English Schools' Athletic Association
The English Schools Championships (formerly known as The All England School's Championships) is a national meeting for under 15, under 17 and under 19 athletes, which has been held since 1925. Athletes compete for the county in which their school is located. Athletes may only compete in one main event and in the relay for their county. From 2000 the upper limit of the senior age group was reduced to athletes under 19 as at 31 August in the year of competition, thus meaning athletes can only compete for two consecutive years in the senior age group. It is widely recognised that the English Schools meet attracts the most competitors of any meeting in Britain and has been dubbed the "Kids Olympics". The vast majority of current elite British athletes have all competed at the English Schools Championships, the meeting is seen as springboard for aspiring athletes.
To gain the right to compete a qualifying standard must be achieved, examples of standards include 6.80m in the under 19 boys long jump and 4:43.00 for the senior girls 1500m. As with all selection criteria, some events (i.e. the sprints and jumps) are more difficult to qualify for due to the large numbers of entrants.
The ESAA also holds a cross country championship, and a combined events joint with race walking championships in addition to the national track and field event. 1st and 2nd place from the under 17s events will go through to compete in the SIAB international home countries championships.
Some well known athletes who hold championship best performances include Olympic gold medalists Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill also Mark Lewis-Francis (under 15 & under 17 100m), Jamie Quarry (under 15 boys triple jump), Carl Myerscough (under 17 and under 19 shot putt) and Dean Macey (under 19 decathlon).
Funding issues have put the future of the English Schools Championships at risk. The 2015 (85th) and 2016 (86th) championships will be held at Gateshead international stadium.
Each year, a selection of merchandise is produced by Start Fitness for the English Schools Athletic Association, who sponsor all the ESAA races around the United Kingdom.
History of The ESAA Championship venues From 1925 to 2016
- 1925 Crystal Palace 1st
- 1926 Stamford Bridge 2nd
- 1927 Stamford Bridge 3rd
- 1928 Stamford Bridge 4th
- 1929 Stamford Bridge 5th
- 1930 Stamford Bridge 6th
- 1931 Reading 7th
- 1932 Guildford 8th
- 1933 Southend-on-Sea 9th
- 1934 Blackpool 10th
- 1935 Kettering, London 11th
- 1936 Margate 12th
- 1937 Brighton 13th
- 1938 Derby 14th
- 1939 Loughborough 15th
- 1940 Cancelled due to World War II
- 1941 Cancelled due to World War II
- 1942 Cancelled due to World War II
- 1943 Cancelled due to World War II
- 1944 Cancelled due to World War II
- 1945 Cancelled due to World War II
- 1946 Eton 16th
- 1947 Hull 17th
- 1948 Bath 18th
- 1949 Carshalton, london 19th
- 1950 Port Sunlight 20th
- 1951 Southampton 21st
- 1952 Bradford 22nd
- 1953 Uxbridge 23rd
- 1954 Ashington 24th
- 1955 Manchester 25th
- 1956 Plymouth 26th
- 1957 Southampton 27th
- 1958 Houghton-le-Spring 28th
- 1959 Northwich 29th
- 1960 Shrewsbury 30th
- 1961 Chesterfield 31st
- 1962 Hull 32nd
- 1963 Chelmsford 33rd
- 1964 Hendon 34th
- 1965 Watford 35th
- 1966 Blackburn 36th
- 1967 Peterborough 37th
- 1968 Portsmouth 38th
- 1969 Motspur 39th
- 1970 Solihull 40th
- 1971 Crystal Palace 41st
- 1972 Usworth, Washington 42nd
- 1973 Bebington 43rd
- 1974 Shrewsbury 44th
- 1975 Durham 45th
- 1976 Cannock 46th
- 1977 Hendon 47th
- 1978 Chesterfield 48th
- 1979 Nottingham 49th
- 1980 Knowsley 50th
- 1981 Yeovil 51st
- 1982 Birmingham 52nd
- 1983 Plymouth 53rd
- 1984 Thurrock 54th
- 1985 Hull 55th
- 1986 Portsmouth 56th
- 1987 Birmingham 57th
- 1988 Yeovil 58th
- 1989 Wigan 59th
- 1990 Derby 60th
- 1991 Stoke 61st
- 1992 Hull 62nd
- 1993 Blackpool 63rd
- 1994 Telford 64th
- 1995 Nottingham 65th
- 1996 Sheffield 66th
- 1997 Sheffield 67th
- 1998 Exeter 68th
- 1999 Bury St. Edmunds 69th
- 2000 Sheffield 70th
- 2001 Exeter 71st
- 2002 Nottingham 72nd
- 2003 Sheffield 73rd
- 2004 Gateshead 74th
- 2005 Birmingham 75th
- 2006 Gateshead 76th
- 2007 Birmingham 77th
- 2008 Gateshead 78th
- 2009 Sheffield 79th
- 2010 Birmingham 80th
- 2011 Gateshead 81st
- 2012 Gateshead 82nd
- 2013 Gateshead 83rd
- 2014 Birmingham 84th
- 2015 (Gateshead)
- 2016 (Gateshead)
- 2017 -