 2000-plus athletes, coaches, friends and family who attend. This means an arena has to be reserved well in advance and plenty of time is also needed to plan and execute the event. Finally, the date of the English Schools has to fit in with other schools events and holidays. David Littlewood, the honorary secretary of the ESAA, explains: “Our dates are standard and are linked to the process of selection – county championships the week after half-term and a short window for those counties to finalise their teams. Most independent schools are already on summer holidays by the time of our championships – any later weekend and that problem is likely to be magnified.” Littlewood adds: “We have a Schools’ Cup Final also to fit into July – again allowing time from the regional rounds in mid-June to organise and notify the finalists. This is always the first Saturday in July because the independent schools finish for summer early. It would be unreasonable for us to hold the final any further into the summer holidays from their point of view. “Additionally we have the Schools’ International to fit in – always the week after the English Schools – but this already disadvantages Scotland and Irish schools as their summer holidays

have already begun well before the date of the international.” The ESAA’s dilemma, therefore, is complex. When it comes to the Olympic Trials, though, there is one factor that is of paramount importance – the dates are chosen from a “performance” point of view. In other words, for elite athletes aiming to reach the Olympics and the selectors challenged with picking the best team, the event has to be the ideal number of weeks before the Olympics itself. And this is something that even the BBC does not quibble with. One of the key people responsible for turning this complex scenario into a logical fixtures programme that the majority are happy with is Cherry Alexander. As UK Athletics’ head of competition and international relations, Alexander pulls together around 30 representatives from various athletics bodies (for example, leagues, masters, plus the ESAA) in January and October each year in an effort to produce the best possible competition calendar. Alexander jokes that it is “a thankless task”, but she says that she is hugely encouraged by the helpful stance taken lately by members of the fixtures group. If this continues, she believes, the traditional competition conundrum will become less of a headache. “In the past, everyone used to come in the door protecting their own date,” she explains. “There wasn’t much give and take at all. But now there is a completely different mentality.” On this July’s mega-clash of the

Olympic Trials and English Schools, Alexander agrees it is unfortunate. But she adds that from the athletes’ perspective, it is not a huge clash. She is right, too. In fact, the threat posed by the clash with the World Juniors is a worse prospect, as many top teenagers who could have competed in Gateshead will instead be in Bydgoszcz. So a certain number of athletes will miss out on the opportunity to win coveted English Schools’ medals, while some of the winners in Gateshead will be left with slightly devalued medals. In addition, the clash between the Olympic Trials and World Juniors is also potentially nasty, with some athletes unable to challenge for automatic Beijing selection if they are in Poland. There are also other equally significant clashes on the calendar, albeit at a lower level. Take the weekend of June 14, for instance, when the county schools championships coincide with the area championships. Indeed, Alexander says the issue of avoiding clashes between leagues and club-standard meetings is trickier than for the elite meetings. Also, a piece such as this also cannot fail to mention Jack Buckner’s recent review of competition – a paper that tried to lay down a template for the future. So while it is frustrating that clashes such as these exist, it is impossible not to have a degree of sympathy for the people charged with creating the competition calendar. There is also little doubt that the situation is improving. In 1997, for instance, the English Schools’ Championships was set to be held in Birmingham. But in November the British Athletic Federation (UKA’s predecessor) announced it was staging the trials on the same weekend at the same venue and told the ESAA to hold its event on the Wednesday and Thursday instead. Luckily, the ESAA was able to shift the event at short notice to Sheffield and everything went smoothly. But the story illustrates just how chaotic the creation of the competition calendar has been in the past. So while clashes still exist, at least all the relevant bodies are talking about how best to avoid them.

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feature return of the gladiators

The

Gladiators

Appearing on prime time satellite TV could make or break six athletes, says a former gladiator and sprinter

Jenny Stoute: Gladiators will “open doors”

MarkShearman

THE hit show Gladiators has seen its fair share of athletes since it first appeared in 1992. Now six more are set to find more fame and fortune than they could likely have earned on the track in Sky One’s new series set to air next month. Former gladiator and sprinter Jenny Stoute has told the athletes that the show is an opportunity not to be missed. At least two of the six have ambitions of returning to athletics despite putting themselves at risk of injury on the show, but Stoute says it is a chance worth taking. Last week, early filming was hit by reports of injuries, including one to 19year-old heptathlete Lucy Boggis, who left the set with blood pouring from her mouth after falling from a suspension bridge. Boggis (aka Tempest) and fellow heptathlete Jenny Pacey (Enigma) are still competing athletes, while Du’aine Ladejo (Predator), Kara NwidobieSharpe (Panther) have retired. Caroline Pearce (Ice) and Shirley Webb (Battleaxe) also appear to have said goodbye to the sport. Stoute, who at the 1992 Olympics reached the 200m semi-finals and helped Britain to 4x400m bronze, felt the benefits outweighed the potential hazards. “Looking at it from the business level, you have to think if I do track and field, how much am I going to get from it?” said Stoute, who was known as “Rebel” on the show. “In athletics, unless you’re at the top of the tree and getting lottery funding, you’re not going to get anything.

Below and right: Caroline Pearce has turned to modelling since her days as an international heptathlete

It’s an opportunity they have to take.” Stoute, who now works as an athletics agent, said she gained many benefits career-wise from the show when it was screened on ITV. “For me it opened my eyes that there was more than track and field and it opened many doors.” She went on to appear in pantomime and, as a direct result of the show, appeared as an extra in the 2000 blockbuster film Gladiator. Aside from Stoute, who ran 22.73 for 200m, pole vaulter Kate Staples and heptathlete Judy Simpson were the best-known athletes to appear as gladiators, while 2006 Commonwealth 400m hurdles champion Chris Rawlinson was a contender on the show before his athletics career took off.

The new Gladiators

Six of the 12 on the new series are current or former athletes

n Lucy Boggis – Tempest THE 19-year-old was ranked fifth best under-20 heptathlete in the UK last year with her PB of 5013. Suffered injury last week when filming for the first episode – she slipped on a suspension bridge and left the set with blood coming from her mouth.

n Du’aine Ladejo – Predator WON European 400m gold in 1994 and ran a best 44.66 for the event in 1996. No stranger to television, he appeared on a series of ITV’s Celebrity Love Island.

n Jenny Pacey – Enigma A CURRENT athlete for Lincoln Wellington, she long-jumped a PB 6.10m indoors this year. The 25-year-old has also scored 4729 in the heptathlon.

n Caroline Pearce – Ice REPRESENTED Britain in the European Combined Events Cup in heptathlon and scored a career best of 5253 in winning the AAA title in 2004. She has not competed since that year, turning to bobsleigh, modelling and gym equipment demonstration instead.

n Kara Nwidobie-Sharpe – Panther RETIRED from athletics last year after becoming disillusioned with the lack of support in the sport. The 27-yearold discus thrower had a best of 57.27m from 2005.

n Shirley Webb – Battleaxe SCOTTISH recordholder for the hammer with 67.58m. The 27-yearold went to the 2004 Olympic Games and finished 10th at the 2006 Commonwealths.

MartinGreen

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