Athletics NSW Chair & CEO Holiday Message

As we come to the end of the year, it’s a great opportunity to reflect on some of the key achievements that we have seen throughout our sport. It has been a huge effort to bring back athletics across the State and deliver a full twelve months of activity including the first full winter season since 2019.

However this year is a little more contemplative for us than usual, with our community coming together to set participation and performance records at so many different events we’ve either delivered or co-delivered with our fantastic clubs in the 2022 calendar year.

Our usual winter host clubs, St George Districts, Victory Runners, West Met XC and the support of Sydney Striders across our Sydney 10 and Sydney Half, were exceptional. We owe so much of the success of the return to winter to the many and valued club volunteers and contributors who made it happen.

The success of winter set the ideal platform for the first half of the summer calendar with the revitalised Treloar Shield. Developed on the feedback provided by many of you in the community, our clubs actively supported the revitalised vision of our interclub product helping to bring together over 550 athletes regularly to take part in club-based track & field. Coupled with the NSW Relay Championships (with thanks to Campbelltown Collegians Athletics Club), the NSW 3000m Championships (with thanks to Randwick Botany Harriers) and the Albie Thomas Mile (with thanks to Bankstown Sports Athletics Club) we successfully delivered events for thousands of athletes of all ages, abilities, backgrounds and aspirations.

Outside of the event space, all 100+ affiliated clubs have been working at a more productive, transparent level in tandem with the Athletics NSW Office. The 2022/23 club reaffiliation and membership renewal process was the most seamless we’ve witnessed in recent times notwithstanding significant improvements made to the process. Made possible by club administrators, members of Athletics NSW have the right information to engage with our sport in whichever way they choose – and ultimately, enjoy themselves during weekly training and during weekend meets.

On the international stage, we also saw some amazing performances from both our able-bodied and para athletes at the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games – headlined by our newly minted World Champion in Eleanor Patterson and our Commonwealth Champions in Ollie Hoare and Evan O’Hanlon – performances that have inspired all of us in the athletics community.

Looking forward from January, it’s coming up to that “crazy time of year” – Illawarra Track Challenge, NSW Country Championships, NSW Masters Championships, NSW 5000m Championships, World Cross Country Championships Bathurst 2023, NSW Junior Championships, NSW Open & U23 Championships and the Sydney Track Classic. It will also be an exciting year for us as an organisation as we begin to implement our Strategic Plan – focussed on delivering our members more of what they’re asking for, with a particular focus on expanding the support we provide for our regional and country clubs and members.

As we reflect on some of the key achievements across our sport throughout the year we’d like to extend thanks to those in our community which include:

• Clubs hosting specialist meets (High Velocity, NSW Milers and NSW Field Games events) to complement our overall event grid and provide quality competition opportunities outside of NSW Championship events. See the full postChristmas event listing here - https://www.nswathletics.org.au/events/list/

• Our steadfast and unbelievably dedicated NSW Officials, who make every one of the events above possible to deliver with their unwavering support of our sport

• Coaches & parents who are transporting, supporting and providing the opportunity for athletes to reach whatever level of the sport they’re striving for

• And our club volunteers and administrators, our grassroots heroes and heroines who mobilise and support athletics communities to make sure they know when, where and what is happening in athletics in NSW

From the Staff and the Board of Athletics NSW, thank you for making 2022 the best “return to sport” we could have hoped for. We have an exciting year ahead and we are looking forward to working with you to grow our sport throughout 2023 and beyond.

We wish the athletics community happy holidays, enjoy the break.

Matt Whitbread & Christian Renford

Athletics NSW Chair & Athletics NSW CEO