There have been some recent events which lead me to feel that a reminder of the rules/procedures etc might be useful.

a) For under 15’s , 13, 11’s there is no problem, they can move straight away – though in general they can only compete for one team in one season

b) For all other athletes who move 1st claim club there is generally a suspension from team competition of 6 months, except for those who move more than 20 miles e.g moving house etc. It is possible to submit an application for hardship to the north of England 1st claims committee upon payment of a £5 fee. In general we find that non-serious non-senior competitors – under 17’s, veterans, etc are often exempted from some of the 6 months – e.g they are cleared to compete after three months.

It follows from this that serious senior athletes wanting to change clubs should make application in the autumn – august/September time.

c) The Junior and Northern league’s accept second-claim athletes where the original club does not have a team in the relevant league – the Junior league for under 20’s or the senior league. BUT the Junior league have restricted those to four per team. There appears to be no restriction for the senior men/women team. The athletes concerned continue to compete e.g cross country/road – for their original team in championships/all other events. E.g some Low Fell/Elswick athletes do track for us, but normally represent Low Fell. Similarly South Shields/Elswick etc members compete for their club and compete with our club in the National Junior Premier leagues

For the senior athletes concerned there is a registration with the north of England issue – hence the need to ensure all paperwork is in place and that Pam Wilde (who does our registrations) is aware of the situation.

d) HCC rules – many people are not aware of this new rule which allows our members to ALSO JOIN A BRITISH LEAGUE CLUB provided they pay £10 and register with the North of England BEFORE 31ST March EACH YEAR. This rule was applied in the UK Women’s league last year and I am told it will be applied to the B.A.L. this year – though each club is only allowed to field four HCC competitors in each match (they do not have to be the same four each match).

This year some of our fixtures clash with the BAL/UKWL fixtures, but I am hopeful that this will not apply next year.

Christopher Betts