42nd ANNUAL REPORT CONTENTS

President’s Report Page 4

Chief Executive’s Report Page 5-6

Business Assurance Report Page 7

Business Development Report Page 8

Championships Competition Report Page 9-11

Membership Development Report Page 12-13

Total Registrations 2011/2012 Page 14

Centre Liaison Officer Page 15-16

Officials Report Page 17-18

Coaching & Development Report Page 19-26

Resources Report Page 27

2 LITTLE ATHLETICS

BOARD OF MANAGEMENT

President Dereck Fineberg Championships/Competition Heather Mitchell Business Assurance Neil Sandall Membership/Development Trevor Hinwood Officials Peter Barnes Business Development Michael Gray Resources Greg Dickson

STAFF

Chief Executive Officer Kerry O’Keefe Executive Assistant Georgie Boost Administration Assistant Trish Bright Centre Liaison Officer Chantelle Grills Competition & Volunteer Coordinator Diane Levy Coaching & Development Officers Darren Wensor Alvin Umadhay Coaching & Development Administrator Hayley McBurney (until March 2012) Isabel Menton (from April 2012) Online & Graphics Coordinator (part time) Amy Harris Finance Coordinator (part time) Greg Skinner

MEDICAL OFFICER Professor Marcus Vowels

LEGAL ADVISOR John Bateman

AUDITOR Moore Stephens Sydney West

LANSW OFFICE 90 - 92 Harris Street HARRIS PARK 2150 Ph: 9633 4511 Website: littleathletics.com.au Email: [email protected]

3 PRESIDENT

As always I am pleased to have the opportunity to provide comment for our annual report. I always find it is interesting to look both back at the year completed as well as forward to the next. Each season is very busy and this one was no different.

A lot of time and effort by many people was put into the usual areas of:-

• LANSW carnivals including planning and officiating • Weekly centre competitions • Coaching camps, JETS clinics and school visits • Advisory committees • Office activities • State team selection/management

In addition a lot of work has been done on new initiatives such as:-

• A new LANSW constitution • Planning for the introduction of the new region structure • New State Championships program and qualifying processes, which saw so many additional competitors at our State in March • Implementation of Meet Manager at Zone level • The adoption of LAA standard events and rules • The roll out of more resources for both centres and families via the LANSW website

To everybody involved in all of these important activities and any others I may have missed, thank you and congratulations on your contribution to Little Athletics in NSW. I include in that my colleagues on the board, the LANSW office staff, advisory committees, zone coordinators, LANSW officials and the many centre committee personnel, as well as other parents who assisted during the year. This mostly volunteer army of ours is a mighty force. If we all continue to work together there is no limit to what can be achieved.

Next season should prove exciting for our sport given the timing of the London Olympics and it is hoped the many former Little Athletes in our national team do well and provide the catalyst for future champions to register. Of course we can only hope that we experience far better weather this coming summer.

Well done to our State Team which won the overall point score plus the multi event competition at the Australian Little Athletics Championships in Hobart in April. Also a great effort by our out-numbered Trans Tasman Team in winning the Challenge in January.

As always thank you to all our sponsors for their continued support. As well as any financial contribution, their ongoing involvement is much appreciated. They include: McDonalds; IGA; The Athletes Foot; Hart Sport and Coca Cola Amatil.

We again worked closely and successfully with our counterparts in Little Athletics Australia, Athletics NSW and Athletics Australia and I’m sure this will continue into the future.

I do hope that all who took part in Little Athletics last year enjoyed the involvement, success and most of all had fun. I hope that as a result of that you will be looking forward to further involvement next season.

Yours in sport,

Dereck Fineberg (OAM) PRESIDENT

4 CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Once again, I am pleased to be able to report on the progress of Little Athletics NSW, in what has been a year of consolidation.

Last year I reported that we had undertaken a number of sizable initiatives, such as the development of a new constitution, the implementation of a revised staffing structure and the review of the zone and region structure. This year has seen further revision of the proposed constitution following a review of the more contested elements of the document at the 2011 Annual General Meeting; the detailed planning for the introduction of the new region structure; and the implementation and fine-tuning of the new staff structure.

In regards to the proposed constitution, the board believes that the balance is now right between satisfying the requirements of the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 and the meeting the expectations of the wider membership. The new constitution and the accompanying regulations will assist in the effective operation of the organisation into the future.

