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Athletics Wollongong's Winter Pointscore
AW's Winter Distance Running Pointscore is underway!
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 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.
Some of our members have already put on some crack performances, including Olivia Sivills: she's been the overall winner of the Shellharbour parkrun on two occasions, including an effort which set a new female course record!
Record-breaking runs aren't the only way to be a great representative of Athletics Wollongong: we will be doing a 'takeover' of the North Wollongong parkrun - hopefully in September - and we encourage you to be a part of it! We'll be providing all officials for one of the runs, partly as a thank you to the community but also as a promo for the upcoming track and field season. More details to come.
Finally, we'll be having a 'mid-Winter check-in' on June 28th, as we host a run at the scenic Cordeaux Dam. Come along for a jog - or just enjoy the BBQ and a chinwag - at this peaceful venue.
NSW Athletics Winter Program - incl. eligibility update
Depending on your club registration category, you may also be eligible to contest the Winter Championship events hosted by NSW Athletics. Their program of events is now underway, with information on the whole of the Winter Calendar available via their website.
Some big events will be held locally, with the NSW Cross Country Championships returning to Nowra in June, and the Short Course Cross Country Champs returning to Dapto the month following.
Big news for our younger athletes: eligibility for these events has now been granted to those in the 12s and younger ages who hold a Community membership. That is: if you were turning 12 this year - or less - and were able to compete in AW's meets, then you're also eligible to contest this Winter Season's Championship events.
If you were in the 12's or under at a Little Athletics Centre this past Summer Season, you are more than welcome to purchase an Athletics Wollongong Community membership for Winter here: https://www.athleticswollongong.org.au/registration.
Those older will require either a Concession, Junior or Open Membership to contest the NSW Athletics Winter Championships events.
Cross Country Relays
Some of the premier Winter Events are the Cross Country Relays and Team Walks events. Just as the club does for the track and field relay Championships, Athletics Wollongong will pay team entry costs for these Championships. You can nominate for a position in a team HERE. Team nominations will close Sunday, 25th May.
In the event a team cannot be formed from those who nominate, individual athletes are still able to contest the event, with their entries closing Wednesday, 28th May at 12pm. They will run alongside teams who are doing their first leg.
Annual General Meeting
As an incorproated body, Athletics Wollongong must hold an Annual General Meeting. This is where financials are presented to members and elections are held for Committee roles and support positions for the following year. Our AGM will be held on Tuesday, 10th June, from 7pm - ahead of the monthly Committee Meeting - at our regular venue of the Wollongong Tennis Club boardroom.
Official notice of the meeting will be circulated shortly. where we will tick all the official boxes that we need to. In the meantime, we encourage our members to give some thought to volunteering some of their time and helping out the club. Here are some Position Descriptions for roles on the Management Committee and Support Team.
If you have an interest or any questions regarding anything, send an email for a non-binding chat. Note that there's no expectation of you being a business titan or corporate whizkid, just someone who has a few hours per month to help the club give the best possible experience to its members.
Club Presentation Night Results
Athletics Wollongong's 2024/25 Season Presentation was held on May 3rd at Wollongong Tennis Club. It was a pretty great night!
The evening commenced with the presentation of awards that were associated with Athletics Wollongong's Summer Season of Wednesday Meets. The categories varied from attendance, to persistence, improvement and achievement.
We then broke for a quick snack, provided by White Rose on Beaton, before resuming with a token of appreciation to those bringing up 5 and 20 years of continuous membership of the club.
The next section of the evening was for performances made largely away from the club's own meets, beginning with recognition of those who participated in the Junior & Open National Championships.
The various Most Outstanding trophies were presented to our worthy winners - from a very tough field of nominees - before we moved onto the final section of awards: those with respect to club culture.
All-in-all, it was a wonderful evening and - as people were told of everything that we had to anticipate over the coming months - we look with enthusiasm to our next season: it would do well to match Season 2024/25!
You can see all the awards announced on the night HERE.
Anyone who was unable to collect their awards on the night may do some by arrangement, or at an Athletics Wollongong meet next season.
NSW Athletics Awards Night
Sadly, Athletics Wollongong was unable to retain its Country Club of the Year trophy, but we weren't missing from the big stage at the NSW Athletics Awards Night: taking out the Most Outstanding Junior Female category was AW's Delta Amidzovski. Congrats, Delta!
Scholarship Winner
The Neville Sillitoe Foundation Scholarship for emerging sprinters honours the legacy of one of Australia’s most celebrated athletics coaches, renowned for his work in developing some of the nation’s greatest talents.
Thanks to his generous bequest to Athletics International, the scholarship provides annual support to emerging sprint athletes, continuing his lifelong endeavour of nurturing young talent to achieve their full potential. This prestigious award offers financial assistance to help promising athletes achieve their dreams, just as Neville dedicated his life to helping so many others do the same.
AW's Chase Grant was one of the five deserving recipients this season. We're excited to see where this $5000 windfall will take him!
Australian Masters Championships Recap
The Australian Masters Championships were held in Adelaide, with 13 AW members making the trek. Collectively, they won an incredible 10 gold, 6 silver, and 7 bronze medals.
Our National Champions are:
You can see the results of all of our representatives HERE.
Stawell Gift recap
AW members Maya Francis, Jake Stewart, Michael Doodson, and Mitchell O’Neill all contested races at the famous Stawell Gift carnival, which boasted a prize pool of over $150,000!
In the thrilling main event — the handicapped 120m Gift — AW’s Mitch O’Neill won his semi-final and lined up as the backmarker for the prestigious final. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, he powered through to finish in 3rd position and take home a cool $3,000!
Australian University Games
Completing the Summer Championship season was the Australian University Games on the Gold Coast. Athletics Wollongong's Ben Kelly, Chase Grant, and Emily Strecker took on the event, with Ben claiming a silver medal in the 200m. Well done!
Run the Tan Honour
'Run The Tan' is a key fixture in Australia's running calendar, held in late April every year, marking the transition from summer athletics to winter cross-country. Entrants are invited to run alongside Olympians and celebrities while supporting mental health charities. They run 'The Tan': a famous running track in Melbourne, measuring just shy of 4km, that loops around the Royal Botanic Gardens.
AW's Xavier Wilson was honoured to be invited to be part of the Elite Para event, toeing the line alongside his running hero, Paralympian Jaryd Clifford. What a buzz!
NSW Road Championships
The NSW Road Championships were held this past weekend, with several AW members stomping the pavement.
Congrats to AW's Ros Perry, who took the win in the 70-74 Women's 10km category. Also winning medals - but representing Run Crew and St George respectively - were Emma O'Sullivan (1st 50-54) and Andrew MacPherson (3rd 55-59).
Full results of AW members are available HERE.
Hoodie Weather
Cooler conditions certainly arrived this week, which makes it a perfect time to treat yourself to an Athletics Wollongong hoodie from our online store. We have sizes available from Junior 14 to 3XL. Buy a hoodie HERE.
Coming Dates