English Schools’ Athletic Association 11th July 2021
U15 Jamie Callaghan was selected by English Schools’ Athletic Association to represent the West Midlands in the hammer at the National Finals in Manchester on 11th July. This year they selected the Top 16 from Power of 10 in individual events to represent their counties at the final. Jamie finished 9th overall, just missing out on the second round for a further three throws. It was a fantastic experience which has spurred him on to train even harder for next year. Well done Jamie
1st Place for BRAT @ Stourport (Heart of England League) – 3rd July 2021
The Heart of England League is known as the “friendly league” and was formed in 1978 to give Midland based clubs local competition to a broader range of athletes including, under 11s. There are 28 clubs, and normally they compete in 3 matches across 4 divisions with promotion and relegation at the end of the season. However, this year (due to the pandemic), it’s been regionalised to reduce travel, and there is no promotion or relegation. This did not affect the youngsters though who gave it their all and finished first out of 7 clubs!! This was the 1st Heart of England BRAT were able to compete in since July 2019, and was eagerly anticipated. The last year has been a difficult year for many athletics clubs and BRAT is no exception to this. The overwhelming majority of our U11s and U13s had never taken part in a club competition…
West Midlands Schools Trials
30 Junior BRATs took part in the West Midlands Schools Trials in Sutton on 19th June, hoping to qualify for the English Schools on 11th July in Manchester. Between them they competed in 10 different events and collectively there were a staggering 35 PBs and 4 SBs which is a phenomenal achievement. The most popular event seemed to be the 100m where 15 different athletes ran, and this accounted for 11 PBs and 2 SBs! U15 Jamie Keene’s 800m time of 2.08.05 has ranked him 29th in the country, and Lily Smith’s Long Jump of 5.05m has ranked her 17th. Well done to all athletes who took part, and the results can be seen below.
Senior T&F League B’Ham Uni 20/06/21
Back home at last… Never mind ‘football coming home’, athletics finally found its way back home for the BRAT team on Sunday 20th June as we hosted the first senior league match of the season – the first league match of any kind since August 2019 and our first home meeting since 2013! The rain just about kept off for us as teams from Birchfield, Royal Sutton Coldfield, Solihull and Bromsgrove descended upon the university track where a small army of BRAT volunteers had helped to make sure everything was ready on time. On a day of ‘firsts’ BRAT had a number of winners; Jenny Scott (great to see Jenny back with a winning double in the Discus A and Javelin B), Adam Peacock (800 A), Lewis Carr (800 B), Becki Timmings (3000 A), Lucie Tait-Harris (3000 B), Khari Mitchell-Lewis (110 hurdles A), Dan Hindle (High jump A), Eva Gunn…
WELCOME TO 2021
The BRAT Club wishes everyone a happy and safe new year, we are looking forward to returning to a more normal routine later in the year. Unfortunately for now with Birmingham in tier 4 this means that all of our adult sessions are currently suspended. Tier 3 in Worcestershire also means the Bromsgrove swim session has been cancelled until further notice. We are hoping that we can continue with junior athletics sessions, and the coaches will communicate this info directly to parents and athletes going forwards. For now then, we are back to solo and virtual training. Zwift has been great for us, providing some real focus and club atmosphere on the discord chat, so that will continue. Again, the club would like to thank all the coaches, leaders, volunteers and members who put so much into this club and have kept such a strong spirit going throughout the past…