Harborough's young athletes enjoy a season to remember

Young athletes from the Market Harborough area enjoyed a special celebration after a season of hard work, determination and plenty of promise on the athletics track.

The youngsters, members of Harborough Athletics Club, first took part in a mini-Olympics-style event, giving their parents an opportunity to see how their children can compete in an organised sporting format. It was a lively and enjoyable session, with the young athletes encouraged and guided by the club’s junior coaches and volunteers.

The mini-Olympics, which comprised of track and field events, was followed by a celebration of the youngsters’ achievements, with parents and families joining them at the club’s home, which it shares with Market Harborough Rugby Union Football Club.

The athletes were presented with certificates of recognition and enjoyed refreshments, making it a particularly happy occasion for the young competitors and their families.

Much of the success of the junior section has been built on the dedication of people who give their time to encourage and support the youngsters.

Junior coaching co-ordinator Jill Roginski worked alongside long-serving junior specialist mentor John Thompson, Andrew Moffatt, and helping manager Shielah Berry, as well as volunteer officials and parents. They all played their part in making the occasion and the season such a positive experience.

The gathering came shortly after the young athletes had represented Harborough at the Heart of England Athletics League Division 3 meeting, where they competed with great enthusiasm and determination against six other clubs: Amber Valley, Bicester, Bromsgrove & Redditch, Daventry, Saffron AC and Sparkhill.

Harborough travelled with a squad of more than 20 young athletes, making it the second-largest team at the meeting behind hosts Amber Valley. They acquitted themselves extremely well throughout the competition, producing encouraging performances and showing the spirit, commitment and enjoyment that have characterised their season.

Jill Roginski was delighted with the youngsters’ efforts, describing it as “the best performance yet by Harborough juniors” and expressing her great appreciation for the excellent support from parents.

She said the achievement was particularly rewarding because it was not only about competition, but also about helping to impart valuable sporting knowledge and experience to the young athletes and giving them a positive foundation on which to build.

With the official league results still awaited, there is considerable hope within the Harborough camp that their efforts could be rewarded with promotion to Division 2.

Among the squad were several young athletes who have already received one or more of the club’s Athlete of the Month awards during the season.

One of them is Imogen Noone-Broughton, who has ambitions of following in the footsteps of England marathon legend and television athletics pundit Paula Radcliffe MBE.

Radcliffe has a special connection with Harborough Athletics Club, having previously attended the club’s Annual Athletics Night awards, where she presented awards and offered words of encouragement to the young athletes.

Other juniors recognised with Athlete of the Month awards during the season include Paddy Collier, Josh Goodman, Ben Styles, George Rimmer, Shay Wilde, Maksym Khodnyi and Lothe Sharp.

As the 2026 athletics season draws to a close and attention turns towards the forthcoming cross-country season, the young athletes can look back with genuine pride.