This post will be left in place on the website and updated as the season progresses. Most recent update 20/12/2021
You will be able to see the most up-to-date list of races/events for juniors using this link (when I’ve updated it)
https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/latest-events/category/junior-events/list/
For an explanation of England Athletics Registration and Affiliation, see the bottom of this page (new section added 19/10/2021)
Calendar
Note regarding races marked “TBA”, we don’t know whether or not they will take place in 2021/22. They are shown in the calendar in the same month as they took place in 2020 or 2019
NB If you’re looking to see information about events prior to September 2021 see
https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/events-for-juniors-spring-summer-2021/
Sun 12 September West Yorkshire T&F 7 Cleckheaton
Ages are as at 01/09/21, e.g. U11 is school years 5 & 6 for year just started
U11 boys do 75m, 600m and shot
U11 girls do 75m, 600m and long jump
U13 boys do 80m, 800m and discus
U13 girls do 80m, 800m and high jump
If you have not yet entered the series, the cost for this meeting is £8 and the closing date is 1 September.
Sun 19 September – CANCELLED – Kirkstall junior race (only the adult race is on)
Sat 25 September, also Sat 16 October, Sat 20 November, Sat 11 December, Sat 5 March – Leeds Schools Athletics Association cross-country races (see section below)
Sat 25 September – CANCELLED – track & field at York
Sun 03 October – West Yorkshire Cross Country League meeting 1 at Cleckheaton. Club members only, minimum age 9 on race day, closing date 18 September (see section below). 10 juniors represented Valley Striders. Full results here http://www.westyorkshireathletics.org.uk/R1Res2021.htm
Sun 10 October – South Yorkshire Indoor Open Series meeting 1 at EIS Sheffield (new school years 4 and above) (see section below)
Late October or early November – Leeds Primary Schools / School Games cross country (see section below)
Sat 30 October – West Yorkshire Cross Country League meeting 2 at Nunroyd Park Guiseley (see section below). 8 juniors represented Valley Striders. Full results here http://www.westyorkshireathletics.org.uk/R2Res2021.htm
Sun 14 November – Peco Cross Country League meeting 1 at (amended location) Middleton Park. Suitable for all abilities, minimum school year 2, available to waiting list, (see section below, incudes a link to enter). If you enter before 31 October you will get a personalised race number. 58 juniors represented Valley Striders. Full results here https://pecoxc.co.uk/pages/race1.html
Sun 21 November – West Yorkshire Cross Country League meeting 3 at Thornes Park Wakefield (see section below). 8 juniors represented Valley Striders. Full results here http://www.westyorkshireathletics.org.uk/R3TP.htm
Sun 28 November – South Yorkshire Indoor Open Series meeting 2 at EIS Sheffield (new school years 4 and above) (see section below)
Sun 05 December – Peco Cross Country League meeting 2 at Templenewsam (see section below). 49 juniors represented Valley Striders. Full results here https://pecoxc.co.uk/pages/race2.html. Cumulative points table here https://pecoxc.co.uk/pages/junior_results.html
Sun 12 December – West Yorkshire Cross Country League meeting 4 at Rothwell (revised location) (see section below). 4 juniors represented Valley Striders. Full results here www.westyorkshireathletics.org.uk/R4OSC2021.htm . Well done to Keira Sykes, Jamie Walker and Alfie Jones who ran all 4 races and to Elsie Taylor who ran 3.
Sun 19 December – Peco Cross Country League meeting 3 at Middleton Park (see section below). 32 juniors represented Valley Striders. Full results here https://pecoxc.co.uk/pages/race3.html . Cumulative points table here https://pecoxc.co.uk/pages/junior_results.html
Sun 19 December – North Yorkshire Indoor Open meeting at EIS Sheffield provisional date, no other details available.
