CONGRATS ALL AROUND
Congratulations to all those who participated in the very
successful Combined event held over the past weekend. Despite the thunderstorms of Friday and Saturday over 90
competitors participated in a weekend of very high quality performances with a
possible masters record being set (to be verified)
In particular congratulations and a big vote of thanks must
go to Diane Calvert and her band of helpers who suggested the event and put it
together and ensured it was a run in a very professional manner. It is worth noting that the event was
not originally scheduled on the calendar and Dianne approached the Board of
Management re holding the event
We are delighted with the
success of the event and look forward to making it an annual event on the ACT athletics calendar.
Thanks must not only go to the organising committee but also
those officials and volunteers who gave of their time over the weekend to help
run the event
There was a very strong
interstate contingent including representatives from Perth as well as from the
AWD community
As a committee we are keen to hold events that meet the
differing skill sets of our members and we hope that the Combined event and the
Runners Shop distance events can become a permanent part of the AACT competition calendar.
It was gratifying to see the good numbers at the “Runners Shop” Mile events on 12 January – as with the 3km event last November Marty and
Emily were the respective winners in the run up to qualifying events for the
London Olympics. Thank you again
to Nick and the team at the Runners Shop for their generous support – the gift
vouchers were very much appreciated by all winners.
Whilst giving out congrats it was well
done to Lauren Boden for her 'A' qualifying time at the Sydney Track Classic last Saturday and also to Mel Breen and Kerrie Perkins on their strong
performances
NATIONAL JUNIORS CHAMPIONSHIP
A large ACT junior squad has been selected for the Australian Junior Track & Field Championships to be held in Sydney March 14-18. The squad of 64 is extremely talented
and we look forward to seeing many PBs achieved in Sydney.
A special thank you to Cathy Tanks, Kathy Southgate and Paul
Torley as Team Selectors. They have really burnt the
midnight oil in making the selections.
Also thank you to Cathy, Deon Norval and Michael Reading who will be the Team Managers in Sydney.
At the team's final briefing on Friday 24 February Richard Nicholson, a multi
paralympic representative will be talking
to the team about the
AA program dedicated to preventing illicit drug use together with AACT Board member Chris Butler.
BOARD OF MANAGEMENT
The Board of Management met in early February and a couple
of important decisions include:
- Fees will be held constant for next year except
that the subscription period will now run from 1 May to 30 April.
- The AACT Marathon Championship will be included
in the marathon to be run as part of the Canberra Running Festival in April.
- AACT is working closely with the AWD Junior Talent Squad (JTS) to produce a
funded program to support the development of a sustainable coaching structure partly using
funding provided by Athletics
Australia. The ACT punches well
above its weight in results achieved by our AWD athletes and the proposed
structure should not only support talent and coaching development but also
lessen the dependence on one or two key personnels. Chris Timpson in particular has been an inspiration with his
work in establishing the JTS.
CLUB STRUCTURE
As previously mentioned the Management
Committee has been looking at the appropriate club structure for Athletics ACT
(AACT) in particular the role of
each club in encouraging membership growth, communicating with members and
obtaining volunteers and officials.
As part of this process the Executive has decided to increase Club affiliation
fees significantly however clubs will be rebated based on their level of performance against key criteria areas.
Justin
Barrie has
now presented a comprehensive report to the Management Committee and a full copy
is now available on the AACT web site.
AACT
is also due to review it's Strategic Plan over 2012 and the club review
will be a key component.
Prior
to making any decisions on the report the Committee has reaffirmed the importance
of transparency around the review process particularly giving members an opportunity
to comment on the report at both the individual and club level.
I
am looking to meet with clubs and interested individuals over the report and a
forum will be conveyed where Justin will provide a presentation on the Report and members are encouraged into provide input.
Please
contact me on 0414258745 or Alexander.gosman@BIGPOND.com
if you would like to discuss the report.
Alex Gosman
AACT President
