Club History

SCVAC HISTORY AND STRUCTURE

Southern Counties Veterans Association, as the organisation was called at first, was formed in 1975, with Fred Cuthbert as the Area Organiser, and became SCVAC in 1984 under the chairmanship of Jim Day. Other leading pioneers in the development of the club were Jeanne Coker, Ken Crooke, Barbara Dunsford, Jack Fitzgerald, Ken Harland and Jack Heywood.

The club began organising competition and championships in track and field, road running, cross country and race walking. In 1986 the first club newsletter was published and transformed in 1990 into the first issue of The Southerner magazine.

1990 was an important year for the club in another way when the track and field league consisting of eleven clubs was formed through the efforts of Jim Hurley. There were three meetings during the season with the men’s league table topped by Blackheath Harriers and the women’s by Bromley Veterans. The league expanded in 1991 to 29 clubs with four matches in each of four geographical divisions, followed at the end of the season by a league final. By 1993 the current seven divisions were in place.

The club has continued to expand its membership and activities since then and now has around 800 members.

There are at present four life members, honoured for their long and dedicated service in running the club, Ken Crooke, Barbara and John Dunsford and Jack Fitzgerald.

The club is run by a committee of members elected at the AGM in December. Five committee meetings are held at roughly two month intervals.

Any athlete over 35 may join the club for a small annual subscription, £12 in 2010, enabling him or her to enter any SCVAC championship, automatically become a BMAF member and enter national and international championships, as well as receiving annually three issues of The Southerner and four of the BMAF Masters Athletics. 2009 saw the first use of colour photos in The Southerner.

The club is affiliated to BMAF and sends a delegate to the major biannual meetings of EAMA and BMAF to discuss national and international matters. There are ten other regional clubs , all affiliated to BMAF and they compete in a track and field inter area match. In 2009 SCVAC won the men’s match, was second in the women’s match and won the combined match.

Arthur Kimber October 2009