Published 22 March 2024
From April to mid September, sessions will approximately alternate between Leos and GSAL. From mid September to end March, sessions will be at Leos every week.
For dates/locations see https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/general-information-for-juniors-2024/
Safety notices
We realise that not all parents will want to help or watch from the sidelines when the weather is cold and/or wet and we know that the car park at Leos is not well lit and is busy.
Parents who aren’t helping with the session or watching from the sidelines must fill in a form with their mobile phone number and car registration and car location so that we can contact them and/or find them if there is an incident involving their child or their child wants to leave the rugby pitch before the end of the session. The form will be under the covered area in front of the clubhouse.
Parents who want to leave the site may nominate another parent to be responsible for their child(ren), they must notify the relevant leader to tell them this.
This takes place with immediate effect (from 17 October 2023)
No waggling – we have had two incident when one child was waggling a post and the top of the post hit another child in the face. We have also had several near misses. Children must not touch any of the posts at any time.
Spiked shoes – spiked running shoes must not be worn for our training sessions at Leos.
Booking forms
The booking form for the month ahead will be found at this link
https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/booking-junior-training-sessions/
For each session
PUBLICATION / CONFIRMATION / CANCELLATION (amended 27/10/2021)
- I will publish groups and names (based on survey responses) by Friday 11:59pm (but hopefully by Friday noon)
- If you want a place you must confirm (via Facebook) by Monday 8pm (but preferably by Sunday 10pm, PLEASE)
- If you haven’t confirmed by 8pm Monday and the session is overbooked you will lose your place to a reserve
- If you’ve confirmed your place but then need to cancel you can do so up to Monday 8pm with no penalty
- I will publish the “final” list of groups and names late Monday evening
- If you’ve confirmed your place but cancel after Monday 8pm you will have a lower priority for booking for the following week i.e. if your session is overbooked you won’t get a place, but if a place then becomes free you will get it (although it may not be your preferred group)
- If you’ve confirmed your place but cancel less than 30 minutes before the start of your session (or you just don’t turn up), you won’t get a place for the following week.
- Cancellations after Tuesday 1pm should be by text to my mobile or on the Facebook post. Please do not use any other method to cancel after Tuesday 1pm.
- If for any reason we have to cancel or rearrange the session, we will publish on the website and in the Facebook Group before Tuesday 4pm.
Information about the training sessions
Although we are now free of CoVid regulations, we still have a duty of care, this is why we are continuing with small(ish) groups and asking for everyone to take care.
We also feel that we are providing better quality training sessions by having smaller groups and planning groups so that no time is wasted at the start of the session. Having 3 timeslots gives greater flexibility for parents to choose a timeslot that suits them and also means we have more space per athlete. The downside is that we never have the whole juniors club together.
From 2022, in summary:
- attendance at sessions continues to be strictly by invitation only
- we will be continuing with 3 timeslots – 4:45, 5:30, 6:15
- we will have a maximum of 5 groups at each timeslot
- we are aiming to have 10 juniors per group, with a maximum of 12 in any group
- there will be a leader and assistant for each group
- we will have 5 activities and rotate the 5 groups round the 5 activities.
- the “surveys” to book for blocks of 4/5weeks (a calendar month) will continue
- the process for publishing the list of attendees and confirmation of attendance will continue
- the rules for cancellation will continue (we need notification of non-attendance so we can rebalance the groups if necessary)
CORONAVIRUS (thought I’d leave this section in as it is part of our history)
All our sessions comply with current restrictions and recommendations. Prior to CoVid we had one timeslot 6pm to 7pm and split up into three or four groups each with as many as 20 or 25 in each group. When CoVid regulations first allowed us to resume training we had two timeslots (which we subsequently increased to 3), each timeslot with 3 groups (which we subsequently increased to 4 then 5) with a leader and 5 runners (which we subsequently increased to 10 then 12). Although we are now free of CoVid regulations, we still have a duty of care, this is why we are continuing with small(ish) groups and asking for everyone to take care. Now, we keep groups small to be manageable and cause least stress to the parents who volunteer to lead the groups.
MEETING POINTS AND ACTIVITY AREAS
NB Meeting points during summer are also in front of the pavilion, not as indicated in the diagram.
Leaders and assistant leader (selected from a list of parents who have volunteered for these roles (thank you)) will be allocated to each group. Other parents should watch from the sidelines at least 5 metres from all activities.
Leaders and assistant leaders should arrive early at the meeting point for their group.
Parents should take their children to their meeting point.
