World Athletics Championships

The World Champs are now underway in Tracktown: Eugene, Oregon.  64 Australians were selected for the event in what will be our biggest ever team.  

You can catch all of the inspiring action on the beIN SPORT channel, via Kayo or Foxtel.  (NB - new customers can get a free 2-week trial of Kayo).  Those with a VPN may also be able to stream it via World Athletics on Facebook or YouTube by setting your country of origin to one that doesn't have an official broadcaster.

Harry Keats: Dual USA Champion

Our Aussie stars can only dream of the level of 'success in the U.S.' as achieved by our AW clubmate Harry Keats.  Harry contested the USATF National Youth Outdoor Championships and came home as a Dual American Champion!

All the way from the Southern Highlands to New York, New York; Harry won both the 11-12 Boys 400m (56.27s) and 800m titles (2'10.52s).  He would have been the red-hot favourite in the 1500m as well but, as it was only two hours ahead of the 400m final, he elected to sit that one out.

Harry is certainly a star on the rise and a danger to National Championships everywhere!

World U20s departure

Next from AW to taste international competition will be Delta Amidzovski at the World U20 Championships.  The Australian team for the Championships will be leaving for Miami this Friday.  They'll have a week-long camp there, before heading to Colombia for the main event.  Delta will be competing in the 100m Hurdles, with her heat set for 12:05am, 5th August (our time).  Bon voyage, Delta - and best of luck!

Commonwealth Games

Too much athletics is never enough!  What a month of track and field we have ahead of us, with only a couple of days break between the conclusion of the World Championships and the opening of the Commonwealth Games on July 28th.  The Birmingham athletics program will start the following Tuesday, with our team likely to find their way onto the podium often.

Winter Distance Running Pointscore

We're well past the halfway mark of Athletics Wollongong's winter distance running pointscore.  With the competition window closing at the end of August - and participants needing to contest at least six events to be eligible for awards - time is now running out!  There are just seven more opportunities to go...  Don't let the inspiration of the World Champs go to waste, head to your local parkrun this Saturday and start your charge up the leaderboard.

The new "furthest afield" parkrun has been claimed by Axel Comer, who went all the way to W.A.!  Others needn't go that far, of course: there are local parkruns held at Sandon Point, North Wollongong and Killalea.

The best performance during the last month in the seniors division was by David Comer with a 67.05% effort.  In the juniors the leading runner was, once again, Carlo Tallarida - improving to 76.78%.

For more details on the competition, see here.

All Schools Championships

Entries are now open for the NSW All Schools Championships.  They're scheduled to be held on September 24th-27th, with entries closing on September 9th.  A draft timetable is up on the ANSW website, along with plenty of other useful information. 

Members of ANSW-affiliated clubs (like Athletics Wollongong) can enter the Championships for a discount, saving $7.50/event.  Unregistered athletes who enter more than 2 events, can actually save money if they join Athletics Wollongong as a Trialing member first.  Steer any of your schoolfriends that we can help, our way!  The club won't receive any money but we're happy to be of assistance - and it means that they'll then be on our mailing list and will get our newsletter.  Win win!

LANSW State Primary Schools Carnival

The first All Schools Championships were run over 75 years ago.  Last year, after the disruption of COVID and having missed so much of their school athletics, ANSW chose to invite 12 year old primary students to their Championships.  ...and the following year Little A's adds this event to the calendar.  "Interesting" timing, but the winners are the athletes who now have more competitive opportunities.

The LANSW State Primary Schools Carnival will be held at Campbelltown Athletics Centre on August 13th and 14th.  Entries close Sunday August 7th, but prospective participants are warned that event caps will be in place and they're encouraged to enter as soon as possible.

Just like the regular All Schools, you needn't be a member of a Little A's Centre to be a part of the action, just attending school up to Year 6.  Competition will be held in U8s through to U14s.

Athletics Wollongong Season 2022/23

The most anticipated upcoming competition is Athletics Wollongong's Summer Season of weekly Wednesday meets.  The new committee is currently working on the calendar and - while it's not yet confirmed - it's likely that we will be commencing on Wednesday, 12th October (i.e. the first Wednesday of Term 4).

All those participating in the event will first need to register for the season for insurance purposes.  With Winter and international competition still well underway though, the club is yet to be informed of the opening date for 2022/23 registrations.  As last season's memberships elapse on September 30th, there'll be plenty of time to join up ahead of our club competition resuming.

We similarly don't know the new season's registration prices at this stage.  The price consists of the base rate for an ANSW registration (which covers insurance and whatnot) with an AW club fee on top (which covers the running costs of our club).  Last year we dropped the club fee by $10 on account of our season being shortened, so it's likely that membership fees will at least increase by this small amount.

With Little A's registrations opening far earlier, our Dual members will again have to join us separately (as opposed to a couple of seasons ago where they just indicated their senior club of choice during their Little A's sign-up).