The detail surrounding the new zone and region structure has been finalised and meetings of the new ‘groupings’ have taken place. We look forward now to experiencing the benefits of the new structure, which centre on the alleviation of travel times and costs for many families and a more equitable championships qualification process. Both of these benefits should lead to an increase in the number of athletes taking part in the championship experience. This past season has already seen an increase in the number of athletes qualifying for the State Championships, when the size of the fields was increased from 18 to 24. These additional 6 places per event involved another 533 athletes who would otherwise not have had the opportunity to participate in the State Championships.

The revised staffing structure has now been in place for almost 12 months and after an initial settling in period, seems to be working well. Members of staff have been required to provide their feedback on the changes for an annual review, and this feedback suggests that the more focussed roles are appreciated in that they allow members of staff concentrate on one area instead of doing ‘bits and pieces’ covering several areas.

It was with regret that we accepted the resignation of Hayley McBurney from the position of Coaching and Development Administrator, after 11 years of service with LANSW. Following Hayley’s departure, we were pleased to appoint Isabel Menton to the role. Isabel began work at the beginning of April and is already proving that she will be an asset to LANSW.

We were also pleased to be able to welcome Nick Bromley as a new staff member, when he took on the role of Greater Western Sydney Development Officer. This role came into being following funding received by Little Athletics Australia and Athletics Australia, from the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), to implement projects aimed at driving participation and strengthening the transition pathway. The major component of the project was the appointment of two development officer positions (one in Sydney and one in Melbourne). Nick was appointed to the Sydney role. As a member of the Joint Venture Management Committee, which oversees the implementation of this venture, I have attended several meetings in Melbourne over the course of the year. To date, reported progress is pleasing, although it is recognised that two years is not long enough! The first formal reporting back to the ASC will occur in the second half of this year.

The past season again saw a number of financial assistance programs offered to our members. Total funding across these programs was $46,000, made up as follows: $5,900 to 22 athletes as part of the Country Athletes Support Program, providing financial assistance to talented young athletes from country areas of NSW to attend the State Championships; $7,000 to 73 Little Athletes as part of the Athlete Assistance Program, helping with registration expenses; and $33,100 for 9 centres via the Centre Grant Scheme, for equipment and facility upgrade.

LANSW was again successful in securing a $15,000 grant from Sport & Recreation, under the Sport and Athlete Development Program, for an Athletes & Volunteers Assistance Program. This funding is used to continue assistance programs such as those mentioned above. 5 CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Maintaining programs and addressing future demands has been challenging, due to increasing costs and declining membership over the past few seasons. It is therefore somewhat pleasing to note that the decline in registrations was halted this year, with figures at the time of writing being 35,768, only 0.4% or 150 registrations down on the previous season. Interestingly, some age groups showed a good increase (U13 and U15), yet some age groups (U6 and U11), showed a sizeable decline. Likewise, regions 1, 3 and 5 showed an increase in members, but regions 2 and 4 declined. Further investigation is required as to the reasons for these differences. Some of this work has been commenced through the Centre Liaison Officer and the Membership Development Director, in conjunction with a newly formed Growth Focus Group. This group is looking into factors that affect re-registration and ways that we can collectively address these factors.

The LANSW Strategic Plan for 2012-2015 and the Operational Action Plan for 2012-2013 also continue to largely reflect our need to address our level of registrations as a result of poor retention rates.

As always, I take this opportunity to thank our wonderful partners McDonald’s, IGA, Coca-Cola Amatil, Hart Sport and The Athletes Foot.

Our partnership with McDonald’s continues to be strong, with McDonald’s and their Public Relations company, PPR, continually looking for ways to further assist the LANSW and our centres in gaining media attention and promoting our sport. We appreciate the support offered by McDonald’s on so many levels.

IGA continues to offer support to both the LANSW and to centres through the IGA docket promotion. Once again, cheques (totalling $15,000 between NSW and ACT) will be presented to centres at the LANSW Conference in July.

Coca-Cola remains our longest standing corporate partner after 20+ years and Hart Sport is entering their fifteenth year of partnership with the LANSW.

Our relationship with The Athletes Foot is also going from strength to strength. This sponsorship is now driven at the state level, rather than the national level, meaning greater local outcomes.