Parents can go anywhere on the rugby fields but should stay 5 metres away from any activities.
When the leader has all their junior runners, they should take their group to the first activity area and do warm-ups in this area (not using other areas of the rugby pitch or cricket pitch). NB for later sessions the leader must check that their activity area is clear of the earlier session runners before taking the group across.
Bob, Paul and Richard will co-ordinate the session, allowing 11 minutes for the first activity (to include warm-up), 7 minutes for the middle three and 9 minutes for the last one (to include cool down). (this is based on 5 activities)
All parents must remain on or by the rugby pitch while the sessions are going on. Our group leaders are not DBS checked. So if contact is needed, be it to attend to an injury or to tie shoelaces, the parent must do this.
N.B. Only the gents toilets will be open.
ACTIVITIES
The normal activities (and the activity area used) are listed below. They are all slightly modified versions of activities that we’ve done in the past in normal times.
- One of the following relays NB Sadly the square non-contact relays are not suitable for larger groups, but as of 20 July 2021 we can add a new variety
- V S Linear relays
https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/CoVid-VS-linear-relays.png - V S “Adel or Alwoodley” relays
https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Freedom-VS-relays-Adel-or-Alwoodley.png - Circles. NB the link shows the CoVid version, I will explain the differences https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/CoVid-Circles.png
- V S Linear relays
- One of the following depending on light and ground conditions
- Timed 200 metre sprints
https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/CoVid-200-metre.png - Eleanor’s (continuous) hills (between cricket and rugby pitch)
https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/CoVid-Eleanors-hills.png - “Next!” (details to follow)
- Timed 200 metre sprints
- One of the following
- Paarlauf
https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Paarlauf.png - Circles. NB the link shows the CoVid version, I will explain the differences https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/CoVid-Circles.png
- Paarlauf
- Emma’s hills (sprint up, jog back down)
https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/CoVid-Emmas-hills.png - One of the following dependent on light and weather conditions
- Bob’s pentathlon
https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/CoVid-Bobs-pentathlon.png - Lap(s) of top field (north side of bridle path). NB we will have an extra assistant for this
- V S Linear Relays
https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/CoVid-VS-linear-relays.png
- Bob’s pentathlon
For each session, Group 1 will start with Activity 1 and then do each activity in turn, Group 2 start with Activity 2 etc.
Every group will have done every activity, 7 minutes on each, by the end of the session.
INFORMATION FOR LEADERS
The group leaders will be responsible for the assembly, warm-up, all four activities and cool down for the children that are allocated to them
Group leaders should have read the activity diagrams prior to coming to familiarise themselves with the arrangements for each activity.
Rather than handing you out a pack with a sheet for each activity (and it gradually getting wetter as the session progresses), instead I’ll put an information sheet for each activity at the start of each one.
If you have children in your group who are new, please explain the activity and, for activities that are done sequentially by the runners, let the newcomers run last.
INFORMATION FOR ASSISTANTS
The assistant will support the leader as needed (an extra pair of eyes), also
- On Eleanor’s Hills (the hills from the Cricket Pitch), stand near the third Up (this is just before the last floodlight post), watch that the children go round all posts (this ensures they go straight up and down the hills), watch that they go round all posts at the end so that the return route is well away from outbound, ask any interlopers (e.g. dog-walkers) to walk down the line of cones that marks the boundaries (not down the middle of the activity as one did at a previous session)
- On 200 Metre Sprints, one parent at the far end to warn about slipping; the other parent to do timekeeping for the sprints
- On the Pentathlon, stand by the backwards running section to ensure the children head in the right direction and run safely; also observe the dips and sideways running
- Also generally give encouragement!
INFORMATION FOR OTHER PARENTS
It is essential that all parents are quickly accessible in case of need by their child, be it to help tie their shoelace, dress a cut or respond to a major injury. We do not have someone who has been delegated the responsibility for general first aid and we feel it unfair to ask the volunteer leader to do this.
Other parents must watch from the sidelines. Please observe as we may call on you for help in future weeks! In bad weather, parents may sit in their cars but if so must be in the west car park (between the club house and the rugby field), not in the main car park.
For those who remain in their cars, there will be a form in the covered area in front of the clubhouse to fill in to give contact details including phone number and car registration
When the main rugby pitch is unfit for training
If all the rugby pitches are unsuitable for training, we will have 3 timeslots on the cycle track at Alwoodley Green with a maximum of 18 runners per timeslot
https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/junior-session-at-alwoodley-green/
And finally
GPS track of Training Session on 3 December 2020 by Abs Kingston