Following our AGM we have made the hard decision to increase our training fees from 1^st September 2023.

The need for this has arisen due a doubling in the cost of hiring the training facilities this year, which can no longer be met by the current training fees. It is the first time there has been an increase in fees in over 12 years.

The monthly training fees will go up to £10 per month for athletes training once weekly and £20 per month for those training twice weekly. As previously there will be a 25% reduction for second and subsequent members of the same family making the fees for these £7.50 monthly for 1 session weekly and £15 monthly for twice weekly sessions.

If there any problems with the increases, please get in touch with one of the committee members in confidence.

Please can all members amend their standing orders accordingly from 1^st September 2023. (N.B the club cannot alter the amounts collected so members must amend their own standing order either through online banking or by going into their bank).

Thank you very much in anticipation of your cooperation.

Are you interested in coaching at Lasswade AC?

If yes, then we have the ideal opportunity for you. Coaching at Lasswade AC  can be used for volunteering hours for those doing the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Enhancing at Personal Statement for further education or C.V. Make new friends. Have some fun…..

Scottishathletics have released the dates for the Assistant Coach Course’s for Autumn 2023. This is ideal first step on the pathway for those aged over sixteen, which would include parent helpers and/or athletes looking to give something back.

Don’t think you have time to commit? No worries. We can work out a rota around your existing commitments/training. So whatever time you can give we will gladly work something to suit.

No athletics experience? Don’t worry as this is the ideal starting point. If you aren’t sure just chat with any of our coaches.

How much does it cost? The club pays the costs

To see more of what involved in the course, dates and how to declare your interest please visit our Help at Training and Coaching page or contact Harry on cdo@lasswade-ac.org.uk on Leigh on Secretarylasswadeac@hotmail.com

Last weekend Laurence travelled to Bulgaria to represent Great Britain in the European Youth Orienteering Championships. He was selected as one of the 4 U16 boys in the 16 strong team after a good set of results earlier in the season.

The first day was the sprint distance which is a 12 – 15 minute fast paced event held in an urban and parkland environment.  Laurence held his head well in his first major international competition and finished in 20th place out of 98 starters, first Brit in his age class and one of the best British results of the competition.

The next day was the long distance event which was around an hour of running over a forested hillside. This was a tough physical and technical challenge unlike any areas at home, and despite losing time on some tricky legs, Laurence pushed hard to get a solid result.

These first two results earned Laurence a place in the relay team.  This consisted of three legs of about 30 mins in the forest. Unlike the individual events which are time trials where everyone runs the same course, the relay is a mass start, but with teams having slightly different courses at different parts of the race. This makes for a high pressure environment where it is easy to be distracted by other runners going in slightly different directions after a few common controls. The U16 boys acquitted themselves well finishing in 7th place, a tantalising 1 second away from 6th which earns an international diploma, and the best British result of the day. 

Overall the trip was a fantastic experience and Laurence is motivated to try to achieve selection again for next year’s championships.

This will be taking place on Sunday 23rd July at Kilmarnock.

This is open to all members from Under 11s to Masters athletes. After the first two matches, it’s pretty much neck and neck between Lasswade and Corstorphine at the top of the table so it would be really good to get another strong team out to secure promotion.

If you’re interested in competing, please declare your interest using this form as soon as possible

The timetable of events is here.

Congratulations to Sarah Tait on winning the u23 English Championships 3000m steeplechase today. Sarah had already achieved the standard for the European Championships & her win today has earned her automatic selection.

Saturday 18th June, Grangemouth

Saturday saw the 2^nd match of the Forth Valley League at Grangemouth Stadium.  The girls turned out in force and the boys team was hit by a number of withdrawals due to injury but it was still a great day of athletics. 

Lachlan, Joella, Darcy and Issy all competed for Lasswade on the track for the first time.  Joella, who having turned 9 just a few days before the competition was only just old enough to compete.  Well done to all of you – the first competition is always the hardest and hopefully we’ll see you on the track again soon.

PBs came from Ollie in the U13 javelin, Lara in the U11 600m, Mia in the u13 200m and Beth in the U15 1500m.  A lot of the team are still new to competition and competing in new events so not too many PBs to be expected this time around.

The competition ended with the 4x100m relays and Lasswade managed to assemble 4 out of 6 possible teams.  The U11 girls lead the way with a really amazing performance to romp home well ahead of the competition.  Surprisingly, the U11 boys all claimed to have never done a relay, even in training and so the main objective for them was to get the baton around safely and fortunately, that was mission accomplished!  The U13 girls also put in a great performance to finish comfortably in 2^nd place and the U15 girls finished a very respectable 3^rd against very strong teams from Livingston and Haddington. 