Following the third year of inductions into the Little Athletics Australia Roll of Excellence, congratulations are extended to new NSW inductees, Darren Clark (track & field), Paul Murray (achiever) and Jim Arkins (volunteer).

My thanks, as always, go to the board for their support, and as stated earlier, special thanks are extended to the office staff for their efforts in ensuring a smooth transition into the new roles following the staff restructure.

I look forward to working alongside everyone again in the year ahead - a year that should be an exciting one for the sport of track and field given both the timing of the London Olympics and the size of the Australian athletics team!

Kerry O’Keefe CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

6 BUSINESS ASSURANCE

RISK MANAGEMENT During the past season the risk management focus has largely centred on the process of reviewing all of the LANSW policy guidelines to ensure they meet contemporary expectations and operational requirements. Whilst that process is still incomplete, a priority based program of review is underway.

Centres are hopefully finding those policy guidelines released in the past season, particularly the revised Hot Weather Guidelines and the Safe Food Handling Guidelines, both operationally friendly and helpful. Both address areas of significant operational risk. All current LANSW policy guidelines are accessible on the LANSW website from the centre login section. I hope centre committees are drawing upon them as needed.

All LANSW policy guidelines have been developed with the aim of ensuring more consistent centre practices to avoid reputational risk and protect our brand. They also seek to promote a safe operating environment with the aim of further reducing our claims history and thus our insurance premiums.

The Risk Management Advisory Committee continued to meet throughout the year and continues to regularly review the safety reports provided by the LANSW safety coordinator at the conclusion of our major carnivals to refine our safety practices and risk profile.

I again express my gratitude to our LANSW safety coordinator, Bruce Conn, for his continuing diligence with the identification of safety risks and suggested operational improvements.

GOVERNANCE The refinement of last year’s failed constitution document has again been the major governance focus of the portfolio.

To meet the twin demands of the new Association’s Incorporations Act 2009 and the expectations of the broader LANSW membership, the board decided to expand the membership of the Constitution Committee to ensure all viewpoints were considered and appropriate amendments made to the four key areas of concern.

The expanded committee included representatives of our life members, zone coordinators and representatives of those centres who had provided active input to the previous constitution motion. The board and the committee all believe the amendments now made fully address the concerns expressed last year whilst also striking the right balance between those concerns and the expectations of the Act and the Office of Fair Trading who administer it.

I am also hopeful by the time this report is discussed at our AGM/Conference in Ulladulla that an appropriate model constitution template will be on the LANSW website and accessible to individual centres as a guide to developing their own constitutional responses to meet the requirements of the new Act. Obviously the finalisation of this document played “second fiddle” to the finalisation of the LANSW Constitution.

Neil Sandall BUSINESS ASSURANCE DIRECTOR

7 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

This report marks the completion of my first year on the Board of Management. It has been a very interesting year learning the inner workings of Little Athletics and I have enjoyed the experience. Many thanks to my fellow directors, staff, zone coordinators and parents for making me feel welcome and assisting me in my role.

I have tried to view my portfolio with a new set of eyes and look at ways that we can do things better. We cannot expect to do things the same way every year and somehow get a different result. We must constantly challenge ourselves and look at fresh approaches in order to position ourselves as a leading junior sport.

Since last year’s conference I am pleased to announce that the marketing plan has been completed and approved by the board. This plan gives us a template to follow when conducting business within the business development portfolio. Many thanks to Tony Kish who completed this plan prior to leaving the board.

With the upcoming season being an Olympic year we are presented with new opportunities for sponsorship and membership growth. Our sport receives higher media coverage and how LANSW and our centres respond to the increase in interest and registrations is fundamental to our growth.

Our TV commercials have been booked for the next few months and thanks must again be given to Ian Adams for his knowledge and expertise in assisting with this.

At the time of writing, the board has engaged a sports marketing and sponsorship company, DreamTeam Management, to conduct a full review of how LANSW is placed in the sponsorship marketplace. We are doing this to ensure that we are valuing ourselves correctly and to explore new opportunities. With nearly 200 centres and 36,000 athletes, our sport has great reach across all of New South Wales.

Whilst talking of sponsors, LANSW has some great long term sponsorship partners and I would like to publicly thank, McDonalds, IGA, Hart Sport, Coca Cola Amatil and The Athletes Foot for their continued support.

