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JIM MOTE 3 August 1923 – 20 June 2007

James Harold Mote – known to most as simply Jim Mote died on the 20th June 2007.

Born in a less than salubrious section of Tottenham in North London, the last of 10 children, Jim Mote moved south of the Thames lost his Tottenham accent and ultimately joined Belgrave Harriers when the club amalgamated with Surrey AC in 1982.

Although fairly light on his feet he was never an active athlete but excelled at both cricket (as an outstanding teenager he was presented with a special edition Jack Hobbs cricket bat) and football. Unfortunately the war dashed any opportunity of turning professional or playing at County level. Whilst serving in Italy he was injured playing for the regimental football team which resulted in a serious back injury and a medal for 'being wounded in action'.
The injury stopped his playing at a professional level but he did continue to play cricket into the 50s and was a qualified football referee until the mid 1960s.

The arrival of his first son, David in 1960 marked the end of his club cricket career although he was still playing for his office team into his sixties. A dodgy knee stopped him running between wickets so he made do hitting fours and sixes until he was asked to leave the field.

His introduction to athletics came when David joined Surrey AC in 1975 and he was soon drawn into running the young athletics team – something he continued after joining Belgrave Harriers.

His support of the Surrey AC Southern League team included acting as chauffer for the club's successful sprint group, acting as a timekeeper and eventually he became a club Vice President.

In 1982 Jim was part of the movement within the men's section of the club which encouraged the amalgamation of Surrey AC with Belgrave Harriers, which resulted in the infamous but extremely successful combined team that dominated the National League qualification match that year and marked the beginning of Belgrave's last two decades of track and field success.

On joining Belgrave his Surrey AC Vice President status was converted into a Life Membership and he continued to run the Young Athletes section until the late eighties.

Sadly, following the death of his youngest son, Peter in 1994 he was plagued by a series of minor strokes that culminated in the final stroke that drew his story to an end in Kingston Hospital on the 20th June 2007.

We are sure many not so young ex-Surrey AC and Belgrave Harriers athletes will remember him and the essential roles he played in both clubs.

DM