Sat 8 January 2022 – Yorkshire Cross Country Championships at Kiveton Park, Sheffield (revised location) – school year 7 and above (more information to follow) https://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2022/infoyorksxc22.pdf
Sun 23 January 2022 – Peco Cross Country League meeting 4 at West Park (see section below). Event and race details here https://pecoxc.co.uk/pages/race4.html If you’ve not already entered the series, here’s the link to enter https://racebest.com/races/c4veg
Sat 29 January 2022 – Northern Cross Country Championships at Pontefract Park – school year 7 and above (more information to follow) CLOSING DATE TUESDAY 11 JANUARY https://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2022/naxc%20prospectus%202022.pdf
Sun 30 January 2022 – South Yorkshire Indoor Open Series meeting 3 at EIS Sheffield (new school years 4 and above) (see section below)
Sun 20 February 2022 – Peco Cross Country League meeting 5 at Roundhay Park (see section below), Event and race details here https://pecoxc.co.uk/pages/race5.html
Sun 13 March 2022 – Peco Cross Country Relays and Juniors Relays at Bramley Falls Woods. (TBC) (see section below)
Sun 27 March 2022 – South Yorkshire Indoor Open Series meeting 4 at EIS Sheffield (new school years 4 and above) (see section below)
We don’t have any information yet about events in Spring/Summer 2022. To get an idea of what might be available see the Spring/Summer 2021 events https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/events-for-juniors-spring-summer-2021/
Detailed event information
Junior parkrun
- Bodington resumed on Sunday 30 May 2021 but only for ages 4 to 10, from 25 July open to ages 4 to 14
- Bramley resumed on Sunday 27 April 2021 but only for ages 4 to 10, from 25 July open to ages 4 to 14
- Crossflatts resumed on Sunday 27 April but only for ages 4 to 10, from 25 July open to ages 4 to 14
- Roundhay resumes on Sunday 2 May but only for ages 4 to 10, from 25 July open to ages 4 to 14
- Templenewsam resumed on Sunday 27 April but only for ages 4 to 10, from 25 July open to ages 4 to 14
West Yorkshire Cross Country League
A series of 4 meetings between October and December 2021. For dates and venues, see above
Only open to club members. This series features some of the better clubs in West Yorkshire and we suggest that, for each age group, only the top half of Valley Striders members would “enjoy” the event.
Minimum age for the series is 9 on date of 1st meeting (3 Oct 2021) currently school year 5 and above also a few in year 4.
Juniors aged 11 or above before on on the date of the last meeting (12 Dec 2021) (i.e. currently school year 7 and above and 30% of year 6) must be affiliated to England Athletics. Cost is £17p.a.
Age groups are U13/U15/U17 on 01/09/2021 i.e. school years 7/8, 9/10 and 11/12
The under 11 category us for those who, on 3rd October 2021, are at least 9 and not yet 11, i.e. a bit of school year 4, all of year 5 and most of year 6. This is a very strange rule and if you’re confused please email [email protected] and I’ll try to explain it better
Approximate distances and approximate start times – Under 11 1500m at 11:45am; Under 13 3000m at 12noon; Under 15 4000m at 12:30pm.
The official league information can be found at http://www.westyorkshireathletics.org.uk/XCMain.htm
I have entry forms, there is no online entry. CLOSING DATE IS SATURDAY 18 SEPTEMBER (the website says 21 September but the extra 3 days are for me to check the bank account, fill in the entry forms, stick a stamp on and for Royal Mail to deliver)
Cost is £15 which covers all 4 meetings . Please pay £15 to the “Payments” account
Account Name: VSAC Payments
Sort Code: 53-70-00
Account Number: 72143851
If you need England Athletics affiliation, please pay £17 to the “Membership” account
Account Name: VSAC Membership
Sort Code: 53-70-00
Account Number: 72143878
Please email [email protected] with any queries.
Peco Cross Country League
A series of 5 meetings between November 2021 and February 2022. For dates and venues, see the calendar above
Open to club members school years 2 and older. Also open anyone on the waiting list (you should contact us and then register as a Valley Strider)
Suitable for all abilities. We strongly encourage all junior members to take part and will be slightly disappointed with those who don’t take part in at least one race.
Distances and start times are one mile at 10:00am for school years 2 to 6; two miles at 10:20am for school years 7 to 11. NB parents of school years 2 and 3 must be confident that their child can complete the distance e.g. they have done junior parkrun.