Thanks should also be given to Amy Harris who compiles our Run for Fun E-News in a professional, well planned manner. Without her involvement this important information journal could not be delivered bi-monthly.

Thanks once again for making me feel welcome in my role and I look forward to another exciting season of Little Athletics.

Michael Gray BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

8 CHAMPIONSHIPS/COMPETITION

Firstly I would like to thank the Championship Advisory Committee for all their assistance and hard work during the past season: Peter Barnes, Paul Byron, Aino Matwisyk, Maria McConville, Gordon Prevett, Glen Richardson and Diane Levy who all contributed in the various areas of their expertise.

Our State Team selectors, Jim Arkins, Marian Bennett, Maria McConville and Greg Skinner and Trans Tasman selectors, Kirsten Crocker, Aino Matwisyk and Maria McConville, all did a great job in selecting the best NSW teams possible.

In addition, thank you to all the state officials and parent helpers, as without your help we would not be able to conduct our state events so efficiently.

This was another season of ‘firsts’ for LANSW. More regions used photo-finish thereby creating electronic track records and even some Zone Championships utilised this recording device. LANSW’s photo-finish system was used at the State Track & Field Championships for all track events on the warm up track, whilst the SOPAC system was used on the main track. Manual records will still be maintained for championships where photo-finish is not used. At the State Track & Field Championships we had 24 competitors in each event instead of 18. The 18 were automatic qualifiers from the Region Championships and then the athletes with the next six best clear final performances from all five regions were advised three days after Region Championships results were at the office. These additional six places per event involved another 533 athletes who were able to compete at State. ‘Late entries’ are now a well established part of our championships criteria, except of course State Track & Field.

STATE CROSS COUNTRY/ROAD WALKS – 3 July 2011 - Scheyville There were 655 entries for these championships and there were no entries taken on the day as entries closed the week before the championships. Entries were taken online or submitted manually by parents, and when entries had closed centres were advised of their entered runners/walkers so they could organise a team manager. The colour coded courses were very well marked out and again there was no ‘walk the course’, with marshalls covering the whole course. The 3rd of July was a warm winter’s day which made it a very enjoyable championship. Thank you to Kurrajong Bilpin Little Athletics for your great assistance.

TRANS TASMAN TRIALS – Flinders Lake Illawarra Centre hosted the Trans Tasman Trials at Myimbarr Community Park on Sunday, 6 November. Being an away tour, 95 athletes from Under 11 and Under 12 age groups trialled hoping to be selected in the New South Wales team to compete against the Auckland, New Zealand team, from 5–17 January 2012 in Auckland. The state officials conducted the events with their usual expertise and the state selectors selected a very competitive team. Thank you to all involved.

STATE RELAY CHAMPIONSHIPS – Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre Relays were again at SOPAC this season with 1256 teams entered. There were 686 teams entered on the juniors day (under 8–11 years) Saturday, 26 November, and on seniors day (under 12–17 years) Sunday, 27 November, 570 teams were entered.

Many meetings were held regarding programming changes, and as of now our under 12 to under 17 athletes can compete in both track and field relays as long as they manage clashes themselves. Unfortunately, Saturday was very wet and Sunday was sunny but windy, therefore the number of teams actually competing was considerably less than the number entered. As photo-finish was used again, many of last seasons’ first time electronic records were broken.

9 CHAMPIONSHIPS/COMPETITION

TRANS TASMAN CHALLENGE – Auckland On Sunday, 15 January 2012, the Challenge was held at Mt. Smart Stadium in Auckland against the Auckland team. Our team of 95 under 11 and under 12 athletes competed well, achieving many personal bests and were successful in winning the Challenge Cup.

ZONE/REGION CHAMPIONSHIPS – various venues Fifteen Zone Championships were conducted prior to Christmas and the remaining nine Zone Championships were conducted at the end of January or early February. All zones had different track and weather conditions, but all the qualifiers enjoyed their competition and looked forward to the Region Championships which were held over the weekend of 17-19 February. As stated earlier, this was the first time that we had 24 qualifiers to State Championships. Special thanks to our 24 zone coordinators who organised their Zone Championships and also the five region coordinators who organised the Region Championships. Also, thanks to the many host centres, as there is a lot of work needed to prepare their ground and equipment to Zone and Region Championship level, in addition to providing a well-stocked canteen and BBQ. Regions were conducted at Narrabeen - Region 1, Blacktown - Region 2, Bankstown - Region 3, Glendale - Region 4 and Kiama - Region 5. The Meet Manager program was used by all regions. Thanks also to the five LANSW directors who were technical advisors at the five regions.

