Development Officers Report to 2012 Meath Convention

The secondary schools Track & Field competition was held on 10th April in Claremont Stadium. 18 schools were involved this year, 2 more than last year. St Peters College Dunboyne once again took the boys’ school title however Scoil Mhuire took the girls’ title for the first time ever.
The secondary schools Cross Country competition was held on the 16th November. This was our second year to run this competition in November and once again it proved very successful. 16 schools did compete, an increase of 3 on last years figures. As always the grounds and conditions at Gormanston College were perfect.

The primary schools Cross Country competition has gotten underway. The wet weather conditions caused some cancellations before Christmas, however we hope to run the county final for this in March. Any schools still wishing to take part would be most welcome.
The implementation of the Little Athletics Programme in the primary schools has continued and is still proving to be very popular. The work done by Paul Tully, Moira Peppard and Maria Matthews is of immense importance not just to Meath athletics but athletics in general. This is the first impression a lot of the schools get of athletics so we are very lucky the Little Athletics Programme is given in such a knowledgeable and professional manner. Moira will give a detailed report shortly on their year so far.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the girls in the office, in particular Sharon and Oprah, who do a lot of work in the organisation of our two secondary school events. Thanks also to all the volunteers from the clubs who help out at both events, in particular Brendan, Paddy and Tony who have not missed either event in the last 3 yrs.

Looking back over the year we have had our ups and downs as a county. Cross country has improved and seems to be going from strength to strength. However, our track & field is a little more erratic. We have lots of potential in our younger athletes, now is the time to develop them as individuals and also as a county team. We have the facilities, the athletes and the funds so what’s stopping us?


Maggie Higgins & Bridget Clarke