hughfarey

History

Origins

The National Championships have reached their present state after many years of evolution. My earliest record is a copy of the results from 1976, which is headed “Fourth Annual Prep Schools’ Inter-Area Athletics Meeting,” so I suppose they ‘officially’ started in 1973, although meetings were held as early as 1969. They were originally held at Denstone, organised by Henry Parker, for Under 14 Boys only. Even then they encompassed all the recognised events, many of which were by no means as popular as they are today, although some schools still restrict throwing events to the cricket ball, or claim they can’t afford hurdles or a high jump landing area. Eight Areas were represented then, from meetings mostly organised by Public Schools. Under 12s were admitted in 1975. By 1978 the Championships had moved to the West London Stadium at Wormwood Scrubbs, and they remained in or near London (occasionally at the Military Stadium at Aldershot, and once in Crawley) for the next 12 years. Girls eked their way in from 1981 onwards. Henry Parker handed over the organisation to Caroline Neuff, and eventually a Committee was formed, of which John Walker was the first Chairman. In 1990 Ian Ritchie of Hurstpierpoint became the meeting organiser, and in 1991 the Championships moved to the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, where it has remained except for the two years when the track was being relaid. David Aldred of the Blue Coat School in Edgbaston took over the organisation in 1992. Although Birmingham is a long way from London, it is closer to Liverpool, York and Edinburgh, and as easy to reach from Cornwall and Bristol. It is also cheaper than an equivalent stadium in the South East, which is not the least of our considerations. When possible the Championships are held on the first Sunday in July, but occasionally we are shifted to the following Monday if organisations with more status than we want to book the stadium.

The Areas

The thirteen Area meetings have assembled themselves over the years, beginning with those organised by public schools for local prep schools (eg Denstone - 1962, Oundle, Hurstpierpoint) and later by prep schools themselves (eg Dragon - 1966) where there were too many of them or it was too far to travel to attend a public school meeting. The number of schools attending each varies from 5 to 35, but overall involve more than 3000 children from more than 400 schools. Participation at these meetings is by application and invitation, and while some are exclusively IAPS, others involve other prep schools, such as ISA members, and the junior departments of public schools. To try to maintain the prep school ethos of the national meeting it has been agreed that the National Championships shall only include IAPS schools, plus a rare selection of others by invitation - some who have traditionally been part of the Championships for years, and a few others who have no pupils older than 13. Only winners and second placed athletes at the Area events can qualify for the National Championships.

Piczo