Athletics Wollongong 'hosts' a parkrun

As a 'thank you' for providing the arena for our Winter Distance Pointscore Competition (see below), AW will be providing the volunteers for the parkrun event on August 5th at North Wollongong.  It's a great opportunity to throw on some AW clobber and let participants know it'll only be a few weeks later that our 2023/24 Season will kick off.

If you'd like to help out, more information on the roles available are located here: https://www.parkrun.com.au/northwollongong/futureroster/.  Express your interest to athleticswollongong@gmail.com.

Winter Distance Pointscore Competition

Athletics Wollongong's Winter Distance Pointscore continues, with the competition window going until the end of August.  If you haven't participated yet, this Saturday is your last chance to squeeze in six performances and qualify for awards.

To participate, members can contest any parkrun event, held at various locations from 8am on Saturday mornings.  There are local editions at Sandon Point, North Wollongong, Killalea and Bowral but, if you're traveling or on holiday, you can find plenty more listed at https://www.parkrun.com.au.  You'll also need to create a free profile on that site and associate yourself with Athletics Wollongong (else alert our Winter Season Co-ordinator of your performances within a day or two of them happening; send an email to athleticswollongong@gmail.com). 

Participants' top six age-graded performance percentages over this time will be averaged to determine the overall winners (and Most Improved if you also participated last year).  You can find more info regarding it all HERE.

This year we'll also be having a lucky draw, with each parkrun you participate in, earning you another chance at winning.  You can see who's putting their name in the barrel if you follow this link: https://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=18072. 

In the Seniors, the highest age-graded performance percentage has thus far been claimed by Em O’Sullivan.  Apart from taking time out to compete for Australia in the World Mountain Running Championships in Austria, she has completed two parkruns at over 80%.  Next best after Em have been Peter Kidd, Scott Bazley, Anthony Howlett and Ros Perry who have each put in several runs at over 70%.  The club member who has completed the most parkruns since the start of May is Des Comer with eight runs, all at Sandon Point.

In the Juniors, the highest percentage result is fom Joe Hinds with an 82% effort.  Axel Comer, Seattle Bazley, Robert Shannon and Kaja Wolter have all recorded results in the high 70% range.  The juniors who have completed the most parkruns are Seattle Bazley and EJ McHenry, who have both completed seven.

NSW Road Relays

The next major event on ANSW's Winter Calendar are the NSW Road Relay Championships.  These are to be held around The Crest Sporting Complex at Bass Hill.  Just as AW has done earlier this season for both the Track and Field Relays, and the Cross Country Relays, the club will be paying team entry fees for the Road edition. 

While online entries are yet to open, we're keen to hear from any members who would like to participate.  As always, we note that the best way to get a team up and running is to canvas and promote interest among your training partners and clubmates.  If people don't submit their interest to the club, we presume that they are unavailable - not that they're waiting to be asked.

Limited information is currently available on the ANSW website.  Keep an eye on when it gets updated and - if the conditions suit - submit your interest by sending an email to athleticswollongong@gmail.com. 

Youth Commonwealth Games

As mentioned in the previous newsletter, Athletics Wollongong's Chelsy Wayne and Delta Amidzovski will be part of the Australian team heading to the Youth Commonwealth Games in Trinidad & Tobago.  They are scheduled to compete at the following times:

• 8th August - 6:35am (our time) - Delta Amidzovski - Women's Long Jump Final
• 9th August - 6:00am - Chelsy Wayne - Women's Discus Final
• 9th August - 7:50am - Delta Amidzovski - Women's 100m Hurdles Semi
• 10th August - 9:20am - Delta Amidzovski - Women's 100m Hurdles Final

No details on a livestream as yet but, in any case, you'll be able to closely follow results - and leave your clubmates your best wishes - in the Athletics Wollongong Facebook group.

Para World Athletics Championships

The Australian team posted some wonderful results at the Para World Athletics Championships in France.  Though AW doesn't have any current representatives among the squad, former member James Turner remains a club favourite.  It was with great pleasure that we were able to cheer James on as he defended his World Champion titles in both the T36 100m and 400m.  

James is a past winner of two of the club's perpetual trophies: Most Outstanding Track Athlete and the President's Award, with his ongoing achievements making them an even greater honour for us to bestow in the future.  We have also since added a Most Outstanding Para Athlete trophy to the major awards, further encouraging members to follow in his footsteps.

NSW Cross Country Championships Results

Our Para athletes excelled at the NSW Cross Country Championships, held at the tough Tapitallee course in mid-June.  Xavier Wilson was the winner of the U15 Para category, while Rosie Boyland - better known for her throwing prowess - won a bronze in the Open Para division.

