Membership

Junior Membership

Junior Membership of Orkney Athletic and Running Club is open to anyone aged 9 up to 17 years inclusive.

The Club has a fantastic team of volunteer coaches who facilitate weekly training sessions for primary school aged and secondary school aged athletes. Details of training days/times can be found on the training page of this website. There are currently over 100 young athletes attending and, due to the demand for places, we cannot guarantee automatic entry for everyone (particularly those aged 9-11 years).

In order to address this issue, the Club operates a Waiting List Policy as follows:

• Primary age group generally accepts intakes twice a year – after Easter holidays (April) and after Summer holidays (August).
• Secondary age group generally accepts new starts during the period January to May and then from the start of the new school term in August through to December inclusive.
  (A waiting list operates from 1st June to late August – this can be a busy time of year for the club with competitions and away trips. The Board recognises that all of the Club volunteers including coaches require time to focus on preparations for these as well as potentially having a summer break themselves!)
• The Club Membership Co-ordinator, membership@orkneyarc.org.uk, will contact athletes/parents/guardians to offer a place once there is availability to join.
• All new intakes are subject to coaching capacity and are at the discretion of the coaches and club manager
• The minimum age at which an athlete can join the waiting list is 9.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Orkney Athletic and Running Club (OARC) is affiliated to Scottish Athletics and operates under its codes of conduct. It is important that parents/guardians and athletes review these fully so they are aware what they will be agreeing to when becoming a member of OARC. These can be viewed on the ‘Documents’ page. The ‘Children and Young People’ policy is for primary and secondary athletes; ‘Parents and Carers’ policy is for parents/guardians.

To request to join the Club please complete this online form or send an email to membership@orkneyarc.org.uk

For children under 9 years of age who are keen to try Athletics, the Pickaquoy Centre offer Run, Jump, Throw sessions as part of their Junior Programme. OARC strongly encourages younger athletes to join this programme in order to gain an early understanding of the fundamental athletic skills which will be further developed within the club structure. Please contact the Pickaquoy Centre directly for more information on these sessions, or see their website.

NOTE: OARC keeps in contact with Picky regarding Run, Jump, Throw (RJT) members but anyone wishing to join OARC after completing RJT should complete the online request to join form. There is not an automatic progression from RJT to OARC.