Message from Sam Hillier Smith re LAG YDL Yate 20/05/17

Yet again I want to say a massive thank you to all the athletes that competed and tried their best. Some came and competed whilst feeling ill, some tried events never done before and some stood in last minute! You were all fantastic and your behaviour was professional and sporting. Weather was not great and proved difficult for many events, you all coped really well!

Thank you to the athletes that came and were mini coaches to other athletes, even if they hadn’t been selected, it showed amazing team spirit, support and maturity… which will be remembered…

Thank you to the officials and coaches that helped and supported all athletes and helped the day to run smoothly.

It looks as though we may finish 3rd this time which is fantastic as we were only 2 points away from 2nd place! Overall we may still be holding onto 2nd… If we finish in 1st, 2nd or 3rd next round we go to the Regional final in Cardiff, the top 2 teams that finish there will go to National Final at Birmingham Alexander Stadium – so all hands on deck!

Athletes: Well done for all your efforts but can I remind you all that it doesn’t matter whether you wear 6, 66 or have a different number… all you can EVER do is achieve a personal best… you are all individual and it’s super important to me that you aim to better yourselves rather than feel you have to win points… Not every round will go as you want it too but that’s all part of the learning curve of athletics and competing – never give up!

Parents: Thank you for your continued support and flexibility in bringing your amazing athletes to the competitions! The next round is SUNDAY 18TH JUNE which is Fathers Day!! @ Cheltenham. Please can I have availability confirmed ASAP as the team gets revised every round depending on performance and availability.

Any questions as always please grab me at the track or email me. Well done everyone once again. Team selections will come out quicker this time to give you all chance of practising your events!

Sam Hillier-Smith
AKA a very proud team manager!