Membership

The many benefits of membership include:

• Group training with like-minded people
• Club coaches available for help and guidance
• A weekly newsletter with results and reports from local races and other useful items
• A regular update on local forthcoming events, with huge file of information and entry forms, including running-related disciplines such as Orienteering and Triathlon - we’re indisputably the best-informed club!

• Running magazines, training aids, books and videos available on loan
• Cross-country league fixtures and championships - entry fees paid by the club
• Off-road relays, some 'invitation only'
• Social events
• Cheaper entry to open races through the club's affiliation to the sport’s governing bodies
• Discount on sports goods from most local sports shops, and on sports massage from Harmony
• Free use of the Havant Leisure Centre changing facilities and bar on Victory AC training nights
• Horizon Privilege Cards available at a discounted rate - for full membership at both Havant and Waterlooville Leisure Centres

The benefits of our Sunday Run
"Suzy thought this would be a good way to encourage New Club Members to join us on our Sunday morning runs, with an eat as much as you like breakfast in the café afterwards... Damian (pictured right) seems to think it is a good idea!"

AGM Minutes

England Athletics Membership

When renewing your membership, you will need to consider whether you also want to affiliate to English Athletics at an additional £5.00 per person.
There are no discounts for family members, though not everybody in the family will need to affiliate.

There are two good reasons for wanting to affiliate to a running organisation.... one is for insurance reasons and the other to allow ourselves to run in their races.
The club needs to insure itself for Public Liability purposes and the Committee has chosen the cheapest option and has affiliated with ACR (Association of Running Clubs). This works out at about £1.30 per member per year.

The alternative is for every member to affiliate to English Athletics at £5.00 per year.
The other issue is to allow ourselves to complete in the races we want to and at the cheapest entry fee possible.
To do this, some 1st claim members of the club will need to affiliate to English Athletics. These members will have to pay the current English Athletics membership fee, which at the moment is £5.00.
There is no point in affiliating to English Athletics at £5.00 a time if you don't need to.
Nor should those who don't need to affiliate to EA subsidise those who do need to affiliate.

So the question is, who needs to affiliate?
For most the decision will be straight forward.
Any second claim members should affiliate with their first claim club if necessary.
If you are a social (non-running) member of the club, or only turn up at training sessions, club handicap races or the Today's Runner Cross Country, then you do not need to affiliate.

If you run in the Hampshire Cross Country League or any championship events (road or cross country e.g. SEAA cross country at Parliament Hill), then you do need to affiliate in order to participate.

Indeed, we need your EA number in order to fill in the entry form. If you run semi-regularly at weekend races, then you will probably want to affiliate as well, as some of these events may insist on the entry form that you supply your English Athletic membership number, else you will need to pay a £2.00 surcharge. Three of these surcharges and you are out of pocket for the year.

It is also true that race organisers do not check the accuracy of entrants and it is probably true to say that some enter races making false claims. I wouldn't want to encourage anybody at VAC to do such a thing.

Not all events are run under the auspices of English Athletics. Some events are run under ARC and you would not need to belong to EA to run in these events. Some of these were in Hampshire in 2009. For most members, the decision probably straight forward. If uncertain, I would talk to the Committee.