CHESHIRE COUNTY ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
Minutes of the meeting held at Frodsham Community Centre on Wednesday 24th September 2008
Apologies: Marian Allen, E Gore and S McGrath.
1.   Present:  P Allen (Chairman), AG Bunner, JL  Driscoll, R Lynch, AFJ  Thiemicke,  J Shellhorn, MJ Lamb & BJ Warren.
2.   Minutes of the Meeting held on 13.8.08
Accepted after Item 9 amended to read ’  There is to be an Inter Regional Half Marathon, incorporated in the Robin Hood Half Marathon which could attract endurance money. Cheshire would not enter a team because it was an Inter Regional event and not Inter County.
3.   Matters Arising from the Meeting on 13.8.08
None.
4.   Correspondence
a) AGM of the NA Officials Association will be held in Cleckheaton on 5.10.08.A new constitution is to be approved.
b) Letter from Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Health, in a campaign to improve health and happiness and reduce obesity etc., is launching an initiative called Change4Life. Go to www.nhs.uk/Change4Life for further information and to register.
c) A gentleman in South Africa is trying to trace Thomas Eardley, an athlete, believed to live in Cheshire. Can anyone help?
d) Northern Athletics AGM is on 4.10.08 at Stretford. Unopposed nominations have been received for all the positions. JL Driscoll and K Taylor are to represent Road Running.
e) Letter from UK Athletics giving information about Colin Charles Cooper, 54 years from Staffordshire, who may be associated with the concept of MVP Performance Programme and/or Tops 4 Sport, a company which ceased trading in 2006. If he contacts you, you are advised to seek advice from UKA.  
f) Halton Borough has integrated all its sporting activities into Merseyside. The club has received a questionnaire from the Merseyside Sports Partnership seeking details of the club. This partnership is the route by which grass roots sporting information is passed via the region to UKA.I have sought information about a similar body in Cheshire and come up with a blank. The Secretary is querying the merits of Halton and Frodsham H joining Merseyside.
g) Vale Royal AC who are campaigning for a new track at Knights Grange in Winsford, seek support from the County. The whole project is estimated to cost £645K, of which £202K is being sought from Sport England. The Committee agreed to give its full support to the scheme. It was pointed out that, all existing tracks in the County are on the periphery; this proposal is in the heart of Cheshire.
h) AGM of the Young Athletes League will be on 15.11.08 at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium. The sponsor is McCain. Proposed dates for’ 09 are: 3.5, 17.5, 31.5, 21.6 and 5.7 with Finals on 5/6.9.09.
i) England Athletics have issued their set of Service Standards. They can be found on their website: www.englandathletics.org.   
5.   Financial Matters                          £  
   Current A/C			2241.62
   Dep. A/C	                              131.16
   Building Soc.		            13230.60
   Total			            15603.38
6.   Officials Report
 J Shellhorn thanked the Officials for turning out in sufficient numbers at the NW Road Relays, NW Multi Events and the Junior Multi Events this month.
There will now be a Level 3 course at Sports City on 29.11.08. There will be Level 2 courses in the Spring which cost £30 but the NW will pay a subsidy of £25.
There will be EDM courses before next year’s T&F Championships.
   7.   Coaching Report
A very full written report was sent By E Gore. In the past month he has contacted the NW Counties and the Cheshire clubs on the subject of the adequacy of coaching courses, and things have now improved. There will now be Phase 1 courses at Sport City on 5, 12, 19, and 26.11.08. For further information see: http://www.englandathletics.org/north-west/people/coaches/level3
When a coaching course is staged at Sport City, 12 of the available 24 places automatically are given to Greater Manchester because of special funding arising from football. 
Monies are available from the Borough Athletic Forums for coaching. He established that there is a need for endurance courses for Levels 1,2 and 3 in Cheshire. The Committee did support a proposal he made, that the County will consider reimbursing candidates on the satisfactory completion of a course. An all embracing commitment to reimburse all may be beyond the County’s ability.
8.   County Championships
a) NW Road Relays at Marbury Park on 13.9.08
The event went well with about 450 entries. A full report was presented by R Lynch.
b) Junior Multi Events at Macclesfield on 14.9.08
A very satisfactory event. Consideration is to be given as to whether the U17 age group could be transferred to the NW event. 13.9.09 has been suggested for next year.
c)  NW Multi events at Sport City on 23/24.8.08
This event went off well and will be repeated next year. Questions were raised regarding Seniors and Vets in which mixed events used weighted results. This must be clarified.
d) Cross Country Championships at Knights Grange, Northwich on Sat 10.1.09
The licence must be sought from the Northern Office.
e) Northern Inter Counties T&F at Hull on 23.8.08
Only 1 Cheshire athlete participated.
f) T&F Championships on 9/10.5.09
Warrington was proposed. Their agreement will be sought. Currently there is a problem with their pole vault facility.
9.   Road Race Matters
The last Grand Prix was last Sunday at Chester. It was a very satisfactory series. Next year it was agreed to give the same awards: £700 prize and plaques at £30, each making a total of £1050.
Offers will be sought to stage next year’s: 10K, half marathon and 5 miles, and clubs will be asked if they would like to include a 10 miles event. 
10.   England Athletics/NW Region/Northern Athletcs/Matters
Nothing to report.
11.  Any Other Business
a) Heather Timmins was the 2nd English girl (Junior) in the World Mountain Running Championships in Switzerland on 14.9.08. The English team were the winners.
b) No one has come forward to run the Cheshire Tigers; so its future is in jeopardy.
c) It was reported that Keith Hatton of Liverpool Harriers has died on holiday.
12.   Date of Next meeting
It will be held on 5.11.08
BJ Warren, Secretary, 29.9.08