Author Archives: Colin Bailey

The 2025/2026 junior Sportshall season officially came to a close this past weekend, and the BRAT squad ensured it was a finale to remember! Our young athletes delivered exceptional performances across the board, securing overall league titles, individual event victories, and a massive haul of podium finishes. From explosive sprints and endurance relays to incredible displays of power in the field events, our athletes did the club immensely proud. 🏆 U15s: Muayyad Takes the Title & Hephzibah Wins the Finale! The U15 competition requires athletes to be true all-rounders, accumulating points across a range of track and field events throughout the season. We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Muayyad Mohamed is the U15 Boys Overall Champion! Putting in a spectacularly consistent season, Muayyad finished with a massive 349 points to take the 1st place crown. Joining him on the overall podium was teammate Dominic Thulani Francis-Gordon, who secured 3rd…

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The winter cross-country season culminated in one of the most prestigious events on the domestic calendar this past weekend: the UKCAU Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships in Nottingham. Just being selected to wear the county vest is a massive honour, and we were incredibly proud to see several of our athletes stepping up to compete against the very best in the UK. The Inter-Counties is notorious for its huge, fiercely competitive fields, gathering the top runners from every region across the country to battle it out over gruelling, muddy terrain. Our athletes represented their county with absolute distinction, digging deep in challenging conditions to produce some fantastic results. 🌟 Dawlatly Cracks the Top 50 The standout performance of the day came in the U17 Men’s race from Elliot Dawlatly. In a field packed with elite national talent, Elliot ran a phenomenal race to cross the line in 50th place. To finish…

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It was a day of absolute dominance at the West Midlands Regional Sportshall Finals, as Team Birmingham achieved a spectacular clean sweep, winning every single age group across both the boys’ and girls’ categories! The event, held at the North Solihull Sports Centre on February 22nd, 2026, saw the best young athletes from across the region battle it out. We are incredibly proud that 11 of our very own BRAT athletes were selected to pull on the black vest for Birmingham. Not only did they contribute heavily to the overarching team success, but they also delivered some phenomenal individual performances. Here is a look at how our BRAT representatives fared: U11s: Parekh Finds the Target Our youngest athletes stepped up to the regional stage with immense confidence, helping both the U11 Boys and Girls to team victories. U13s: Demanya Dominates the Shot The U13s were on fire across the track,…

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History was made last Sunday as the West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country League concluded its 2025/26 season. After five gruelling fixtures, the BRAT junior squad secured a magnificent 4th place overall—the highest league finish in the club’s history! Breaking into the “Top 4” is a massive achievement and a testament to the depth and dedication of our young athletes. We finished the season with a massive 26,940 points, holding off fierce competition to set a new club standard. 🏆 Team Glory: A Hat-Trick of Podiums It wasn’t just the overall table where we shone. Three of our boys’ teams produced outstanding campaigns to bring home league medals, showing the strength of our packing in these age groups. Our U17 Men also put in a strong shift, finishing just outside the medals in 4th place, while the U11 Girls secured a solid 6th place finish in a very competitive league.…

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The penultimate fixture of the Sportshall Athletics League was a showcase of BRAT athletics. With a clean sweep in the U13 Shot Put and vital wins on the track and in the jumps, the club is in a fantastic position ahead of the Grand Finale on March 7th. 🥇 Field Event Fury: The Throws Squad The headline story of the match was the absolute dominance of our throwers. The club achieved a spectacular “Quadruple Gold” in the U13 Shot Put, winning every single category available! ⚡ U13 Highlights: Speed & Power The U13 girls were in electric form in the gym, particularly in the Speed Bounce, where we took maximum points. 🌟 U11 Highlights: Oscar & Leo Shine Our youngest athletes provided some of the most exciting moments of the day. 🏆 U15 Boys: The Title Charge The U15 Boys are now tantalizingly close to the league title. They dominated…

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This Sunday, the West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country League concludes at Wolverhampton—and we have a massive opportunity. After four grueling races through mud, rain, and hills, BRAT currently sits in 4th place overall. We have had some spectacular individual performances and strong squad turnouts, but the job isn’t done yet. We have one clear target for the final race: Catch Birchfield Harriers. The Mission: Overtake Birchfield We are currently chasing Birchfield Harriers for that podium spot. The gap is real, but it is absolutely bridgeable. In cross-country, points aren’t just won by the athletes at the front—they are won by the sheer volume of teammates crossing the finish line. If we field full teams in every age group, the swing in points can be enormous. We have the talent to take 3rd place, but we can only do it if we out-number and out-run them this Sunday. 📢 A…

