News
May 2021 Newsletter
Published Thu 20 May 2021
The Kerryn McCann Athletic Centre grandstand has re-opened following remedial works. The good news: track users now have seating and shade. The bad news: we need to move our gear back under it! We have a limited time to clear out the shipping containers that have been our temporary home these past months and we are again calling for some assistance.
Moving back into our forever home, we're intending to take things a little slower and more deliberate than we did in shifting out. The plan is to get everything just right over the next two Saturdays, spending a couple of hours each weekend, starting from 10am.
We only need a half dozen helpers on each occasion so, if you're able to help out, let us know of your interest via emailing athleticswollongong@gmail.com so that we may coordinate and share the load.
AW's Winter Distance Running Pointscore competition is now underway, held as part of the parkrun series of events. We're looking to encourage participation by our Junior members and are putting up a prize to nudge them into giving the series a go: a 25-visit Beaton Park Track Concession Pass!
The winner will be determined by random draw. To be eligible: Athletics Wollongong Junior members must participate in at least 3 parkrun events over the next 6 Saturdays (i.e. by June 26th). Choose whichever ones you like! Walk, jog or run on just 3 occasions and you could save $81 on entry to Beaton Park next track season.
As a reminder, parkrun is free and held on courses throughout the world on Saturday mornings at 8:00am. The closest parkruns to our base are at North Wollongong, Sandon Point and Killalea. So that our Winter Season Co-ordinator Ron Perry is aware of your performances, you'll have to add "Athletics Wollongong" as one of your Groups. Either do so while signing up or, if you're an existing parkrun participant, log into your Profile and update it from there.
Aside from this random draw, at the end of our Winter competition window (August 31st), Open and U16 pointscore winners will receive a prize. Winners will be determined by comparing the average of each runner's 6 best 'Age Grade %' performances. See the club website for more information.
In further parkrun news, Athletics Wollongong will be "taking over" North Wollongong parkrun on August 7th. Both as a thank you to our local parkruns and also to promote our upcoming track and field season, we'll be supplying all the necessary volunteers on this date. 10-11 people will be needed and you can see the roles available (with some descriptions) here. No experience is necessary as on-the-day training will be provided and it's all been made as easy as possible. For those parkrunners hoping to keep a participation streak alive there's even a Tail Walker volunteer role that gives you a run credit.
It's a perfect occasion for experienced parkrunners to give back, or for newbies to make their debut with lots of friendly AW faces about (just bring along a friend/parent to volunteer also!). If you can assist, please email athleticswollongong@gmail.com.
Athletics Wollongong's 2021 Annual General Meeting will be held in the Tennis Club boardroom on Tuesday, 8th June from 7pm. The Official Meeting Notice will be emailed to members this weekend. At the AGM, reports will be presented on the club's operations this past year and a new Committee - and holders of Support Positions - will be elected for Season 2021/22.
Athletics Wollongong is an effective and rewarding club for its members by virtue of regular people volunteering their time. We urge anyone with an interest to consider nominating for a position:
If you would like to nominate (or have an obligation-free chat about any of the positions) please email athleticswollongong@gmail.com.
If you're unsure as to which to go for, note that nominations are yet to be received for: Vice President, Secretary, Development Officer, Race Secretary, Chief Timekeeper, Equipment Officer, Fundraising Officer, and Grants Officer. Some of these roles are critical to the club's operations; some mean our athlete's experience with the club may be sub-optimal. Please consider nominating. Roles have variable time commitments and any necessary training will be provided.
Athletics Wollongong has a Track Usage Agreement with Wollongong City Council that includes a number of duties we need to perform. One of these is supplying people to put out/pack away equipment before/after school carnivals. During peak COVID, this duty was taken on by Beaton Park staff; now they're ready to hand it back.
Typically, equipment would be put out 7:30-8:30am and then put away later that day from 3:00pm. Officers work from a booking sheet, stating what equipment is required by the school and placing it in the appropriate areas ahead of the event. At the end of the day they confirm that all equipment remains in working order and return it to storage ready for the next carnival.
Payment is being confirmed (previously at $60/day), but if you have an interest (and preferably constant ongoing availability, to aid in programming), please contact the Officer Co-ordinator, Ros Perry ASAP.
Winter Membership & ANSW Events
Though Athletics Wollongong is predominately a track and field club, registration affords our members many competitive opportunities over Winter.
This weekend sees the St George Classic at Ramsgate, incorporating the NSW Novice Cross Country Championships, as well as the NSW Short Walks Championships at Chipping Norton. June 5th sees the NSW Cross Country Relay Championships at North Ryde, which may also be contested by individuals.
The best way to find these events is via the ANSW Calendar: https://www.nswathletics.org.au/events/list/ (NB - the full Winter event list hasn't been added yet).
Some events are not open to those with a Community-level registration, or may be cheaper for those with a Dual/Concession/Full registration. If you're interested in participating - and/or it works out cheaper - you can choose to upgrade your membership to a higher level. Simply go to the club website, log in via the button at the top right of the page and Upgrade your own membership there.
Athletics NSW do offer a Winter-only membership, if you haven't already joined up this season, that also gives you free entry to events like the Sydney Half Marathon and Fernleigh 15. See their Membership page for details (NB - there are no additional club add-on fees for a Winter membership via Athletics Wollongong).
Finally, your Athletics NSW membership (via AW) also gives you eligibility to participate in some other club's activities. These are sometimes a little harder to find info regarding, but UTS Norths have already held a competition this month, with Illawarra Blue Stars holding a meet this Sunday and NSW Throwers Club the following (though entries are now closed). Keep an eye out and let people know you're going; wave that AW flag!
