Strong Throws and Flying Finishes: BRATs Shine at Sportshall League Match 2! đ€©
Date: Sunday, 30th November 2025 Event: Birmingham Sportshall League đ 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 performancesâparticularly in the field eventsâwhile our relay teams battled hard for every point. đȘ Here is a round-up of the day’s action:—–U15 Boys: Muayyad Leads the Way! đ The U15 Boys squad had a fantastic afternoon, finishing 2nd on the day and cementing their place as 2nd in the Overall League Standings. đ„ 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 đ and Speed Bounce, along with a strong run in the 4 Lap. The “Throws Squad” was also in dominant form. Temi Dada…
Golden Jubilee of Service: Gordon Ainsley Wins Prestigious Award for 50 Years in Athletics
This year, Gordon Ainsley celebrates an incredible milestone: 50 years of volunteering in athletics. And in fitting tribute to his half-century of dedication, this extraordinary individual has been recognized with the very award for which he was nominated, cementing his place as one of the sport’s most impactful volunteers. A Passion Turned Lifelong Vocation Gordon’s journey began in the 1960s as a competitive athlete, specializing in the 400m hurdles at Chelmsford AC. Following a back injury, he transitioned his passion into coaching after moving to Birmingham in 1970. This marked the start of a deep commitment that would see him become a significant figure through several club evolutionsâfrom Warley AC to Borough of Sandwell AC, then Birmingham Rowheath AC, and finally to the formation of the Birmingham Running, Athletics & Triathlon (BRAT) club in 2010. Gordon was instrumental in each merger, ensuring the club always focused on serving both the…
BRAT End of Season Open – Sunday 7th Sept
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.
Sportshall Is Back!
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 Iâd like to think that BRAT veer slightly towards the organized side of things. Itâs somewhat surprising, given the number of new faces we see taking part, not knowing quite what to expect. In Mattâs 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. Iâd 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…
We are the Champions!
The BRAT senior track and field team have been crowned champions of the MidlandsAthletics League for 2024, some 35 years since we last achieved that feat!After a very encouraging 2023 in which we finished second in the top flight, we weredetermined this season to go one better â but I donât think anyone thought that we wouldwin all four matches. After the disappointment of the May meeting at Nottingham being cancelled, the firstoccasion that all division one clubs met was at Nuneaton for the âTechnicalâ Match in earlyJune. All the Midlands clubs from all six divisions meet up and compete over the 8 mosttechnically challenging events (pole vault, steeplechase, hammer etc..). You competeagainst all six divisions and only at the end are points awarded against clubs from yourindividual division. It if sounds complicated then thatâs because it is! However, itâs great funand as a result of our efforts we picked…
County Champs 2024
There was fierce competition last weekend at the Athletics County Championships (both Warwickshire and Worcestershire). The competition for the most sunburnt spectator was marginally less intense than the competition for the most vociferous! Yes, we were blessed with an uncharacteristically hot weekend which was tempered slightly by a cool swirling breeze. Iâm not sure if it was just me, but it did seem as though there was a headwind on both the home straight and the back straight, but we really shouldnât complain given how unseasonably warm it was! As junior team manager, I take great pleasure in seeing our athletes apply what they have learnt in training to competition. I know that all the coaches share this view. Training and competition are different. You can not replicate the adrenaline rush you feel in a race when someone creeps on to your shoulder or the euphoria you feel when you…
BRAT Juniors Secure Promotion as League Winners!
Letâs be honest, itâs not the most enjoyable drive to Corby. The dull grey clouds over the motorway did little to inspire enthusiasm. As we arrived in the stand, the weather felt more like that of an early April warm-up meeting as opposed to a league competition in the middle of summer! As Europe basks in a heat-wave where people are advised to not go out and to keep their curtains closed, summer in Corby felt more like a game-of-thrones ânorth of the wallâ escapade. A strong and persistent head wind on the home straight put pay to the majority of our sprinterâs chances of PBs. If you achieved a PB at the weekend, then you should be very pleased with yourself. The dark skies were occasionally pierced with downpours and the odd bit of sunshine, perhaps this is as good as it gets in Corby??? On that backdrop, seeing…
The BRAT Juniors’ Winning Run Continues In Banbury!
Letâs set the scene. Meeting 1 in Stourport in June. The BRAT junior team delivered a crushing victory, finishing over 200 points clear of second place Banbury. Letâs not forget, we were only promoted to this division last year, so many of the existing clubs have no idea who we are and how strong our athletes are! It must have been a shock for the other teams, but with Banbury hosting this recent meeting, it was the perfect opportunity for them to put out their strongest possible team, and they did not disappoint! To complicate matters even more, this meeting unfortunately clashed with the Inter County Schoolsâ Championships (Mason Trophy) where we had a lot of athletes competing. In their absence, it was left to others to step up and make their performances count! Whatâs moreâŠ..Oxfordshire donât compete in the Mason Trophy, so Banbury didnât lose any athletes for this…
Sportshall Athletics – Birmingham League Final Standings
Right, iâm not doing a super long write-up this time. Just to say, iâm fairly sure that we were the loudest team at Sportshall over the three events. My voice is somewhat coming back, but certainly a level of croakiness that reflects how kermitted I was to shouting our athletes on. Because I love writing about me (who better?!), I was impressed that I knew all our athletesâ names. Fellow junior athletes, alas, your generic âcome on BRATâ shouts languish behind my name specific shouts! Iâm only mentioning this latter point as we had 72 athletes in total across the 3 events, so perhaps it is forgivable that not everyone knows absolutely everyone in the team! So, how did we do? U11 boys – 3rd U13 boys – 2nd U11 girls – 2nd U13 girls – 3rd U15 boys – 3rd U15 girls – 4th The full results can be…
A Return to the Birmingham Sportshall League
Itâs been 3 years since we had a Sportshall League, the last competition was February 2020! With that in mind, it was great to get back to what I casually refer to as âorganised chaosâ (it over ran the time slot by an hour, so iâm going to go with simply âchaosâ for this weekendâs event!) Anyway, itâs a fantastic opportunity for our juniors, particularly the younger juniors, to get some competition experience over what is often a long cold winter. Many of the athletes have never competed for the club before, so itâs great to see them getting involved. I have a number of coaches to thank for picking the BRAT team, but the general principle we went with was enjoyment and inclusivity. What was particularly pleasing as a team manager was successfully collecting all the numbers in at the end of the event. Just kidding (although I still…
Ladies Cross Country
The women are so happy to have XC back and have been off to a great start in the first two league races. The team finished 4th at the first race near Crewe and 6th at the second race in Stratford, putting them 5th overall. Thanks to all the ladies who have taken part so far. We are always looking for more recruits so please get in touch if youâd like to join the team email: bratladiesxc@gmail.com The next race is the county champs on 8th Jan and we could really do with some seniors joining the Warwickshire team. We currently have a Warwickshire masters team plus an U20 and a strong senior Worcestershire team. Entries close this week!
BRAT AAA Awards 2020â
Despite this being a year when most of our athletes havenât competed, some have taken part in the limited competitions that have taken place and were rewarded by achieving Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) standards.