STATE MULTI-EVENT CHAMPIONSHIPS – Aberdare (Cessnock) Many hours were spent in the organisation of this season’s Multi Event by Cessnock LAC, and unluckily, some of their efforts were just about washed away by the torrential rain. On Saturday, 3 March, it rained all day, but nearly everyone accepted the weather and worked through it and not to mention, all the mud. Sunday, 4 March was sunny, and eventually the temperature was 32 degrees and everyone dried out. Again, our athletes and officials continued in the weather. The total number of athletes entered was 880 (online and manually), however only 715 competed because of the weather. New state records were established as LANSW’s photo-finish was used, plus different weights of throwing implements for some of the older athletes. The under 17 girls and boys events also subtracted discus as an event, but the high jump and javelin were added.

Thank you also to our state officials for traveling to Aberdare, and also a big thank you to the parent helpers who had been rostered to assist by their centre.

STATE TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS – Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre The Championships started on Friday evening 23 March at 6pm and continued over the weekend of 24 and 25 March. Again photo-finish was used for all track events and recognition must be given to ANSW for their assistance in this area. Many PB’s were set by our young athletes, as were 60 state records (50 track and 10 field). Our state selectors had a great challenge in selecting the NSW team of 22 under 13 athletes, who would compete at the Australian Little Athletics Championships on 21 April in Hobart. The four under 15 Multi-Event athletes were selected through their results at the State Multi-Event at Cessnock earlier in the month. Congratulations to everyone involved. Medal presentations were efficient and it was pleasing to see our group of AWD athletes competing in their 3 invitational events on Sunday: 100 metres, discus and long jump. Even though these events have now been conducted for six years, our numbers are not increasing as we had hoped and this year we only had 23 entries.

AUSTRALIAN LITTLE ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIPS - Hobart

10 CHAMPIONSHIPS/COMPETITION

The New South Wales team spirit created by our team management is something worth seeing and this was reflected in their team motto of ‘we not me’. The competitive spirit on 21 April was strong, as one would expect at a national championship, so much so, that we won both the under 13 and the under 15 point scores.

Unfortunately, it was considerably cold, but it did not deter either our athletes or officials. Congratulations to our athletes; thank you to the parents for the support you have given; and special congratulations to our state team managers.

CHAMPIONSHIPS ADVISORY COMMITTEE This past season, the Championships Advisory Committee has met on 11 occasions, as well as, visiting the Multi-Event grounds at Cessnock, Cross Country venues at Scheyville and West Dapto, and the Trans Tasman Trials venue at Flinders (Shellharbour). All throwing implements were weighed prior to all championships, on top of putting up the new shelving in our storage area at SOPAC. The committee members all helped to do some of the ground set up for State Cross Country & Road Walks at Scheyville, State Relays, and State Track and Field Championships at SOPAC. We are now all experts at putting up tents and cabanas in the rain, heat and wind. Thanks go out to Holroyd LAC for allowing us to conduct our meetings in their club house. The Rules of Competition were entirely updated and were put on our website in August 2011. It was once again confirmed that our AWD Little Athletes would again be invited to compete at our State Track & Field Championships in the 100 metres, discus and long jump in the same age groupings U9/U10, U/11/U12, U/13/U14 and U15/U17. The stocktake of all our our equipment stored at SOPAC was another activity of the Championships Advisory Committee for this season, in addition to getting it all ready for transporting to the Trans Tasman Trials, Regions and State Multi-Event.

Heather Mitchell CHAMPIONSHIPS/COMPETITION DIRECTOR

11 MEMBERSHIP/DEVELOPMENT

REGISTRATIONS 2011/2012 SEASON Registrations will again finish up at around 36,000 athletes. Although they are not reaching numbers that we would like, we have at least stopped the downward decline of the past few years. We appear to have bottomed out and can work on registration growth in the coming season.

One factor that has severely impacted on many centre’s last season is the weather. With the very wet spring and summer, some centres were only able to compete on limited days/nights. This has significantly affected our registration numbers.