Provisional Results. If you spot any mistakes, please let us know!

Big thank you to the parents who helped with events on the day – Grant, Rich and Dave; Liz and Ross for assisting our U11 relay teams; Officials (Ruth, Linden, Susan and John).

The final FVL competition is back at Grangemouth on August 27^th but if you can’t wait until then for your next competition, then sign-up for the CSSAL League at Kilmarnock on 23^rd July. 

As National Volunteers’ Week draws to a close we hope you have enjoyed hearing from some of the fabulous volunteers at Lasswade AC.

Are you interested in joining them to take the club forward?

In particular we need Help at Training from athletes parents, families or friends……. Even if you can only help occasionally that would be great! Without this much needed help we will be unable to reduce our substantial waiting list.

For further info on what is involved, please see our coaching page

Is coaching is not for you? No worries, we still need your help with other areas in the club please our volunteering page. Many of these roles need no athletics knowledge

Please follow the links on these pages to declare your interest in volunteering. Or, email Harry at cdo@lasswade-ac.org.uk for a friendly chat.

Saturday 4th June

A number of Lasswade athletes took part in the opening fixture of the Border Games series at Earlston at the weekend. Lasswade’s star athlete was Gregor Knight who won the 200m and was joint first in Veteran’s 90m, with 3 of his 4 races taking place in the space of less than 20 minutes. Unfortunately, none of this was captured in the video highlights below so you’ll just have to take our word for it .

Petter and Ramsay also qualified for the final of the 200m and a great effort from Petter, the backmarker in the final saw him finish in 2nd place behind Gregor.

The final of the 90m featured three Lasswade athletes – Keith Kong, Charlie Carstairs and Graeme Armstrong. Keith, running off a start of 13.5m finished in 3rd place with Graeme off 18.5m in 5th and Charlie, back marker off 7.5m was 6th.

Full report from the Southern Reporter

Saturday 17th June, Grangemouth

We currently have just 17 athletes declaring interest to compete:

U11s: 7 girls, 1 boy
U13s: 4 girls, 0 boys
U15s: 4 girls, 1 boy

As you can see, we really need more boys out competing and also in the upper age groups.

The timetable and available events for this fixture can be found on the club website.

http://www.lasswade-ac.org.uk/…/track-field-comps…/

After a good turnout for the first fixture at Livingston, it would be great to repeat this.

Unfortunately, we’re not able to put on a minibus for Grangemouth but if you want to compete and transport is an issue please get in touch.

Friday 1st June

A glorious sunny weekend kicked off with the Glasgow Athletics Association Miler meet at Crownpoint on Friday evening. There were a number of Lasswade athletes participating and some great performances all round.

Early action included Ken retrieving Ruaridh’s club hoody from Jason who had picked it up at the last CSSL match in Linwood. Hopefully the hoody will be back with Ruaridh after its relay around the central belt.

As far as actual athletics there was a mix of 800m and 3k with u17 and u20 Scottish Championship being contested across the paced races. First in action was Sarah Tait who was in a busy mixed heat. Sarah ran well with some challenging tactical racing and finished as second senior woman with a time just 2 seconds off her PB and a seasons best.
Next up was Andrew McWilliam who was in a fast heat with another Lasswade athlete, Harry Henriksen, although Harry was running in Edinburgh Uni kit. Harry started very strongly and did well to hold on for 3rd while Andrew also had a fast start and was able to hold on for 6th place in his heat but ahead of the other u17 athletes to claim the U17 3k championship title. The open nature of the races meant that Andrew didn’t realise he had won a medal so was off on his cool down during the medal presentation so had to settle for a handshake and a gold medal at the end of the evening rather than getting to stand at the top of the podium. Surprisingly, this is not the first time this has happened…
In the 800m Alastair Scott was running at u20 in a competitive heat where almost everyone set a new PB, including Alastair dipping below 1:58 for the first time. Finishing the evening off was Greg Louden who had a solid run in a fast heat.

Well done to all the Lasswade athletes.

Scottish Schools Pentathlon

Saturday 3rd June

There were two Lasswade athletes competing in Scottish schools pentathlon at Grangemouth stadium, Beth and Emma both competing in their first multi event in u14 age group. Details are sketchy but both athletes put in some good performances across 75m hurdles, long jump, high jump, shot put and 800m. There may have been some sunburn but they both seemed to enjoy themselves despite this and will have learned a lot about the demands of multi events. Well done!

Thanks to Ken McWilliam for providing the reports.