We're looking forward to an awesome season once again.  We hope that you're a part of it!

Pacific Mini Games Recap

Athletics Wollongong's Thomas Noakes went all the way to Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, to contest the Pacific Mini Games.  It's a multi-sport event with Australian representatives contesting the weightlifting and athletics.  Though it was an open competition, the team consisted of U20 athletes who are looking to develop towards open representation.

Thomas was in the javelin, throwing the 800gm spear for the first time.  His best distance was 51.51m and saw him finish in 8th place.  Well done, Thomas!

World Masters Recap

Adriana Van Bockel was AW's sole competing representative at the World Masters Outdoor Athletics Championships, recently held in Finland.  She contested each of the throws events, along with the Throws pentathlon.  Her campaign didn't get off to the best of starts, with her taking a tumble at the Helsinki airport terminal and requiring some stitches in her arm.  With the last two Championships cancelled due to COVID, it proved a very popular draw for athletes, making a podium finish a tough ask.  Ada was happy with her performances but moreso pleased to make and renew some friendships among the worldwide community of athletes. 

Also at the Championships was AW's Donna Hiscox in her position as a Council Member of Oceania Athletics.  We wish both of our clubmates a safe trip home!

Track News

It shouldn't surprise too many, but the infield is closed once again on account of the large amount of rain we had earlier this month.  Once the infield is entirely open, you'll likely see it reflected on the Wollongong Council Sportsgrounds webpage.  Otherwise, keep your eye on the Athletics Wollongong Facebook group; we'll update it as soon as we hear any news - including if it's first re-opened to the less destructive throwing events, as was the case last time.

The club also received a reminder from Beaton Park management that the use of sleds for resistance training is not allowed on the synthetic surface.  Sleds are only able to be utilised on the grassed area - when it's both open and safe to do so.  Those who wish to run on the track while resistance training will have to use alternate devices, like parachutes and resistance bands.

Those visiting the track of an evening may have noticed a lighting issue in the home straight.  Rats have eaten through some of the wiring and that has caused several of the lights to go out.  It's apparently quite a difficult fix so, until it's repaired, wear bright colours to aid visibility, else restrict your activities to the unaffected back straight.

Finally, the line marking saga is ongoing.  Many of the sprint hurdles marks were found to be incorrect and the extent of the remedial work necessary has caused quite a deal of discussion and planning.  The repair was intended to occur during the school holidays but the wet weather has now extended the timeline.  Once we're told the new date, we'll pass the news on ASAP.  With carnival season about to resume, it likely won't be for some time yet.  When it does occur, the track is expected to be inaccessible to users for only the one day.

Live Fit Nutrition

The club likes to support business that support our athletes so, if you are seeking a meal prep company, you might like to look up Wollongong-based Live Fit Nutrition.  They deliver healthy and nutritious meals from Jervis Bay to Sydney, with pick-up also available in Wollongong. 

AW's Tierney Dunne is a sponsored athlete of theirs, while Tayissa Buchanan is a brand ambassador.  If you would like to give Live Fit Nutrition a try, you can use one of the girls' discount codes for 10% off - either TIERNEY10 or TAY10, respectively.

rebel Sport

You can help the club whenever you make a purchase at rebel Sport.  Just drop our name at the checkout and the club could receive 2% of your purchase price to buy prizes or equipment for our members.  Note that we don't receive a record of what those purchases are, nor who has done the purchasing: no shaming of shopaholics! 

Note also that we need to have $2000 of purchases associated with the club within a year before we see any funds.  That's not encouragement to spend up big though: just an explanation of the store's policy.

Coming Dates

• 15th July - 24th July - World Athletics Championships, Oregon
• 24th July - IBS Winter Track Series 3, Beaton Park
• 28th July - 8th August - Commonwealth Games, Birmingham
• 1st - 6th August - World U20 Championships, Colombia
• 7th August - NSW XC Short Course XC, Bathurst
• 13th - 14th August - LANSW State Primary Schools Carnival, Campbelltown
• 20th - 21st August - National (and NSW) Masters Indoor Throwing Championships, Somersby
• 21st August - NSW Long Walks Championships, Chipping Norton
• 27th August - Australian XC Championships, Adelaide
• 4th September - Sydney Half
• 24th - 27th September - NSW All Schools Championships, SOPAC
• 5th - 7th November - Pan Pacific Masters Games - Athletics, Gold Coast
• 1st- 3rd October - Masters Winter Throws Championships, Brisbane
• 9th - 11th December - Australian All Schools Championships, Adelaide
• 10th December - Splash Wollongong, Belmore Basin

Contact Details

Email davidrosswollongong@hotmail.com with athletics news to include in our regular Illawarra Mercury column.  Send other enquiries to athleticswollongong@gmail.com.  

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