It is also interesting to note that at the recent Little Athletics Australia conference in Hobart, most of the states advised their registrations were down this season.

Some centres continue to grow and present impressive numbers. Northern Suburbs is one of the centres, who during this season have recorded our highest registration number of 899 athletes; an incredible effort considering the size of their facility. Congratulations to the centres that achieved marked growth in registrations, well done.

NEW CENTRES There were several new/reformed centres this season. Please refer to the Centre Liaison Officer’s report for more detailed information.

We continue to look at potential Little Athletics NSW centres in defined growth areas. Discussions have commenced with Camden Council on possibilities in their local government area.

STRUGGLING CENTRES This season, work has commenced on investigating downward trends in centre registrations. There are a number of potential reasons for these trends. Our aim is to identify the reasons and help the centre reverse them.

ONLINE REGISTRATIONS This system is increasingly playing an important part in registrations. We need centres to encourage and support this method of registration. This season we had 8,800 Little Athletes register and pay online, up from 6,500 last year. There are many advantages in registering this way.

MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE This season we continued to work with the Business Development Advisory Committee. Our main focus was on continuing to review the large amount of information gathered from the parent survey at the end of last season. Athlete retention has continued to be an important focus of this committee.

Work continued on items in the Operational Action Plan as follows:- • Develop a guide/checklist/fact sheet for centres to use when inducting new committee members. • Review athletics facilities in NSW in conjunction with ANSW and develop a facility plan. • Investigate what strategies are used by centres that experience success in registration increases and high retention. • Analyse registration data; identify the reasons for recent decreases in membership and develop strategies to increase retention and recruitment. • Produce a guide for new centres. • Investigate initiatives to better support and assist both new centre’s and those facing operational difficulties. 12 MEMBERSHIP/DEVELOPMENT

With the formation of the Growth Focus Group which has started to cover some of the items this committee was working on, we have decided to suspend this committee for the time being. Members have been offered a position on the Growth Focus Group.

REVIEW OF THE REGISTRATIONS In January, several directors met with relevant LANSW staff members to review registrations in general and the registration system. A number of points were raised and flagged for attention.

GROWTH FOCUS GROUP Through work done by the Membership/Business Development Advisory Committee and from feedback from the above mentioned registration review, the Board of Management decided to form a Growth Focus Group. This group is looking into the future direction of Little Athletics in NSW. The group is investigating and strategically addressing ways of improving centre operation, making it more attractive to potential athletes and parents, and therefore improving athlete numbers and retention.

At our initial meeting it was decided to break the group into three areas:- • Skill development, coordinated by Alvin Umadhay (members are Astrid Lepelaar and Darryl Channells). • Centre programing, coordinated by Matt Andrews (members are Darren Tait and Greg Dickson). • Centre operations, coordinated by Chantelle Grills (members are Sally Richardson, Craig Scott, Ian Adams and Marian Bennett).

The Membership Development Director will coordinate information from the groups and assist where necessary.

This group is seen as an important step in improving centre operation and athlete numbers.

REVIEW OF ATHLETICS FACILITIES IN NSW Work has continued with this review in conjunction with ANSW. Initially we are looking at possible sites in NSW for synthetic tracks and facilities. The sites currently being considered include Dubbo, Orange, Lismore and Armidale. Investigations are still to be done on a facility in South Western NSW. For our sport to grow we will need improved facilities.

Recently we received information that a facility in Dubbo will receive funding and is set to proceed as soon as possible.

Trevor Hinwood MEMBERSHIP/DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

13 29/06/2012

REGISTRATIONS 2011-2012 6081 Region Total

Centre 774 990 678 938 1393 Zone Total 35768 3 6 6 91 58 28 13 57 12 86 82 93 74 19 15 96 22 42 24 70 27 29 41 11 145 144 166 228 109 160 210 175 112 199 178 132 172 104 125 124 235 126 127 180 348 112 157 Reformed Rec'd 5 0 25 25 75 25 95 79 25 25 2 96 25 45 50 25 50 5 25 25 25 175 150 175 125 250 100 115 175 100 220 175 115 105 210 185 150 20 5 120 130 100 100 135 265 130 130 200 350 120 180 ^ Issued ZONE ZONE ZONE y 5 ‐ Wagga

