Regional Championships & National Series 2014

I am pleased to announce that on the
weekend of the 2/3Aug (Ulster and Connaught) and the weekend of the 16th
August (Munster and Leinster) we will have the Inaugural Regional
Championships. These should be really
exciting developments in competition providing opportunities for athletes to
become Regional Champion overall or in their Age Group. Regional Championships
are of course thriving events in many other sports promoting competition at a
regional level.

Whilst the regional races can be open to
all, only those whose club is in that region or whose registered address on the
TI membership database will be eligible for National Series Ranking points.

This will give an event hierarchy of:

1. National Championships,
2. Regional Championships and
3. National Series events.

The full National Series events calendar
for 2014 will therefore be:

These Regional Series events were always
planned for 2014 but for a number of reasons couldn’t be announced at the time the
calendar was initially published, which, in hindsight, we certainly could have
communicated better.

Following the initial announcement of the
TI race calendar and the subsequent feedback we received, we have also had a
comprehensive review of the Series calendar at both Board and operational
level. Whilst it was always our plan to introduce Regional Championships, by
including these in the National Series too we hope that it will help provide an
extra event for those wanting more events and will also give a good start to
the regional championships themselves.

With over 40 applications it is impossible
to offer slots to all clubs who apply for National Series and some of the very
hard working clubs who put on great events have unfortunately missed out this
year. This is absolutely no reflection on the Club, the
event or the Region but is a consequence of the success of the National Series.

However, I think the whole process has
highlighted a need for a comprehensive review of the racing calendar and
selection mechanism to establish what is wanted. 

• What is the goal of the Series?
• How do we provide a series that
  meets the wishes of the top end age group/elite athletes and the everyday age
  group athlete?
• Is the National Championships
  the flagship or is it the Series?
• How can we make it more
  transparent?

To get answers to these questions and
others I need your help and feedback and I propose to commence this review at
the next round of regional meetings in February/March so if you want your voice heard please come
along. I then want to complete a review and make
some proposals on the way forward as soon as possible.

Ideally, I would then like to be able to invite
bids during this season for the new events structure not just for 2015 but for
2016 too so that we can have the major TI Series events in the diary for two
years in advance, with the plan that the major events calendar be announced
before the end of the season.

I want to be guided by your
feedback to make things better. So if you want your voice heard to help decide what
the calendar should look like in 2015 please come along to the Regional
meetings or drop me an email.

I firmly believe we have huge opportunities
to develop triathlon in Ireland; we have passionate dedicated members,
excellent hard working clubs and some of the best events in the world and I
want to work with you all to progress this.

Thanks and I wish you all the very best for
the festive season.

Chris Kitchen,

Chief Executive Officer, Triathlon Ireland