Chairman reports on a very positive year

There was plenty of positive vibes from last Wednesday night"s Meath Athletics Association of Ireland (AAI) annual meeting at Claremont Stadium, Navan where out-going chairman Brendan Meade (Star of the Sea) was returned to serve another term unopposed. Na Fianna put forward a motion to change the date of the Meath senior cross-country and juvenile relay championships from December to November and it was agreed to deal with the matter at a competition committee meeting which will take place this month. 'The matter was discussed and it was agreed to leave the decision with the clubs and it will be on the agenda at the next competion committee meeting,' chairman Meade told the Meath Chronicle. 'I would not be in favour of a change, although I can understand the reason for the proposal. 'We have a date set for Sunday, 20th December for the Meath cross-country championships, that"s a week after the European cross-country championships which will take place in Dublin on Sunday, 13th December. 'We would have athletes aiming for selection for the Europeans and if we were to hold the Meath competition a couple of weeks before that, then it certainly wouldn"t encourage them to compete,' added the chairman. Amonst the Meath athletes who will be hoping to represent Ireland at those European championships next December are Sarah Treacy, Andrew Ledwith and Mark Hoey. 'Hopefully, all the clubs will attend the next competition committee meeting and that will provide the platform for a good discussion on the matter, if the clubs vote for a change of date, then that is what will happen, but if we made a decision at the annual meeting, we wouldn"t have been able to change it until the next AGM and I think it is better that the date is not set in stone,' stated Meade who also paid tribute to St Brigid"s clubman and former AAI president Michael Heery. 'Michael Heery completed six years as AAI president and I would like to thank him for all the progress that has been achieved on his watch,' stated Meade. 'He moved the organisation forward, he made it more professional and increased its profile and more importantly, mended a lot of fences along the way.' Meade also referred to the success which many Meath athletes achieved during 2008. Sara Treacy and Andrew Ledwith represented Ireland at the World cross-country championships in Edinburgh and the European cross-country championships in Brussels. The Meath ladies team took a bronze medal in the National Track & Field League in Division 1 while the men"s team easily retained their place in the Premier Division. The junior ladies took a sliver medal and the senior ladies won grade B and were among the outstanding stars in the national cross-country championships. Meath AAI now has over 2,000 members, the third highest in the country. 'This is due to a more active development programme with coaching for all levels of athletes within the county,' explained Meade.