Welcome to Northumberland Schools' Athletic Association Website

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has caused some files to be deleted. They are gradually being restored while this notice remains -

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November Update:

CROSS COUNTRY - The ESAA Championships are scheduled to take place in Kent on Saturday 13 March 2021. A decision to proceed or not will be taken in early January. We do not expect Districts to operate their local championships this term, but we will offer direct entry from schools into the County Championships if we are in a position to proceed.

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HOW DOES SCHOOL ATHLETICS WORK?

1. In the first instance it is up to the PE teacher to identify athletic talent .... running, jumping, throwing.

2. The PE TEACHER should offer the following pathway, outlined below, to talented pupils.

3. How do the AGE GROUPS work?

They are DIFFERENT to other school sports because the AGE DEADLINE is set at the end of the school year, 31 August midnight. (So an Under 12 rugby player is an Under 13 athlete) BUT we now prefer to use YEAR GROUPS for clarity.

Athletics Age Groups:

• Year 6 (Minors) and can include Year 5 pupils (but not Y4)
• Year 7 (Minors)
• Year 8 (1st year Junior & Minors) - unique because they can compete at both levels
• Year 9 - JUNIOR
• Years 10 & 11 - INTERMEDIATE
• Years 12 & 13 - SENIOR

4. A pupil, representing their school, should firstly be entered into the District championships.

5. There are FIVE DISTRICTS to cover all areas of Northumberland:

• NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND
• EAST NORTHUMBERLAND
• TYNEDALE
• NORTH TYNESIDE
• NEWCASTLE

THREE ATHLETES are chosen from each area to compete at the County Championships, except for Newcastle who are allowed 4. In exceptional circumstances Areas are allowed to excede those numbers.

6. There are TWO CHAMPIONSHIPS at COUNTY LEVEL -

• (Senior) County Championships - Juniors / Inters / Seniors
• Minors County Championships - Y6(Y5) / Y7 / Y8

7. There is NO FURTHER PROGRESSION FOR ATHLETES IN THE MINORS SECTION.

ATHLETES COMING FIRST and SECOND in the (Senior) County Championships are automatically selected to represent Northumberland at the INTER COUNTIES MEETING with Durham, Cumbria and Cleveland which normally takes place the following weekend.

8. IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE INTER COUNTIES MEETING the Northumberland Team is selected to represent the county at the English Schools' AA Track & Field Championships.

Northumberland is rated as a D-county and is allowed to take a maximum of 24 athletes to the championships (New 2017). The ESAA publishes ENTRY STANDARDS (ES) for every event and athletes should gain those standards in order to qualify for selection.

9. At the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, at INTERMEDIATE LEVEL ONLY, the first two athletes are selected to represent England at the Schools' International, organised by the Schools' International Athletic Board (SIAB).

10. In some years the ESAA may decide to enter an ENGLAND INTERMEDIATE TEAM in to the World Schools' Championships, organised by the International Schools' Sports Federation (ISF). This is dependent on two factors: firstly, that two school teams must also be entered and, secondly, that the ESAA can financially afford to send a team (which is not always the case when events are at some distance)

11. THE ESAA TRACK and FIELD CUP is completely different to the above. It is a SCHOOL TEAM EVENT and has nothing to do with INDIVIDUAL SELECTION for anything!

Also the TF CUP ages are different too:

• JUNIOR TEAM - Year 7 & Year 8 -COMBINED
• INTER TEAM - Year 9 & Year 10 -COMBINED

Performances are scored on a POINTS TABLE (rather like decathlon) and finishing position in an event is not as important.

 

HOW DOES SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY WORK?

Age-Groups & Districts: They are the same as for athletics above.

Primary & Year 7 School Team Championships: Normally first Tuesday in October

This event is for Boys and Girls who run in separate races at each level - Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Year 6 and Year 7.

The first 10 finishers in the Year 7 races receive a direct invitation to run at the County Championships on the third Tuesday in January. Details are published on the Cross Country web page.

County Cross Country Championships: Normally third Tuesday in January

The event is for Boys and Girls who are representing their districts. The district events normally take place in late November and early December. Usually there are no races for Senior runners who are directly nominated to the County Championships.

Age Groups: Year 7, Junior (Y8/9), Inter (Y10/11), Senior (Y12/13)

Inter Counties Cross Country Meeting: (Cleveland, Cumbria, Durham, North Yorkshire & Northumberland)

The top 16 finishers in each race are selected to run for Northumberland at the Inter Counties, normally on the first Saturday in February, and finishers 17 to 20 become nominated reserves for the event.

National Championship Events:

Following the Inter Counties Meeting the Team Managers select tthe 6 teams, Junior - Inter - Senior (Boys & Girls) to represent Northumberland at the ESAA Championships held in March. Eight runners are selected for each team along with four (non-travelling) reserves. Selection is at the sole discretion of the Team Managers.

Also two Year 7 teams, Boys & Girls, each of 10 runners are selected for the Year 7 National Final held at Prestwold Hall, Leicestershire, in March. Team selection is as follows: the first THREE at the County Championship are automatically selected, along with the next SEVEN based on the combined results of the County and Inter Counties races, along with FOUR nominated non-travelling reserves as back up.

Schools International Cross Country:

JUNIORS & INTERS who finish in the top 8 at the National Championships will be selected to run for England (ESAA) in the SIAB meeting against Scotland, Wales & Ireland, normally a week later.

SIAB = Schools' International Athletic Board