RIVERINA PLAINS RIVERINA Wagga RSL t Wyalong Hill COAST H'LANDS ZONE TOTAL Bowral Dapto Nth Illawarra Billabong Cootamundra Junee Lockhart Temora Tumu Wagga West Griffith Leeton Narrandera Ballimore Narromine Trangie Tullamore Walgett Warren Wellington Bathurst Canowindra Cowra Peak Young Wollondill Ardlethan/Beckom Kooringal Deniliquin Finley Hay Cobar Dubbo Gilgandra Cumnock Mudgee Orange Parkes REGION Wollongong Lake Cargelligo Moulamein Coonamble Dubbo Grenfell Kandos/Rylstone Forbes STH EASTERN WESTERN WESTERN CENTRAL T'LANDS ZONE * * * * * * * # * * * * * * * * * * * * * Nyngan * * ^ 4 Centre 673 Region Total

831 1421 1268 1502 1308 Zone Total 62 84 55 22 27 84 87 95 55 65 95 57 48 67 72 45 130 172 108 309 101 102 108 123 108 108 247 186 105 213 306 141 165 126 171 137 147 193 133 142 102 236 284 280 267 228 132 Rec'd 0 2 90 70 25 25 55 95 70 75 25 74 50 75 150 140 185 125 124 325 110 105 105 125 150 125 150 304 195 100 10 225 35 0 200 175 130 200 150 180 200 150 150 150 275 305 289 275 100 250 160 125 Issued t season # New last r y ZONE y 2011/201 ZONE Basin Cit k 4 5 Terrace Rocks

y ZONE South Par Kurri Illawarra HUNTER Macquarie Stephens MACQUARIE Gardens/Hawks Nes West Camden Haven Forster/Tuncurr Gloucester Kendall Old Bar Port Taree Medowie Tea Thornton Charlestown East Lakes Westlakes Branxton/Greta Cessnock Denman East Maitland Kurri Maitland Merriwa Lake Milton/Ulladulla Shoalhaven Sussex Inlet REGION Stuarts Point Woodberry Macquarie Hunte Southlakes Rutherford REGION Port Kempsey Sth Wauchope Adamstown/N Lamb. Newcastle Raymond Stockton Tilligerr Wallsend Cardiff Edgeworth Kotara Windale Aberdeen Muswellbrook Singleton Albion Kiama St Georges MID NTH COAST ZONE PORT LAKE HUNTER MID SOUTH COAST ZONE * * Higher regos than * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 8588 Region Total 945 767 ‐ REGISTRATIONS 2082 1995 1838 2673

Zone Total 8 7 64 22 47 64 87 24 42 46 91 77 53 36 63 73 65 469 144 365 273 279 308 180 215 266 367 270 410 467 230 595 417 199 176 221 537 480 397 610 257 392 124 100 150 231 117 185 Rec'd 5 25 75 25 75 95 50 50 75 2 80 50 75 90 75 25 495 100 155 524 300 299 309 200 224 272 400 275 466 525 250 610 425 220 181 255 549 500 500 636 275 405 140 110 175 275 100 100 150 224 ATHLETICS Issued LITTLE y y y L k Botan y Valle ZONE RS / 3 4 ZONE

Suburbs Park Par Park Clarence Eastern CITY Wests Hacking Bankstown Sports Cabra ‐ Vale Fairfield Everley Girraween Greystanes Holroyd Tiger Helensburgh Illawong Revesby/Workers St George Sutherland Ambarvale Camden Campbelltown Eschol Ingleburn Balmain Canterbur Eastern Suburbs Western Ballina Bellinger Valle Evans Head Glenreagh Lismore Lower Nambucca Richmond Sawtell/Toormina Urunga Armidale Curlewis Glen Innes Gunnedah Inverell Moree Narrabri Quirindi Tamworth Walcha REGION Port Randwick REGION Manilla Smithfield Douglas South Grafton Woolgoolga MID WEST MET ZONE STH MET ZONE STH WEST MET ZONE INNER NTH RIVERS NEW ENGLAND ZONE * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 9077 5288 Region Total

