National Athletics League 2025

NAL team photo at Harvey Hadden Stadium, Nottingham

League standings:

                                    League points                         Meeting points

York                                         13                                    1675.33

Sale                                         11                                    1575.33

Notts                                       10                                    1576.0

Trafford                                    6                                     1401.0

Liverpool                                  5                                     1361.33

Many thanks to all of you who competed in any or all of the 3 fixtures, this year the team has been a mixture of both the young and older club members, along with our higher claim athletes.

We only had a small team traveling up to York for the first fixture, but those of you who made the journey really pulled together filling in events so ensuring we got as many points as possible.  But in the end the gaps told (we had 12) so we came 4^th, not the start we wanted but a brilliant result all things being considered. A special thanks to Brooklyn, Jack and Rory for filling in events on the day, Zack for competing in all 4 throws, our lady hammer throwers who as usual filled in the other throws, Hazel for volunteering to run the 400m and 4x400m on top of her usual long jump, Fura for doing the 4x400m as well as her usual short sprints and Darnell who took part in his first NAL (hope that you enjoyed it).

The second fixture was at Liverpool. We had a slightly bigger team make the 2 hour journey north and we did better coming 3^rd.  This is was only possible by a great team effort with athletes again doing extra events.  Jo, (1500m steeplechase, 200m, 400m, 5000m), Annabelle (who on top of her usual  throws did a quick 200m), Scott (who did the max 5 events long jump, 110mh, 400m and both relays) Jack W (both hurdles, 200m and both relays), Shay Tarbit (not only did all 4 throws but also a quick leg of the 4 x 100m in between Javelin throws), Donelle (adding a 4 x 100m leg to her usual high jump), Emma L (triple and long jump, pole vault, discus and high jump) whilst not forgetting Colin who travelled up to officiate and filled in the 800m and 1500m plus not forgetting David Oxland who at the age of 74 made the trip to do the 800m for us.

The final fixture of the season was a home fixture where as you would expect we did very well with a convincing win.  It just goes to show what we can do when we field practically a full team. This is something that we need to work on for next season.  The team contained a real mix of ages as David Oxland yet again competed (or filled in for those younger) in the 800m, whilst Gabriel who was the youngest at 15yrs old closely followed by Isla at 16 both did fantastically well against senior athletes and I hope that you enjoyed the experience. Many thanks to Jack and Charlie who stepped into the 4x400m relay and 400m respectively at short notice due to an injury. Shay who yet again did a quick leg of the 4 x100m relay in between javelin throws, Scott who again did the max 5 events, Jo who did 1500m, 2km chase and 5km, and finally Archie for doing the discus and shot as well as his usual hammer. Many congratulations to Isabelle H who got her first NAL win in the triple jump.

This is the end of our campaign for this season and sadly we so narrowly did not qualify for the promotion match. We were 3^rd with only the top 2 going through so it is onwards and upwards looking towards next season. There is no reason why we cannot challenge for one of the 2 promotional match places and go for promotion into the premier division. We have proved that we can win matches but will need that added commitment from you, plus all your training partners to field a full team at every match.  In order to do this, I need everyone to fully commit to compete in all of the matches. I am happy to continue as team manager and dates will be sent out as soon as I get them to help in your 2026 season’s planning.

For those of you who are one of our higher claim athletes many thanks for choosing Notts AC and contributing to our success. I would really like you to continue next year, if this is something you would like to do then please let me know by the end of January next year to enable our membership secretary to submit the relevant paper work by the 1^st March deadline.

I cannot finish without thanking 2 groups of people who without which we could not do without. Our lovely officials not only do they get us valuable points but also provide a friendly face during your competition (s). Julian (for his fantastic job of co ordinating them), Dick, Colin, Helen, Paul, Mark P, Kwado, Tim, Anna, Fred and Jane. And also our coaches who without their hard work and dedication throughout the year we would not be able to do what we do on the track / field.  

Finally I would like to thank my partner in management Annabelle for her unwavering support and doing the unenviable job of up loading the team onto open track, not an easy task !! 

Fiona Palmer - Team Manager