North Somerset Athletic Club have been shortlisted for the South West Award for their efforts during lockdown.
The club have over 400 junior athletes and coaches worked hard to give them and their families support during the early part of the coronavirus pandemic.
Challenges were set to encourage good physical and mental health, while sticking to government guidelines, and head coach Chris Millard is delighted to see them recognised.
He said: “It was important to us that we gave whatever support we could. Our expertise is in this area, so we felt that we should offer this.
“While the track and field season was effectively cancelled, there was a bigger picture than athletics, which I hope we understood.”
Plans and videos of activities that could be replicated at home, as well as session plans and weekly challenges were offered for younger athletes, who were also encouraged to create their own plans.
Endurance athletes received weekly plans, encouraging them to execute quality sessions with all safety guidelines in place, and older athletes had personalised plans focusing on speed and fitness, with consideration given to space and equipment, age and goals.
All were encouraged to send photos and videos to share with fellow members, with many then used in a four-minute video set to the song ‘Times Like These’ which proved an emotional watch (see nsac.org.uk/corona-fitness/).
The club also attempted to run virtually from their headquarters in Clevedon to Tokyo during the month of June, which attracted over 100 athletes and families and saw a total of 6,004 miles recorded on various apps.
A daily update was given on the club’s facebook page, showing all the cities and countries they were running through, from France and Germany early on to China and Korea later in the month.
All of which led to the club being shortlisted for another award, having been named the South West Athletic Club of the Year in 2018.
North Somerset AC always welcome helpers and coaches and anyone who would like to help them in any way are asked to email contact@nsac.org.uk or see nsac.org.uk for more details.
Athletes aged eight and over are also welcome to contact the club regarding availability.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here