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Date: 11th January 2026 Event: West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country League – Match 4 Cross country runners are known for their toughness, but this weekend, the weather really put us to the test! 😅 While Nuneaton was ready to go, a blanket of snow in Birmingham made travel impossible for many of our amazing athletes. 🚫🚗 As a result, BRAT faced our toughest fixture in ages. After soaring to a spectacular 2nd place overall in December, the snow and a smaller squad meant we finished 7th Overall in Match 4. Ouch! 😬 It was a tough day for points, especially on the girls’ side, where a lack of numbers cost us big time in the overall standings. BUT, for those heroes who braved the icy roads to get to The Pingles, there were some truly epic performances, including a standout team victory! 💪🥇 The Challenge: A Struggle for Numbers…

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Warley Woods – Saturday 13th December 2025 It was a fantastic day of racing at Warley Woods for the combined Worcestershire and Warwickshire County Cross Country Championships. BRAT Club’s junior athletes turned out in force, delivering standout performances across the age groups. From individual battles to dominant team victories, our young runners did the club proud in challenging winter conditions. Here is a roundup of the action from the Under 11 to Under 17 categories. Under 11 Boys: Warwickshire Team Champions! The U11 Boys put in a dominant display to bring home the Warwickshire Team Gold, beating stiff competition from Stratford and Leamington. Team Result: 🥇 1st Place – BRAT Club (14 points) – Logan Pearce, Leo Dunigan, Lucas Sacremento Guillaume. Under 11 Girls: Team Silver Our U11 Girls packed well to secure a brilliant Team Silver in the Warwickshire standings. Team Result: 🥈 2nd Place – BRAT Club (22…

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Date: Sunday, 30th November 2025 Event: Birmingham Sportshall League 🏆 It was another action-packed afternoon for BRAT at the second fixture of the Sportshall League. With a great turnout across all age groups, our athletes delivered some standout individual performances—particularly in the field events—while our relay teams battled hard for every point. 💪 Here is a round-up of the day’s action:—–U15 Boys: Muayyad Leads the Way! 🚀 The U15 Boys squad had a fantastic afternoon, finishing 2nd on the day and cementing their place as 2nd in the Overall League Standings. 🥈 A huge congratulations goes to Muayyad Mohamed, who was the top performer of the match. Muayyad scored an incredible 118 points on the day to lead the team, securing maximum points in the Triple Jump 👟 and Speed Bounce, along with a strong run in the 4 Lap. The “Throws Squad” was also in dominant form. Temi Dada…

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This was the first open that BRAT have hosted in many years. It was great to see athletes attending from far and wide to attend an event in which the majority of events sold out. A host of new officials supplemented the experienced core team of officials. With the exception of Chief Starter, Ray Lloyd, all officials were from within the club.  Additionally, a largely new events team worked together behind the scenes to make the event work.  Full results can be found on Entry4Sport on this link  and on PowerOf10 here. Photos courtesy of Imageineering can be found on these links: We hope to see you at our events in 2026.

Write-up by: Nick Price (Junior XC Team Manager & Endurance Lead Coach) Some excellent performances by the juniors at the County XC Champs at the new testing course at the Solihull Riding Club.  It was good for the juniors to experience racing on pasture / farm land rather than parks!  The Champs is one of the qualifying races for the Inter Counties XC Champs at Nottingham on 8th March with 8 athletes from Warwickshire and Worcestershire being selected!  Overall we achieved 4 podium medals and 3 team medals during the day which was a great team effort! U11G – Nya ran away with the race and looked comfortable winning her 2nd County XC Champs in a row!  Isabelle 21, Veronica 25. Team 4th U11B- Another excellent performance by the U11s with a great 2nd team place again!!  George 5, Thomas 11, Zachary 13, Jeevan 19, William 20, Walter 21, Sebastian…

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Sportshall Athletics. If there was ever a form of organized chaos in athletics. This is it. The degree to which it is organized or chaotic varies from match to match and from club to club, but I’d like to think that BRAT veer slightly towards the organized side of things. It’s somewhat surprising, given the number of new faces we see taking part, not knowing quite what to expect. In Matt’s absence, I had the please of giving out the numbers. This gave a me a great opportunity to assess the general feeling of our athletes. I’d say that there were a lot of nerves on show, so congratulations to all of you that felt nervous at the start but conquered those nerves to put in some great performances. Our u15g team won overall and our u15b were pipped to first place by a handful of points. Out of our…

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