Do you have a son or daughter, or someone you know aged 14-24 who would love the opportunity to volunteer? Newcastle Junior Athletic Club (NJAC) are delighted to announce that we will be offering the Millennium Volunteers Programme within our Club.

Millennium Volunteers is an initiative to promote and recognise volunteering among young people. The programme will:

• Enable you to develop your learning and skills
• Provide recognition for you
• Give you the opportunity to make new friends, gain confidence and make a difference.

Each volunteer will be issued with their own Record Book to help them record their own personal objectives, time spent volunteering and assessing what they have learnt.

Opportunities for volunteering are on Monday evenings at Shimna College during training from 7-8pm and also at McGrady Financial Services Cross Country Series.

The Millennium Volunteer Programme can run alongside other volunteering programmes such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Millennium Volunteers receive awards when they complete 50, 100 and 200 hours.

The Millennium Volunteer Programme coordinator for NJAC is Mrs Catherine McIntosh. If you are interested or require further details please contact Catherine at 07482186654 by Friday 10th March 2017.

The final race of the McGrady Financial Services Junior XC Series is this Sunday 26^th February in Tollymore Forest Park. Online registration is NOW CLOSED. There will be no on-the-day registrations. Club check-in will be open from 12 noon and will close at 12.45 SHARP so please arrive in plenty of time and dress accordingly for the weather!  First race starts at 1pm. Please inform the Ranger on arrival that you are there for the XC Series and you shouldn’t have to pay for parking.

This race is organised by Newcastle Junior AC and as such we need a lot of helpers. Response for help has so far been very disappointing. We need volunteers to:

• Help mark the course
• Assist with athlete check-in
• Marshall’s for both the Primary and Secondary School Races
• 2 people at start line
• 4 people at finish line
• Someone for warm-up
• Someone to show athletes the course to run (for younger athletes)
• Photographer
• Someone to write up the race report
  ….. to name but a few roles!

We need these volunteers for the race to go ahead so if you can help in any way please email juniors@newcastleac.org to let us know, and if you have a preference please indicate what you’d like to do!

Training resumes in Shimna College tomorrow night at 7pm – P7 and older athletes please dress for outdoor training.

We’re hoping for a great team turn out for Tollymore on Sunday so please show your support.

There will be no training this Monday 13th February due to mid-term break. Training will resume in Shimna at 7pm on Monday 20th February – post primary please dress for outdoor training. Parents please remember to park at the top and walk down to the school.

Reminder that the Rollercoaster Races take place this Saturday at Downpatrick Race Course. Organised by East Down AC registration opens at 10.30am and closes 30 mins before each race starts. More details on their website / Facebook page. Remember to wear your Newcastle AC vest!

Ronan McVeigh who came 2nd in the Minor Boys race at the Co. Down School’s Cross Country Championship.

Registration for the 5th and final race of the McGrady Financial Services Junior XC Series is NOW CLOSED. The races will take place in Tollymore Forest Park on Sunday 26th February at 1pm. Online registration will close on Wednesday 22nd February at 9pm – you need only register once for the Series. Race 5 in Tollymore is organised by Newcastle Junior AC so we need volunteers to help mark the course, help with sign-in registration on the day, timekeeping, report writing and marshalling. Please email juniors@newcastleac.org if you can help in any way.

Congratulations to both Ronan McVeigh who came 2nd in the Minor Boys race and to Eve Kenneally who came 6th in the Minor Girls race at the Co. Down School’s Cross Country Championship today! Both have qualified for the Ulster Schools XC Race.

Hope you all have a lovely mid-term break.

Please see below details of the “Rollercoaster Race” organised by East Down AC. We encourage as many young athletes as possible to attend bearing in mind that all full members with training places on a Monday night must compete in a minimum of 4 races between Apr 16 and Mar 17 to secure their place next year. (There’s only one McGrady XC Race left on 26th February!). You must run as a member of Newcastle AC for this race to count as one of your 4.

Every Saturday at 9.30am there is a 5K (3.1 miles) Park Run on in Kilbroney Park, Rostrevor. It is a timed run not a race. It is FREE to enter, but you must have a barcode. These are free too. Register at www.parkrun.org.uk Under 10’s must be accompanied by an adult. Please let us know if you do attend any of these events and how you get on!

Rollercoaster Race
Full Details available by CLICKING HERE

Register: Entries for all races will be taken on the day.
Race Date: Saturday 11 February 2016
Start Location: Downpatrick Racecourse (Horse racing) (View Google Map)
Start Time: 12noon Junior & 2.15pm Senior

• P3 Boys and Girls
• P4/5 Boys and Girls
• P6/P7 Boys and Girls
  (Special shields for the Best Boys and Girls P6/7 Primary School Teams (first 4 finishers to count) over a 1,000 metres distance.§ Under 13 Boys and Girls will compete over 1.5K
• Under 15 Boys and Girls will compete over 2K

Further information: Joe Quinn – joemarathon50@btinternet.com or 07933214894