SCHOOLS ATHLETICS

The English Schools Athletics Association (ESAA) operate a series of championships starting at a local level and resulting in national (and international) level competition.

Age groups for Schools competitions are as follows:

SCHOOL YEAR
ENGLAND ATHLETICS AGE CATEGORY
SCHOOLS AGE CATEGORY
Yr 7 U13 Minor
Yr 8 & 9 U15 Junior
Yr 10 & 11 U17 Inter
Yr 12, 13 U19 Senior

5 LEVELS

STAGE 1: District Trials

(May)

The first thing you’ll need to do to compete is to nag your secondary school PE teachers to enter you for your local district trials (for example Bristol or South Gloucestershire). You should get a letter home from school confirming dates and locations for this.

STAGE 2: County Schools Track & Field Championships

(Usually second Saturday in June)
  • From the trials, districts will select Minors (year 7), Juniors (year 8 & 9) , Inters (year 10&11),  and Seniors (year 12 & 13) teams to compete at Avon/Gloucestershire/Somerset/Wiltshire Schools
  • County Schools championships for all these areas happen on the same weekend.

STAGE 3: South West Schools Track & Field Championships

(Usually the third Saturday in June)
  • County teams will be selected based upon performances at the county championships and across the season (so winning at the county champs won’t necessarily guarantee you a place in the SW Schools squad)
  • The Avon Schools’ Selection Policy requires Athletes to have achieved County Standard (CS) or above this season to be selected.
  • If there are spaces left, athletes that are within striking distance of CS will be considered.

STAGE 4 – English Schools Track & Field Championships

(Either the first of second Friday & Saturday in July)

IMPORTANT! if you feel that you have even a slight chance of being selected for the English Schools T&F Championships then you need to register your details at the English Schools AA Website.

  • The English Schools Track & Field championships takes place over two days in July
  • County teams are smaller than those selected to compete at Exeter, and will be selected based on performance across the season.
  • The Avon Schools Selection Policy requires Athletes to have achieved ES standard in their chosen event to be considered for selection. This is the minimum performance level normally required to be selected for a County Team for the National Championships. Note that this is NOT a ‘qualifying standard’ – reaching this standard does not imply any automatic right to be selected for a County team.
  • If there are spaces left, athletes very close to ES may be considered for selection
  • Note that teams will be selected directly after the South West Schools championship – so this will be the last opportunity to achieve ES standard.

STAGE 5 – SIAB Home Countries International (July)

  • England vs Ireland vs Scotland vs Wales
  • For Intermediate (U17) Age Category only.
  • Athletes are selected during the English Schools Championships (first and second placed athletes)