ANSW events aren't the only ones going on, of course. Two independent upcoming events are worthy of note:
- Our friends at KJs are holding the Fitness 5 and Kerryn McCann 10 on May 30th. The Fitness 5, first held in 1990, originated to raise funds for the Beaton Park synthetic track. It's now in its first year on their West Dapto course. Kerryn McCann was also a member of our club, when it was known as Southern Flame, including when competing at the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics.
- The inaugural Wollongong Running Festival is being held June 6th. Events range from 2km for kids up to the half marathon distance. Funds raised from the 5km event will go to Mark Scott, a former club member of ours as a youth in the 90s, who went on to become a very promising triathlete. Sadly, he was seriously injured in a cycling training accident in 2011 and requires ongoing care and support.
Masters athletics also contest events over the Winter period, NSWMA having already held an Indoors Throws Meet and the Throws Pentathlon Championships. Simon Harmey (M60) and Adriana Van Bockel (W65) contested the latter event, coming 2nd and 3rd respectively in their divisions. Coming up is another Indoor Meet on June 20th and the AMA Winter Throwing Championships, to be held in Wollongong, over the October long weekend.
It was sad news that Australia was not going to send a team to the World U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya. With the current difficulties regarding international travel, along with DFAT warnings of terrorist threats in the area and westerners there being targeted by violent crimes, it wasn't wholly unanticipated though.
The good news is, the Australian U20 team would still be selected, go into camp and compete alongside the NZ U20 team, as well as some Australian and other Oceania athletes continuing their quest for Tokyo. The camp would go from June 2nd to 13th and be based on the Gold Coast.
The 49-strong team announced included two of our Athletics Wollongong clubmates! Rosie Tozer was selected in the High Jump, as was Tierney Dunne in the 4x100m relay (though she will also contest some individual 100m and 200m races). Well done!
In other squad selection news, Athletics NSW recently announced this year's Target Talent Program members. The squad is one element of Athletics Australia's early talent identification program. It's meant to: improve networking between athletes; encourage them by being part of a state-level squad; and motivate them via elite coaching and education.
An incredible 10 Athletics Wollongong members were announced as part of the squad. Congratulations to: Delta Amidzovski, Rosie Boyland, Tayissa Buchanan, Charlize Colwell, Tierney Dunne, Naomi Gibson, Ashleigh Goncalves, Kailee Moore, Thomas Noakes and Karlee Symonds.
Congratulations, of course, also extends to their existing coaches (including locals Danielle Szakacs, Peter Lawler, Barry McClelland, Chris Twigg, and Lucas Chodat).
Athletics Wollongong's Presentation was held on May 1st. It was a great night and the return to Wollongong Tennis Club as the venue seemed a really winner. Full results are available online, but here's who received the major awards:
- Most Improved Female Athlete - Mikaela Markovski
- Most Improved Male Athlete - Rodney Tebbutt
- Female Encouragement Award - Ginger Siasat/Keira Rejske
- Male Encouragement Award - Seattle Bazley
- Most Outstanding Para Athlete - Isabelle Apthorpe
- Most Outstanding Youth Athlete - Delta Amdizovski
- Most Outstanding Masters Athlete - Christine Shaw
- Most Outstanding Field Athlete - Chelsy Wayne
- Most Outstanding Track Athlete - Tierney Dunne
- President's Award - Mitchell O'Neill
- Ron Bragg Club Spirit Awards - Andy McHenry, E.J. McHenry, Peter Kidd, Ros Perry
- Club Person of the Year - Adriana Van Bockel
- Life Membership - Peter Kidd
If you were not in attendance and wish to collect your awards/certificates, these will be available at AW's meets early in the 21/22 season, or by other arrangement.
There was little rest for many of our university-attending athletes, with the Uni Games being held hot on the heels of the National Championships. Karlee Symonds won gold in the Para 100m, as did Tierney Dunne in the 200m (reversing the finish order at the Aussie U20s). Tierney also claimed silver in the 100m, finishing just behind Olympian Jess Thornton, with Rosie Tozer collecting a bronze in the High Jump. Kiahna Soroka had some strong efforts in the throwing events..
Athletics Wollongong's Izzy Apthorpe officially claimed an Australian record at the National Championships, qualifying her to grant $1000 to a Little Athletics Centre of her choice. Izzy chose our friends at Wollongong City Little A's, with many of her AW clubmates holding a Dual membership with that Centre. When the windfall hit their bank account, Izzy suddenly had a lot of friends from Wollongong City, with many having missed the news the first time. While thankful to Coles for stumping up the cash, it was Izzy who was their hero for putting forward their name. I don't think she'll ever have to pay at their sausage sizzle! Well done!
Country Champs Pointscore Results
It's extremely belated news, but the pointscore results were finally released for the NSW Country Championships this past week. Mingara were comprehensive winners on their home track, but Athletics Wollongong finished in third place overall. A pretty good effort, considering the rescheduling of the event and that some of our athletes were competing in Canberra on the same weekend.
Dave Ross is super keen for material to include in his Track & Field Column, now appearing fortnightly in the Illawarra Mercury. It's hard yakka at the best of times, but can be a real struggle during our comparatively lean Winter months. Please don't be shy regarding your athletics news and results. Send them into Dave - else he'll have to fill his word quota with bad poetry, or something: and no-one wants to read that!
- 22nd May - NSW Novice Championships, Ramsgate
- 23rd May - NSW Short Walks Championships, Chipping Norton
- 5th June - NSW Cross Country Relay Championships, North Ryde
- 8th June - Athletics Wollongong AGM, Wollongong Tennis Club
- 7th August - North Wollongong parkrun's AW Takeover, Fairy Meadow Surf Club
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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