News
January 2021 Newsletter
Published Wed 06 Jan 2021
It's a time of year for fitness resolutions and the like so, if you've waited out the first half of the season - just to see how things played out - now is the time to sign up! Half of AW's Wednesday Meets are still to go and then there's all of the other competitions and Championship events run by ANSW to be a part of.
To register with Athletics Wollongong, visit our website and click on the Registration link (https://www.athleticswollongong.org.au/registration/).
If you're eligible, you'll be able to apply this year's first Active Kids voucher and get up to $100 off any membership costs: https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-active-kids-voucher.
Those registered in the U12-U17 age groups with a Little Athletics Centre can, of course, also take out a Dual Membership with us - for FREE! There are all sorts of qualification processes and participant caps going on for Little A's Championships; ANSW provides another pathway to those who may otherwise miss out.
We hope to see you back with us again soon.
Athletics NSW are putting on several school holiday clinics for those athletes aged 9-17.
Kerryn McCann Athletics Centre will play host to two clinics on Wed, 13th Jan. From 8:30am to 12pm, 9-11yo's will rotate through sprints, long jump and shot put coaching. 12-17yo athletes can be part of a specialist middle to long distance clinic, featuring coach Ian Hatfield and current Australian record holder Jessica Hull.
Full details on this and the other clinics are available via this link: https://www.nswathletics.org.au/coaching/school-holiday-clinics/
Athletics Wollongong is back for 2021! We have an exciting schedule of events for the remainder of our local competitive season and we want you to be a part of it. Participants will have the chance to further improve their Season Best Certificates, as well as make their bid for Age Pointscore Champion. Along with all the usual runs, jumps and throws, we have some special events - with prizes! - on the way, including the popular Turkey Run, the 200m Zoom, and the 60m Skins Champion of Champions.
Note that you'll need at least 50% attendance at our meets to qualify for a pointscore trophy, so don't let the short holiday break kick you out of the habit of coming along.
Age groups are calculated based on the year of competition so, with the calendar change, any younger athletes born in an odd-numbered year will have found themselves up an age group. A list of names will be up on the noticeboard to check if you're unsure where you should be.
Competition starts 5:30pm, 6th January. See you there!
Wollongong City Council recently announced that masks will be required at Beaton Park, in the entryways, change rooms and customer service areas by those who are over 12 years of age. On arrival at the Leisure Centre, be sure to wear a mask before making your way out to the track. You can read Council's full statement on it here: https://wollongong.nsw.gov.au/whats-on/news-and-alerts/news/news/january-2021/council-coronavirus-covid-19-update-sunday-3-january
Beaton Park have directed Athletics Wollongong to maintain a list of attendees at our meets, in addition to the check-in procedure undergone at the front counter. As redundant as this effort seems, it's just something we have to do. All athletes, volunteers, officials, spectators, etc. who are at the track on a Wednesday night, having involvement with our Athletics Wollongong competition: please use our QR code to check-in. The QR code will be located on the club noticeboard at the rear of the grandstand. Anyone who can use the QR code, please do so; the written record creates more work for us to transfer to an electronic one.
We are aware that some people have been told by front counter staff that there is no need to sign in again; we suspect that this is due to staff not being aware of procedures that don't directly concern them, rather than as a result of a Beaton Park policy change not being communicated to the club committee. We have asked their management for clarification - and had held back email distribution of this newsletter awaiting their response - but they are still yet to return our messages. We will update the COVID guidelines on the club website if anything changes.
As mentioned last newsletter, the grandstand is soon to undergo a large refurbishment. Work is set to being on February 1st and we will no longer have access to the area until the job is complete. All of the necessary equipment presently stored in the grandstand will have to be moved to temporary shipping storage containers, shortly to be placed in the area to the north.
Moving our equipment will be quite an undertaking and we'll need some help! We're endeavouring to do the move on January 23rd, from 9am.
Sweetening the deal, we'll provide lunch and any helpers will gain eligibility for financial assistance at Nationals. This may be a particularly appealing offer for our Open athletes, as the only other remaining eligibility opportunity clashes with the State Open Championships.
Speak to us on a Wednesday or send an email to athleticswollongong@gmail.com, regarding your interest.
Our remaining fundraiser this season is Splash Wollongong, a series of Aquathon events held on Saturday, 6th March around the Harbour and on to North Beach. Athletics Wollongong has provided athlete check-in and course marshalling for this event the last few years. Event organiser, Rob Battocchio, is a former club member and is so appreciative of our efforts here, that he makes a nice donation to AW.
Unfortunately, with a compressed event calendar due to COVID, we have quite a few clashes on this date this season. Open State Championships are scheduled for this weekend, as is the Little A's State Combined Events Carnival. Consequently, we'll be particularly calling on our social competitors to help provide the dozen or so helpers necessary.
Most roles are for just a couple of hours, encouraging and directing runners out on the course. We also have a couple of positions to fill at athlete check-in; these go for slightly longer but you'll be out of the weather and seated for the most part.
If you are free Saturday, 6th March: WE NEED YOU.
There's a bit of a theme to this month's newsletter, but we need a hand on some Wednesday nights. There's been some consolidation of age divisions (based on attendance and age group changes) so hopefully this can make some of our regular helpers available for other duties.
