National Series Strategy

As National Series Coordinator for the club, I am delighted to present the National Series Strategy for 2014.

The primary measurement of the success of the National Series Strategy is to increase the number of members who complete the regulation 5 (or more) National Series races. We will also measure (i) our performance in the NS Club Championships (Men, Women and Mixed) and (ii) our number of podium positions at the Annual TI Awards. Note that TI Awards include Duathlon (April 4th) and Aquathon (July 17th) National Championships.

To deliver on this strategy, I (with assistance from Katie Fitzgerald and Frank Kehoe) have identified 7 out of the 20 National Series races that will be designated as ‘Club Races’. There are three Standard and four Sprint distances. We are also proposing that we have formal ‘Away Weekends’ around two of the seven Club Races.

The Club Races are:

31/05/14 Standard    TriAthy Standard, Athy
21/06/14 Sprint          Hook or by Crook, Dunmore East
12/07/14 Sprint          Two Provinces, Lanesboro
26/07/14 Sprint          King of the Hill, Kinsale
09/08/14 Standard    Caroline Kearney, Mullingar
16/08/14 Sprint          Tri the Hook, Fethard on Sea
13/09/14 Standard    Blacksod, Belmullet, Co. Mayo

Hook or by Crook will be the Club Championship – with a club night out in Dublin on the evening of Saturday, June 21st. Away weekends will be in Kinsale on July 26th and in Westport on September 13th. Tri the Hook is the newly introduced Leinster Championships.

The races have been selected to encourage the maximum participation of Piranha members. They are relatively close to Dublin and represent strong NS points opportunities. We have decided to exclude the previously mentioned ‘Lost Sheep’ given the small number of members who would be willing to do a Middle Distance and the long drive to Kenmare.

Note that none of the National Championships have been selected. This is because the high standard of participants in these races make them poor opportunities for NS points and the high demand for places in these races may result in some members not securing a place. Piranha members are of course welcome to enter the National Championships as part of their season, and the stronger athletes in the club are encouraged to do so to achieve Age-Group places.

For each Club Race, we will seek to do the following:

• Race Directors: for each race we will contact the Race Director and confirm with him / her that Piranha has selected their race as a “Club Race”. We will ask to be kept informed of Piranha registrants and also to receive advance warning if the race is approaching its maximum capacity.
• Registration: we will publish key registration dates for each race and monitor Piranha registrants. We will also seek to secure a small number of ‘reserved’ places for Piranha late-entrants.
• Transport: we will promote car-pooling through the Piranha site.
• Warm-up: we will organise a formal warm-up for Piranhas prior to the race and provide last minutes tips / pep-talk for peak performance.
• NS Points Tracker: we will report on the NS points performance for all Piranhas and celebrate successes as they are achieved.

For the Away Weekend we will pre-book accommodation and restaurants. We will seek formal commitments for Piranhas at an agreed time in advance of the away weekend.

Through this strategy the club can significantly increase the number of Piranhas completing the regulation 5 NS races, and consequently improve our performance in the NS Club Championships and in the TI Awards.

We look forward to your participation and welcome any thoughts / comments you have on the strategy itself.

Bernard Hanratty