Cost is £7 for the whole series (whether you run 1 race or 5). Entries are open online via Racebest https://racebest.com/races/xuckz.
If you enter before 31 October you will get a personalised race number. If you’re not sure whether or not you’ve entered, there is a box “Latest entries” which contains a button “See all”
Leeds Schools Athletics Association cross-country races
5 meetings between October and March – races for boys and girls in age groups U9/U11/U13/U15 as at 01/09/2021 i.e. school years 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10.
Schools need to be affiliated to the Leeds Schools Sports Association www.lsaa.org.uk .
Leeds Primary Schools / School Games cross country.
There are 5 initial races (sometimes called “semi-finals”) late October or early November, one for each of the Leeds Schools Sports Partnerships Areas, at each of which there are 8 races – for girls and boys, for each school year from 3 to 6. The best schools and best individuals from each semi-final qualify for the Leeds final, and the best schools and best individuals from the Leeds final qualify to represent Leeds at the West Yorkshire final against Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield.
Schools must be members of their local School Sports Partnership to take part.
South Yorkshire Indoor Series 2021/2022
These 4 meetings take place at the indoor athletics facility at the English Institute for Sport (EIS) Sheffield. It has a 200m oval track, a 60m sprint straight (6 lanes) and facilities for long jump, high jump, shot put and turbo javelin.
The series is on 4 Sundays between October 2021 and March 2022. If you are interested in this, please discuss by email at [email protected] or at one of our training sessions.
Leeds Junior Run Series 2019/20
The Leeds Junior Run Series 2019/20 comprised
– all the junior races organised by running clubs in Leeds
– the Peco cross country series
– the five junior parkruns in Leeds
It was due to run between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2020 but was abandoned in March 2020.
It is free to enter and club membership is not needed.
We are waiting to see what happens for 2019/20 and 2020/21
See http://www.leedsathletics.net/Leeds_Race_Series.htm
England Athletics Registration and Affiliation
All of our junior members have been added to the England Athletics database and they have been allocated a 7 digit unique reference number (URN). (the personal information added is name, date of birth, postal address and parent’s email address)
Competitive Athletes
- A minority of our junior members have been set up as “Competitive Athletes”
- There is an annual fee for this. For the current EA year that ends 31/03/2022 this is £15, and, in addition, for every Competitive Athlete we pay Northern Athletics £2; this is why we ask for £17 extra for Competitive Athletes
- Competitive Athlete status is needed to take part in West Yorkshire Track & Field League (unless under-11) and West Yorkshire Cross Country League (unless under-11)
- Competitive Athlete status is needed to take part in Yorkshire County competitions, North of England Area competitions and England National competitions (the minimum age for these is 11).
- Competitive Athlete status is needed to take part in open adult races – juniors 11 or over can run in 5k races such as the Leeds 5k at the Brownlee Centre; juniors 15 or over can run in 10k races such as the Abbey Dash and Run For All Leeds 10k; juniors 16 or over can run in 10 miles races such as the Eccup 10mile and also in half marathons such as the Leeds half.
Non-Competitive Athletes
- The majority of our junior members have been set up as “Non-Competitive Athletes”
- They can get emails and offers from England Athletics (or can opt-out of these).
- Competitive Athlete status is not needed for under 11’s
- Competitive Athlete status is not needed for races categorised as fun runs linked to adult races e.g. the Eccup Junior Races (run alongside the Eccup 10); the Wetherby fun run and mini-marathon (run alongside the Wetherby 10k); the Peco Junior Races (run alongside the Peco Cross Country Series)
- Competitive Athlete status is not needed for parkruns or junior parkruns. Note that VS strongly support the parkrun policy that under-11’s who run 5k parkrun must run with an adult, in fact we recommend that under-11’s shouldn’t do 5k parkun at all.
Note that the above only applies to juniors training in the junior section. Older juniors (young adults) who train with the adult section pay the adult membership fee which includes the England Athletics and Northern Athletics affiliation fees.