Club President Michael McClelland has long been our full-time timekeeper at our Wednesday meets. Unfortunately, he has got a new job and will no longer be able to attend every club competition. We have had difficulty enticing other people to learn how to use the electronic timing system in the past but, now that it's imperative that someone else does, we trust we will get some willing volunteers. If we don't, then potentially races aren't electronically timed (and sprint performances won't be eligible for records), else races aren't timed at all. Hopefully it doesn't come to that, of course.
We've produced a manual and Michael will be available for training the next couple of weeks. If you have reasonable vision and a rough idea of how to use a computer tablet: you're qualified! Please get in contact ASAP.
We'd prefer a non-participant in a full-time Chief Timekeeper role, but we're also open to sprinters timing distance races, and vice versa. We're happy to teach as many people about the system as possible.
Track Challenge & other NSW Championship Events
The ANSW Calendar of events are now kicking off in earnest. The first of these is the Illawarra Track Challenge. Incorporating the State 60m and Mile Championships, they are being held at Beaton park on January 16th. Note that there are two registration links for this event.
- For State Championship events: https://www.nswathletics.org.au/events/85323/ (for $20 per event).
- For the supporting program of events: https://www.nswathletics.org.au/events/84955/ ($15 for as many events as you like).
Entries for both of these close 10am on Wednesday, 13th January.
Registration is also open for the NSW Combined Championships, being held the weekend of 23rd & 24th January at Campbelltown. Athletics Wollongong had the highest representation of any club at this event last season and we hope for just as good a turnout this year.
Entries are rumoured to open very soon for other ANSW Championships, including Country and NSW Masters. You can check the status of ANSW events here: https://www.nswathletics.org.au/events/list/. Note that they may have to reinstitute lower participant number caps to align with current coronavirus restrictions; if you're keen, it may pay to enter early.
Australian Championships Entry Standards
Medallists at All Schools have already won their place on the NSW team for National Championships. Those who missed out can add their name to the list by attaining the Entry Standard at a Permit Event. Permits are awarded to events where the standard of equipment and numbers of accredited officials are guaranteed. You can check if an event has a Permit via the ANSW calendar. In the event info, under "Competition Status" it will say the event "has Athletics Australia Permit Status enabling athletes to qualify for National and International competitions and set state and national records".
The Entry Standards for the 2021 Australian Championships have been recently released and are listed here: https://cdn.revolutionise.com.au/cups/aa/files/tmcme3utvvqj2dug.pdf.
Bad news for our Masters clubmates: the 2021 Australian Masters Championships, originally set for early March, have been cancelled. You can read the full statement here (https://www.australianmastersathletics.org.au/2021/01/05/media-release-2021-canberra-nationals/) but it was broadly due to uncertainty regarding border restrictions.
What a tremendous performance by Athletics Wollongong members at the NSW All Schools Championships in December! A short blurb in a club newsletter doesn't do them full justice so readers are invited to see the dedicated News article (https://www.athleticswollongong.org.au/news/nsw-all-schools-results/), which includes a link to the full results.
Briefly speaking, 34 members contested the event with 18 medals - including 9 gold - making their way back to the South Coast. The undisputed star of the whole event was Delta Amidzovski, who took out four State titles and broke three Championship records. Tayissa Buchanan was our other multi-medallist, continuing the AW domination of the 14 Girls category with wins in another two events. Incredible job all round!
Athletics Wollongong Gift results
Closer to home was the running of the 2020 Athletics Wollongong Gift. This handicapped 100m race was taken out by Alistair Swinbourne ($100), with Seattle Bazley ($30) and Genevieve Tozer ($20) taking out the minor placings. Credit must also go to James Mcpaul who gave away over 30m headstart to our winner, finishing just 0.17s behind in 4th. Our top 8 finalists all finished with half a second, which is pretty incredible when their 100m Season Bests are up to 5 seconds apart!
Special thanks must go to our event sponsor Russell Rann, care of his company Trueflow Plumbing (http://trueflowplumbing.com.au/). Check them out if you require help with your Hot Water, Drainage, Gas Services, Roofing, General Maintenance, Routine Services, and Fixture Installations.
- 13th Jan – Athletics Wollongong Round 12, Beaton Park (inc. Turkey Run)
- 16th Jan – Illawarra Track Challenge, Beaton Park
- 20th Jan – Athletics Wollongong Round 13, Beaton Park
- 23rd-24th Jan – NSW Combined Events Championships, Campbelltown
- 24th Jan - Sutherland Summer Series, Sylvania Waters
- 27th Jan – Athletics Wollongong Round 14, Beaton Park
- 29th-31st Jan – NSW Country Championships, Mingara
- 3rd Feb - Athletics Wollongong Round 15, Beaton Park (inc. 200m Zoom)
- 6th Feb - NSW 5000m Championships, TBA
- 10th Feb - Athletics Wollongong Round 16, Beaton Park
- 12th-14th Feb, NSW Masters Championships, Campbelltown
Email davidrosswollongong@hotmail.com with athletics news to include in our regular Advertiser & Lake Times column. Send other enquiries to athleticswollongong@gmail.com.
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