I’d like to thank the club’s dedicated coaching staff who managed to navigate the various restrictions imposed by Covid to ensure that there were training opportunities for our athletes across Track & Field, Road Running and Cross Country throughout 2021 and when the return to normal activity occurred the club has been able to expand its foundation level Athletics 365 programme for young athletes.
From a competition point of view, the club took part in the SAL, EAL and EYAL again and we were in a stronger position than many other clubs, and completed the season unbeaten in every track & field league match which also saw some fantastic individual performances across the age groups, with a number of county and club records broken. We competed in a number of Road Races which saw our athletes coming in the top 10 finishes with a number of first places being achieved including a 1-2-3 at the Wroxham 5k. Despite losing most of the 2020/21 cross country season to Covid, there was a welcome return to competition in the Autumn of 2021 with the relay championships, in which the club entered teams in all age groups from under-13 to seniors.
There was a strong showing from club athletes with a number of medallists at English Schools and the School Games, as well as notable international performances from Isabelle Mardle who represented England at the SIAB Combined Events International in Glasgow, winning the U16 pentathlon and Hetty Bartlett who represented GB at the Paralympics Games in Tokyo. She competed in the T38 Long jump.
After its original postponement due to lockdown the club staged the 35th edition of the City of Norwich Half Marathon in June 2021. The race was very well received by those taking part however due to the ongoing Covid pandemic the club was unable to stage the Trowse 10k and Lord Mayor’s 5k races.
In 2021 the club awarded a Life Membership by recognising the outstanding contribution to one of the club’s volunteers, Lorraine Brown who has, over several years been a coach to a number of athletes, and who has also produced and maintained the club rankings system that details athlete’s achievements.
I think my biggest concern during 2021 (and now) is the lack of volunteers we are seeing across both this club and the sport as a whole, there may be some that do not realise that everyone who coaches, officiates and those of us who manage the club do it without pay and in our own time, often around family or work commitments. There are so few that are doing so much and we need help, we have had to rely on other local clubs and friends who are not part of the club to be able to put on events such as the Half Marathon that generates the lion’s share of income that allows the club to do a lot of the things we do. Without officials for example, Track & Field competitions cannot take place or results won’t be recorded on the Power of 10 website, we’ll shortly be running another recruitment drive, please step forward and don’t think that someone else will do it.
I want to thank my fellow Trustees and Executive Committee members, they all do their best for the good of this club, they are often in the background but their commitment and dedication is second to none, I wouldn’t be able to do my job as Chair without their support so once again, I thank them. I feel incredibly lucky to be Chair of this club, I also feel very proud and I’m already looking forward to seeing CoNAC do amazingly well in 2022.
Finally, 2021 was the clubs 25th anniversary, City of Norwich AC was formed on 1 October 1996 by the amalgamation of Duke Street RC and Norfolk Olympiads AC, if you haven’t already please check out the anniversary page on our website – https://conac.org.uk/25-years-of-conac/ which you’ll find under the club info menu, let’s look forward to the next 25 years!
Tony Bradfield
Chair