ANDREW Doyle's persistent hard training and consistent competition performances this summer have earned him selection to compete for Ireland in a small but select group of five athletes to compete in the World Youth Track and Field Games in Bressanone, Italy from 8th to 12th of July.
Without question the fantastic hammer facilities at Meadowbank have contributed to Andrews' success. Meadowbank is the only international accredited hammer circle in Northern Ireland and to paraphrase a famous football manager, 'I wouldn't say it was
the best facility in Ireland but it is in the top one'. Credit must also go to his coach Anne Donnelly who has worked hard with Andrew over the winter months.
This selection should greatly help Anne, her fellow coaches Kate Doyle and Simon Holmes and inspire the developing group of fifty young hammer throwers who turn out each week at Meadowbank and we look forward to their progress over the coming years.
Andrew, who is only sixteen, broke the Ulster Schools record early in the year with 63m 17cms and then added the Irish title. He is also the Ulster and Irish Indoor Shot Champion and just this month won the Ulster Outdoor shot and Discus championships and this weekend in Tullamore competing in the under 23 championships won the silver medal with the 6kg hammer recording a personal best performance of 57m54cm using only one and a half turns.
His fellow club mate Ciaran Dolan has been selected for Ireland to compete in the Long Jump in the European Youth Olympics in Tampere, Finland from 23rd to 26th July. Ciaran's best jump is 6m96cm and he is the present UK Champion.
At the recent Ulster Junior Championships Adam McMullen won the triple and long jump double and at Magherafelt during the 3rd round of the Young Athletes League recorded 11.5secs for 100m and 23.5secs over 200m impressive performances for someone who seldom runs more than 50m.
The club have qualified for the Grand Final of the Northern Ireland Young Athletes League to be held at Antrim Forum on Saturday 25th July.
Entries are still being accepted for the Aviva StarTrack Summer camp being run by the club at Meadowbank from 10am to 1pm each day Monday 3rd to Friday 7th August. There will be three distinct age groups,mini minors age 5/6/7 years the junior group age 8/9/10 years and the senior group age 11 to 15 years.
We now have started a development group for 10/11/12 and 13 years and they meet at 8pm on a Tuesday and 7pm on a Thursday.
The club will remain open throughout the summer months. Everyone very welcome.
