Management of Junior Groups

The club has over 50 children in Juniors ranging from aged 8 to 11 years old (Primary School aged) and they are split into groups to allow the club to better manage across a range of abilities and capabilities. Each group rotate around various activities that will challenge them, with parent helpers on hand to maintain a low children to supervisor ratio and help adjust hurdle spacings, jump box heights, med ball weights etc for varying skill skill levels.

The space available for the Junior Groups at Deer Park School, both indoor & outdoor, also helps us reduce the capacity of children in one area, reducing the risk of accident and unacceptable behaviour, as supervision is easier.

The FOUR GROUPS are:

(…and yes we did name them after NFL teams)

DOLPHINS

The youngest and newest children

JAGUARS

Children with some experience

PANTHERS

Older children with experience

EAGLES

The most experienced and capable children who are monitored for a transition to teens.

Usually, Dolphins train the same space as Jaguars, and Panthers with Eagles (except for any 15 minute extension some Eagles may have if they are being monitored for a transition to Teens), but is dependent on weather and attendees. In some instances, each group may swap across spaces - for example, Dolphins and Jaguars may do 15 minutes running outside after warm-up and then moved back inside to the sportshall to swap with Panthers and Eagles.

Developing Juniors & Progressing through Groups & onwards to Teens?

Developing & Progressing Juniors

As a club we want to get the best out of our juniors and ensure they have fun while developing in Athletics, so we are moving towards a Performance Based Approach for progression through the groups, as well as taking age into account. It isn't just about who can jump the highest, but also about who is doing the activities in the right way with the right attitude, therefore showing progression in their skills and growing from experience, rather than just growing in age.

Head to the next tab to understand the factors being used for assessment.

Transitioning to Teens

When your child is in the Eagles Group, a key question we are looking to answer is 'when should we move your child up to teens?', as similar to the move from Primary to Secondary School, this can be a big transition. They change from being one of the oldest, strongest, fastest & most skilled to become the ‘babies’ of the group again. We therefore also take into account their physical, emotional and social capabilities before deciding to move them up and this will be part of the discussion with the parent on how they view their child's ability to cope with the transition. The club tend to make such moves to align with the school terms and the seasonal move from being predominantly indoor based to outdoors.

Progression is based on the following factors...

TRAINING ATTENDANCE - How frequently do they attend training?

TRAINING ATTITUDE & BEHAVIOUR - Do they engage appropriately with the activities, the other children and the supervising adults?

PERSONAL PERFORMANCE - Is their performance improving, for example, are they jumping higher or running faster compared to the last measurement?

Developing our Juniors to Progress

Membership of the groups are reviewed quarterly against the factors listed, but also against the capacity restraints of individual groups (and the two 'super-groups').

Whilst not always possible, we do recognise that there is also a desire from some children to be grouped with those they already know and we agree that this is an imoirtant aspect of participating in juniors, as it contributes significantly to the fun & enjoyment of those sessions, and subsequently may contribute to their continued attendance, so they accrue all the benefits that transpire from that.

Woody Allen once said, “80% of success in life is just showing up"

...and he is right! Attending training sessions allows the children to be stimulated physically, mentally and emotionally; enabling the magic to happen when they recover, i.e. becoming stronger / faster, working out how to replicate their best performances and also, how to deal with set-backs. Useful skills for both Athletics and life.

If you have any questions regarding the Junior Groups, please get in touch with Head Coach - Dorian Matts

HOW WE MANAGE JUNIOR GROUPS

JUNIOR
AWARD

JOIN
US

Juniors & Teens Home