The Dublin League starts this Saturday. This competition is intended to give athletes a chance to try events in a more relaxed environment and is good practice and preparation for the Dublin Championships coming up in May.

There are four rounds of the League over the next 6 weeks. Each round there are 2 to 5 events in each age group and athletes can compete in just 1 event or as many as they wish.

It is €3 entry fee per league round and this is covered by the Club.

The events in Round 1 in each age group are:

Boys & Girls u10 (b.2013): Turbo Javelin, 500m

Boys & Girls u11 (b.2012): Long Jump, 600m

Boys & Girls u12 (b.2011): High Jump, 600m

Boys & Girls u13 (b.2010): Javelin, 600m

Boys & Girls u14 (b.2009): Long Jump, Shot Putt, 400m, 1500m

Boys & Girls u15 (b.2008): Long Jump, High Jump, 400m, 1500m

Boys & Girls u16 (b.2007): High Jump, 400m, 1500m

A link to confirm entry for competing will be sent later this week.

Timetable is linked below

We are delighted to announce that Zita Smith is our new Little Athletics Lead Coach. Zita will lead the group of coaches for the 2015 & 2016 athletes.

Zita is an Athletics Ireland Level 1 certified coach, coaches athletics at Secondary School level and is a former competitive sprinter.

The full Little Athletics coaching team is:

• Zita Smith
• Sharon Kavanagh
• Erika Carroll
• Troy Tilley
• Allie Drummond

The Outdoor Fixtures have been confirmed. More details will follow regarding these in the coming weeks with the Coaching Team starting to prepare the various age groups and teams.

There will be 4 types of competitions.

Dublin Leagues = Purple. These are a good chance to try events and are open to all athletes aged 2013 and older.

Dublin Championships = Blue. These are the championship meets and more competitive and are open to all athletes aged 2014 and older.

All-Irelands = Green. These are for athletes or team who have finished in the Top 4 in Dublin and other provincial competitions.

Open Sports (or friendlies) = Yellow. These are open competitions hosted by other clubs.

Huge Athlete Turnout

The Dublin Indoor Championships have just completed and it was a big success for Clongriffin Athletic Club with 74 athletes competing across the five days of competition. The Indoor Arena with it’s blue track, banked bends and stands packed with crowds provides an electric atmosphere and all athletes will have gained valuable experience whether they won, lost, had close calls or falls or were simply just proud of themselves for stepping on the line for the first time and competing. The athletes competed in a wide range of events including 60m sprint, 60m hurdles, Long Jump, High Jump, Shot Putt, Middle Distance and Relays.

Sprints & Hurdles

These events had our biggest representation of athletes across two days. In total we had seven finalists with Sarah, Orlaith, Ella, Tristain, Ben, Oscar and Sophia all making their finals. Sarah claimed silver in the Gu9 60m while Orlaith took home the gold in the Gu10 60m. There were very close calls for both Ella (Gu12 60m) and Ben (Bu13 60m Hurdles), both losing out on a medal by just 0.02 seconds.

Middle Distance

Day 4 saw middle distances races, ranging from 300m for u9 up to 600m for u13. Orlaith completed a double gold by winning the Gu10 400m while Sarah (Gu9) and Ella (Gu12) were just outside the medals in 4th. Sarah (Gu12) had a great run to make the 600m final while Keane can count himself very unlucky not to make the Bu13 600m final after being drawn in a very fast heat.

Jumps & Throws

The fields events provided great drama with Sophie Winkless winning the club our first High Jump medal. In a very tight contest, Sophie came out as Dublin Champion, winning on countback. After two 4th places in the 60m and 600m, Ella finally claimed that elusive medal with a bronze in the Gu12 Long Jump. At pretty much the same time, Marianne was overcoming her disappointment of falling in the hurdles, by taking a brillant silver medal in the Gu14 Long Jump. Sarah, Gu12 Long Jump, and Oscar, Bu13 Shot Putt, also made their finals while Kevin in the Bu15 Long Jump lost out on a medal by just 4cm.

Relays

The final day was relays and they didn’t disappoint with huge crowds and non-stop action keeping everyone entertained. Clongriffin had 12 teams enterted among the 345 teams from all over Dublin. All relays were 4 x 200m with heats required to see which 6 teams would then compete in the Final.

The morning action saw the Even Ages and Clongriffin got off to a great start with both of the Gu10 teams qualifying for the final. The Gu12 followed with one of our teams also making the Final. All teams performed brilliantly and the baton practice they have all been focused on in recent weeks really helped.

In the Finals, the Girls U10 claimed Silver and Bronze, a pretty rare occurrence for one club to have two teams on the podium in a relay. So well done to Niamh, Mya, Monika, Zara, Amelia, Sarah, Orlaith and Lucy.

The Girls U12 claimed a very exciting bronze in their final in a very competitive age group. The team of Sarah, Sophie, Ava and Ella ran a super race, moving into 3rd place at just the right time off the last bend.

A big well done to all teams with a great team effort.

Gu10: Niamh, Mya, Monika, Zara, Amelia, Sarah, Orlaith & Lucy

Bu10: Daniel, Ruben, Joe, Charlie

Gu11: Aislinn, Nikita, Eve & Emily

Gu12: Sarah, Sophie, Ava, Ella, Hannah, Liliya, Emma & Sophie

Bu12: Ozie, Charlie, Adam, Akim

Gu13: Anabel, Liliya, Lauren & Aoife

Bu13: Jaden, Ben, Dylan & Keane

Gu14: Kate, Mia, Ciara, Marianne

Bu15: Zac, Paul, Kevin, Rian