It was no surprise to see Emma O'Sullivan atop the dais in the 45-49 age group, while her coach Geoff Stalker, saw another of his charges to a silver, with Kaja Wolter finishing second in the U15s.

Full results from AW members are available HERE.

NSW Short Course Results

The NSW Short Course Cross Country Championships were conveniently held at the West Dapto course. 

Both Emma O'Sullivan and Xavier Wilson backed up their Long Course wins with their respective Short Course titles.  Also taking home gold were Patrick Mitchell in the Open Para Men and Ros Perry in the 70-74 Women. 

Rosie Boyland has now bagged a brace of bronze, adding to her 3rd place medal in Nowra, with another 3rd in Dapto.  Matching her effort at these Championships, was Darcy Carless, who came 3rd in the hotly contested U18 Men's race.

Full results of AW members are available HERE.

ANSW Summer Calendar

ANSW has released a draft of the first half of the coming track and field season.  In addition to the schools championships (All Schools - Senior and Junior - along with the Primary Schools Challenge and Australian Champs), the pre-Christmas calendar will mostly be filled with a six-round Treloar Shield series, culminating in a Grand Final for qualifying clubs.  The remaining weekends will be filled with the State Relay Championships (early November) and the various distance championships (5k, 10k and walks; to be held with supporting events). 

Though it already seems pretty packed, missing from the calendar are the new Country regional events (for U8-U12s) and the Specialist Meets for everybody else.  Those dates are expected to be filled in by late August, with the post-Christmas calendar to be released sometime in September.

And that's to say nothing of Athletics Wollongong's own Summer Series of weekly Wednesday meets, which will be commencing on October 11th - be there!

The current ANSW calendar can be viewed HERE.

2023/24 Registration Categories

Those following announcements made by both ANSW and LANSW this off-season would have noted some substantial changes to the registration categories on offer to our junior athletes next season.  The Dual membership is no more!  This category had a variety of implementations over the last 10 years or so, but was always intended to be a means to ease the transition from Little Athletics to "senior" athletics.  Following a failed vote to merge at the National level last season, ANSW have since taken a different tack. 

While there is a whole lot more to it, for those members just interested in what this means when it comes time to register, there's not much difference at all.  To sign up with Athletics Wollongong, you'll go to the club website to register and - instead of selecting Dual - you'll either pick a Youth Membership (8-12) or Junior Membership (13-19).

That's, of course, if you intend to compete at ANSW events (which include some new ones targeted at the Youth category).  Anyone who only wants to participate at AW's Wednesday meets though, will still be able to select a cheaper 'Community' Membership (which you can upgrade later, if need be).

We will continue offering the U10 age group as the youngest available on our club nights.  ANSW do have a new Kids Membership this season for 3 to 7 years olds, but this will not be an accessible option via the club website.   We have had members as young as 6 - but around that age is when we want to have a conversation, ahead of anyone joining up, so that parents are aware of how we operate, what is required of them, etc.  Note that anyone who is currently a member will be able to continue their membership next season, with the lower age bound for Community Membership remaining unchanged.

The date of registrations opening for Season 2023/24 is yet to be announced.  Winter events are still going until mid-September, so it likely won't be until at least after the closing date for those (which is also why 22/23 registrations remain available on the club website).

Active Kids Vouchers

There have also been some changes to the Active Kids vouchers this season.  Eligibility (school-enrolled children) and the procedure to use them (applying for a voucher on the Service NSW website and then entering the code during your online Athletics Wollongong registration) remains in place.  Where it now differs is the amount ($50, down from $100) and how long the vouchers can last: there are still two available per year, but the first expired on June 30th, rather than it being able to be applied for the remainder of the year.

Officials Courses

Coming Dates

• 4th - 11th August, Youth Commonwealth Games Track & Field - Trinidad & Tobago

• 6th August - NSW Road Relay Championships, Bass Hill

• 13th August - Australian Half Marathon Championships, Alexandra Headlands

• 20th August - NSW Long Walks Championships, Chipping Norton

• 26th August - Australian Cross Country Championships, Stromlo Forest, ACT

• 26th August - last parkrun eligible for AW's Winter Distance Pointscore Competition!

• 3rd September - Sydney Half (inc NSW Half Marathon Championships), SOPAC

• 17th September - NSW & Australian Marathon Championships, Sydney

• 23rd-25th September - NSW All Schools (Senior) Championships, SOPAC

• 23rd-25th September - Primary Schools Challenge, SOPAC

• 6th-8th October - NSW All Schools (Junior) Championships, SOPAC

• 11th October - Proposed start date of AW's Summer Series of Weekly Wednesday Meets

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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