Sponsors
Presentation Night
Athletics Wollongong's Season 2024/25 Presentation will be held at Wollongong Tennis Club on May 3rd, from 6pm. Come along and celebrate the achievements of your clubmates - and give your clubmates the opportunity to congratulate you on yours.
We will have a short break with a few nibbles during the Presentation to keep energy up and - to assist with catering - RSVPs are now open! Note that only one RSVP is required per family (i.e. if there are multiple club members in your family, just register under the name of one member and indicate how many in total will be in your party).
To RSVP, go to the Event listing on the club website and press the RSVP button.
On the listing you'll also find a document with member names and the awards that they are eligible for. Note that some awards will remain secret until Presentation night. In the lead-up to the event we will be announcing the nominees for the major trophies: just to build the hype even further.
This is one of the few occasions where ALL of our members - regardless of their individual athletic goals - can come together and celebrate. We strongly encourage everyone to attend who is able to.
National Championships Team
The athletes who will comprise the NSW team at the upcoming Junior and Open National Championships have been announced. There was great representation from our Athletics Wollongong clubmates:
Both events will be held in Perth, with the Juniors from April 4th - 8th and the Opens from April 10th - 13th.
Athlete Funding
With the Champs in Perth, it's perhaps a good time to provide a reminder of the Local Sporting Champions scheme, which can grant up to $750 to those attending Nationals. Applications for the current round close on April 30th.
Further financial assistance from Athletics Wollongong is available, but it's generally only awarded to members who assisted with club fundraising activities. If you lent a hand at the Aquathon in late January, then you're eligible! Complete the form HERE and submit it for consideration ahead of the following AW Committee Meeting (the second Tuesday night of each month).
We've had a Bunnings BBQ as an additional eligibility opportunity in previous seasons, but with the closure of the Wollongong location - combined with the out-sized contribution that was necessary from the Committee at later editions - it hasn't been strongly pursued in recent years. In any case, since being allocated to the Bellambi catchment we haven't even been offered a date. It takes around 20 helpers on the day to share the workload, let alone the organisation required beforehand. If an additional eligibility opportunity of a BBQ received a groundswell of support/interest then it's something we'd consider pursuing more strongly for early next season.
Community Funding
The club has been fortunate to be invited to participate in two recent community funding schemes:
Money earned by AW via these opportunities will be put back into the club to improve services for all members.
Track Classics
The premier one-day athletic competitions in the country have been run and won. The Chemist Warehouse Summer Series of meets saw Australia's best athletes showcased alongside some international stars, with Athletics Wollongong represented in both Sydney and Melbourne.
Chase Grant was invited to compete in the Men's 400m at the Sydney edition, and Ginger Siasat also experienced the thrill of a large crowd with some of the NSW Junior 100m finals included in the program.
Delta Amidzovski featured heavily in promotion of the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne and her performance warranted that billing, claiming some big scalps in the 100m Hurdles.
World Masters Indoors
The World Masters Athletics Indoors Championships have wrapped up in Florida, with AW's Donna Hiscox and Anthony Howlett both representing Australia at the event. Safe trip home!
Athletics Wollongong's Winter Pointscore
There's no excuse to ease up over the off-season with AW's Winter Pointscore beginning in May. As per recent seasons, our program will be held alongside the parkrun series of events. parkruns are free 5km races, held all over the world on Saturday mornings from 8am. Local parkruns are held at North Wollongong, Sandon Point, Killalea, Bowral, Picton, and - NEW! - Helensburgh. You can choose to run at whichever is most convenient to you.
All performances are given an 'Age Graded Percentage'. At least six of these must be attained during the competition window of May through to the end of August to be eligible for awards. Winners are determined by the the highest average score among participants' top-six performances.
To assist with administration of our pointscore, participants should specify 'Athletics Wollongong' as their associated group on their parkrun profile. You can set up your parkrun profile HERE and read more about our Winter Pointscore HERE.
NSW Athletics Winter Program
Depending on your club registration category, you may also be eligible to contest the Winter Championship events hosted by NSW Athletics. The calendar has just been announced, with out-of-stadia races starting as soon as next month. You'll see these cross country and walk events added to the online calendar shortly, with entries for each opening 3 weeks prior. The first event to be held will be the St George Classic on May 3rd.
We have been forewarned there is even more to come, with details on Winter track and field meets to be released by the end of April.
State Championships Catch-Up
Plenty of action this past month with State Championships being held for all ages:
Wednesday Night Wrap-up
Our Weekly Wednesday Meets have wrapped up for Season 2024/25. Thanks to all those who came and showed their support across the series. We went out with a bang at our End Of Season Special, with some very entertaining performances in the handicapped events.
Anthony Howlett sponsored the 60m Skins Champion of Champions and he saved himself some money by finishing in 3rd position! E.J. McHenry breezed through the qualifiers but found it a little tougher in the final, still managing to collect 2nd. It was Tineke Osten who took out the win though, not giving anyone a chance to run her down from her front mark.
The 800m Chocolate Run saw some big improvers but none moreso than Hannah Curtis who dropped her lifetime PB by 45 seconds!
Our fun and social meets will return for Season 2025/26 from late September-early October. We hope to see you back again; bring your friends!
Excel Performance
Jason from Excel Performance visited one of our meets and spoke to our members regarding a special offer: a one week free trial, athlete assessment and program. For more details, go HERE.
Annual General Meeting
The club's officebearers and support position holders will be elected at AW's AGM on June 10th. It'll be held in the Wollongong Tennis Club boardroom.
We encourage all members to give some thought on how they might be able assist the club and its members next season. Have an obligation-free chat with any current Committee member for more info.
Official Meeting Notice will be sent to all members a month prior.
Coming Dates