Doncaster Athletic Club withdraw from British League + Spring Open preview

“We are focusing our efforts on getting promotion from the two Youth Development Leagues (YDL) and the Northern Men’s League this year,” said chairman Kev Lincoln.

“The British League was taking some of our talent from the Northern League team.

“We were also getting to the point where we were having to bring in quite a few people from other clubs who wanted that level of competition.

“Cost was another factor. We’ve had to spend a lot of money this year on the Keepmoat Stadium site and we’ve had to focus our finances on where they were most needed.”

The club, who staged the first South Yorkshire Road Race League 5k meeting at Brodsworth last night, are hosting their annual Spring Open Track & Field meeting on Saturday.

“It is proving very popular despite rival events in Sheffield. It gives athletes the chance to blow away some of the cobwebs ahead of the various league meetings and championships,” said Lincoln.

Last year’s meeting attracted a record 300-plus entries and Lincoln is confident of another good turnout this weekend.

“We’ve already got over 200 entries and we’ll also be taking entries on the day so I’m expecting the entry to be around the 300 mark again,” he said.

The event, which features an Open hammer competition, also includes various sprint, hurdles and middle-distance events across a number of age groups as well as other field events including long and high jump and shot and discus.

“The meeting will also serve as a trial for the various club teams ahead of the start of the track and field season,” said Lincoln.

Spectators are welcome and the action gets underway at 11am.

Lincoln said membership continued to grow and that the club have again attracted new members from other clubs in addition to athletes who had moved to the Doncaster area.

He added: “We’ve also got some new assistant coaches including a throws coach which we’ve been lacking of late and we are hoping with a bit of encouragement that he’ll look to move up a level when he gets more experience and confidence.”

“His main event is javelin but he’s also doing the discus as well.”