17.08.2010

Message from the President

It’s certainly been a busy few months in Athletics. The close of the Australian domestic season in April signaled the start of the international calendar, and we have enjoyed watching the fortunes of our top Australian athletes in action across the all-new IAAF Diamond League series.

Our new Chief Executive Officer, Mr Dallas O’Brien, is settling in well to the many and various roles his position entails. Dallas was chosen from a large field of very good applicants.

Athletics Australia thanks Mr Danny Corcoran for his most valuable contribution to Athletics during his tenure as CEO.

On the track, a new national record to Ryan Gregson in the men’s 1500m in Round 10 of the Diamond League tour has been just one of the highlights our athletes have provided in recent months. In eclipsing Simon Doyle’s former national benchmark, 20-year-old Gregson provided yet another indicator that the future of our sport is in good hands.

Last weekend 17 Australian athletes competed at the London stopover of the Diamond League series; it’s great to see our athletes featuring so prominently on the world stage.

Also showing true promise for the future, our 13th IAAF world junior championships team competed admirably on the world stage in Moncton, Canada, last month to win one bronze medal and take home 11 top-eight finishes from the worldwide meet.

Competing under the name the Australian Spark for the first time in the history of the championships, our athletes took on the best junior talent from 169 fellow IAAF member federations and showed the world Australia is a true force in junior international track and field, finishing 14th on the placing table.

With the Australian Flame ranked tenth on the medal table of the 202 IAAF member federations at the senior world titles and fifth on the medal table of the 149 participating nations at the 2010 world indoor titles, the encouraging results from the Australian Spark should ensure we improve our position in the future as we work towards our target of becoming a top-10 nation.

The incredible efforts of our senior medal-winning athletes at the Berlin (GER) world championships in 2009 - Steve Hooker (gold, pole vault), Dani Samuels (gold, discus throw), Mitchell Watt (bronze, long jump) and Australia’s men’s 4x400m relay team (bronze) – and the world indoor championships in Doha (QAT) in March, 2010 – Steve Hooker (gold, pole vault), Fabrice Lapierre (gold, long jump) and Mitchell Watt (bronze, long jump) – have set a high standard for our young athletes to follow.

Highlights of the Spark’s three-week Canadian campaign included Commonwealth Games nominee Julian Wruck’s bronze medal in the men’s discus throw, Sam Baines’ national Under 20 record in the 110m hurdles, Patrick Fakiye becoming the first Australian in 20 years to contest the men’s 100m final at a world junior championships and a total of 10 personal best performances.

We look forward to continuing to work with many of our Spark athletes as part of the National Junior Development Pathway and supporting their transition to the senior ranks over the coming years.

Next month the second Great North City Games will be held in Newcastle-Gateshead, where a team of 27 Australian athletes will take on England’s best over two days of hard-fought competition. This unique meet, which sees track and field action taken to the streets, promises to be even bigger and better than its premier edition in 2009 and we hope to get one back over our English rivals with victory on the streets of Newcastle-Gateshead in 2010. With the likes of Steve Hooker, Sally Pearson and Fabrice Lapierre to line up for the green and gold, we are confident of a strong showing in the points-per-win contest.

The Commonwealth Games are now less than two months away and preparations for the Games are in full swing. The team of 73 athletes currently nominated to the team is working hard to ensure it is fully prepared to take on the best the Commonwealth has to offer and to uphold Australia’s proud history of success at the Games.

Australia will enter New Delhi with up to 20 athletes ranked inside the top 20 for their event in the world; this is a tremendous feat by our senior athletes and holds our team in good stead for a successful championships.

Twelve athletes with a disability will make the trip to India for the Commonwealth Games and we look forward to watching these inspiring athletes in action alongside our able-bodied representatives. In what will be a busy few months for the AWD community, Athletics Australia will next month announce a team of up to 60 athletes to represent the country at the IPC World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand, in January.

Away from the track we have been hard at work on a range of initiatives to continue the betterment of our sport.

Last month we submitted an application to the Australian Sports Commission for a share of the participation funding that has been made available by the Commission to national sporting organisations. We have a dedicated strategy to increase engagement in our sport via enhanced exposure and improved programs for secondary school and teenage athletes and we wait to hear the outcome of our application at the end of this month with a view to these initiatives taking effect.

As part of our funding proposal we look to reviewing, modifying and expanding club programs available for Under 14 to Under 20 athletes within our revised junior pathway that includes the all-new national junior championships.

The high performance department has completed its submission to the Australian Sports Commission for a share of the additional high performance funding that was announced in the 2010 federal budget. If successful, the money received will be used to build on the good work that has been done in the junior high performance area, with pathways programs that have been developed to provide more comprehensive support to junior and senior athletes including support for coaches and training environments and in the areas of sports science and sports medicine.

Based on the findings of the recent Australian Sports Commission review into sport, Athletics Australia is working to implement a number of directives into its new national talent identification framework, which will be finalised to present to the Australian Sports Commission next month. The revised framework will see the indigenous talent identification program integrated into the National Junior Development Pathway in what promises to be a positive move for our sport.

Athletics Australia continues to work in close association with Australian Little Athletics, with board members of the two organisations meeting at regular intervals to promote ongoing communication between the two groups.

In further good news for our future relationships with both Australian Little Athletics and Athletics Victoria, the new National Athletics Centre at Albert Park will house all three organisations, each with its own independent offices.

The new Athletics Coach Accreditation Framework continues to roll out, with the Beginning Coach program now launched and operational, with further modifications to the program to be made as it evolves. The next phase of this framework, the new Level 2 programs for Club Coaches and Event Group Coaches, will be available to those who have completed the Level 1 Beginning Coach program.

Our Active After Schools companion manual will be available from the start of the next school term, with primary-school aged children all over the country to benefit from this coaching resource.

Improved support and pathways for Athletics officials has also been high on our agenda. The Athletics Australia Officials Strategic Committee (commenced 2009) is reviewing and recommending wide-ranging improvements for officials in our sport.

The Delhi Commonwealth Games will be televised live on Network Ten, One HD and Foxtel from October 3-12. Make sure you watch our athletes and encourage family and friends to enjoy this great event also.

Ours is a wonderful sport but we need more supporters!

Rob Fildes OAM
President
Athletics Australia