AW's Wednesday Meets kick off!

AW's 2023/24 Season commences THIS Wednesday - October 18th - from 5:30pm. 

For those new to the club, we hold weekly fun and social meets at Beaton Park on a Wednesday evening.  All track and field events are held on a rotating program, allowing participants to gauge their improvement throughout the season. 

To encourage participation, athletes gain points for their age group finishing position in each event.  At Club Presentation, we then award trophies and prizes to those who finish atop the leaderboard.  (Everyone receives a Season Bests Certificate of their Wednesday performances, along with other categories being awarded; see last year's winners for an idea).

The competition program is available on the club website, with the order of events to be contested each week posted to the AW Facebook group the Sunday prior.

Join up for Season 2023/24

To participate in this series of meets, you'll need to be a member of an ANSW-affiliated club.  To be eligible for pointscore awards, to break club records and/or win prizes at our events, then you'll have to join up with Athletics Wollongong!

While there have been some changes to the categories of membership, the means to register with Athletics Wollongong remains the same: just do it through the club website!  There are no competition numbers to collect, nor birth certificates to present, and you only need a uniform if you're representing AW away from our own Wednesday meets.

While memberships now last 365 days from the date of purchase, you certainly don't want to leave it late!  We've got some awesome events planned early in the season - and the calendar of ANSW events is already underway.

State Relay Championships

The first BIG event on the calendar is the NSW Relay Championships.  We have opened up Expressions of Interest to those who would like to join an Athletics Wollongong team.

The relays are open to those holding the following ANSW membership types: Open, Concession, Juniors and Youth.  If you need to upgrade your membership to participate, you can do so by Logging in to the club website.

Note that you are more likely to form a team if you advocate and advertise to those whom you would like to be in a team with!  If an athlete does not submit an Expression Of Interest, the club presumes that they are unavailable; not that they are waiting to be asked.  We love teams that come fully-formed!

Athletics Wollongong will pay team entries (though there may also be a gate entry fee - yet to be announced).

To submit your EOI, first read the information on the club website - then click the link there to submit your details.

Expressions Of Interest will remain open until midnight, Sunday, November 5th

Earn money volunteering at ANSW events!

You can now earn up to $80 per day by volunteering at ANSW events.  Anyone who has attended an athletics event knows that a LOT of officials are required to deliver it to an appropriate standard.

To encourage community involvement, Athletics NSW has introduced payment of officials this season. This program aims to alleviate personal costs such as fuel, parking, and other expenses associated with volunteering. Officials can now receive up to $80 per day as a token of appreciation for their dedication.
 
AW particularly supports this initiative as any of our members or associates who participate will be able to bring back the knowledge and experience gained to our own meets, potentially taking them to the next level.

If you'd like to become involved, see this News article for more details (it includes a link to submit your interest at the end): https://www.nswathletics.org.au/news/answ-seeks-community-support/.

Grill'd Local Matters

During November, the Wollongong Grill'd restaurant (corner of Crown and Keira in the Gateway Shopping Centre) will be featuring an Athletics Wollongong jar as part of their Local Matters campaign. 

Every burger sold earns the purchaser a token which they can place in one of three jars, each representing a local community organisation or charity. At the end of the month, the jar with the most tokens wins their cause $300. There are no losers either, as the other pair win $100!  Those ordering online also get an opportunity to cast a vote: just click the appropiate link in your email receipt.

You can check out the Grill'd menu and order online here: https://www.grilld.com.au/menu/wollongong.  Tell your friends and family - and treat yourself to a healthy and tasty burger this November!