40274 930 3129 2213 2537 1198 1446 1399 1513 Zone Total 82 48 62 50 491 372 899 421 491 455 603 843 482 285 166 490 418 460 160 381 462 225 116 383 196 196 364 300 252 102 193 187 233 172 367 338 171 118 335 141 137 205 484 276 116 247 125 265 so can receive Rec'd 0 75 75 497 384 934 429 533 474 640 900 529 300 175 504 425 475 180 400 471 299 150 100 450 210 275 399 33 0 260 125 195 250 250 200 375 350 200 150 447 15 175 145 230 494 295 140 395 140 290 Issued date to numbers received registration numbers ZONE r k k y y y s k y Clai additional of original Par Rams 1 2

Blues Hills Hill MET ZONE ‐ Gai y w Valley number issued District MOUNTAINS ‐ Ring at least 50% Hornsby Nth Suburb Nth Rocks/C'ford Riverstone Minchinbur Prospect Western Emu Plains Katoomba Ryde Mosman Terrigal/Wamberal Tuggerah Lakes Wyong Doonside Lethbridge Par Cranebrook Nepean Werrington Green Mt Pritchard Rouse Hill Manly/Warringah Hawkesbur Hills Quakers Woy Mt Druitt Tallawong Parramatta Ku Nth Districts Kings Langle Gosford Toukle Blacktown Colyton/St Liverpool Prestons Robins Glenbrook Total REGION Winston REGION Penrith Valle Cherrybroo Warradale Jamison Kurrajong/Bilpin Lithgo Springwood NTH MET ZONE NTH WEST MET ZONE CENTRAL COAST ZONE WEST MET ZONE OUTER WEST MET ZONE CENTRAL WEST ZONE BLUE NTH EAST * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

14 CENTRE LIAISON OFFICER

What a year it is been for me! I was lucky enough to be appointed as the first Centre Liaison Officer when LANSW (Little Athletics NSW) undertook a staff restructure in June last year. After the interviews were conducted and I was advised that I was the successful applicant, I began this new role after four years as Receptionist.

The role of Centre Liaison Officer was developed to have a greater focus on support, encouragement and assistance for the expansion of existing centres, and assisting new centres to form.

The past year has been a massive learning curve for me!

As I made the job my own, I was able to help many centres throughout NSW who needed assistance, whether it was forming a new centre or working closely with the centres who had notified me of issues: e.g. not being able to hold an AGM due to lack of attendance, or not being able to form a committee; also those who had been declining in registrations over the past few years.

We had two centres commence with us this year. They are Ardlethan Beckom and Tullamore. Also many enquiries were received on the processes involved in forming new centres.

There were 4 Regional Conferences held in 2011 – Tamworth, Wagga Wagga, Coffs Harbour and Mittagong. I was lucky enough to be able to attend three of these where I had the pleasure of meeting many centre personnel.

I was also able to meet with a number of centres at Zone and Regional Championships throughout the season. I went to the South West Metropolitan Zone held at Campbelltown and Region 5 Championships held at Kiama.

Being able to meet centre and zone personnel has been fantastic! I attended the following zone meetings: Blue Mountains, Mid West Metropolitan, North West Met Metropolitan, South West Metropolitan, North East Metropolitan, Central Coast, plus a teleconference with Central Tablelands Zone.

Another part of my job is to visit Little Athletics centres. I attended Western Suburbs, Camden and Emu Plains during the season. Unfortunately the rain prevented me from visiting Hawkesbury City, Mt Pritchard, Minchinbury and Eschol Park. Hopefully the rain won’t be a problem next season!

Trevor Hinwood, LANSW Membership Development Director, and myself, together with Matt Rowan, ANSW (Athletics NSW) Development Manager, have been categorising athletic facilities with the aim of seeing how we can make improvements and develop a facility plan. This is still a work in progress.

As I now administer the Centre Grant Scheme, I was pleased to announce that 9 centres had been successful with their application. The Centre Grant Scheme aims to assist centres throughout NSW, in obtaining track and field equipment and facilities that will better enable them to conduct events for their members.

The Membership and Development Advisory Committee, recommended that centres would benefit from a centre handbook. Some centres already have a handbook, but many don’t. We created a template which has been sent to all centres. Hopefully they will find this a useful tool.

In closing, it has been a lot of hard work in the past year, but also heaps of fun and very rewarding at the end of the day.

A big thank you goes to the LANSW Board of Management, Dereck Fineberg, Trevor Hinwood, Heather Mitchell, Michael Gray, Peter Barnes, Greg Dickson and Neil Sandall for their help and guidance throughout the year.

15 CENTRE LIAISON OFFICER

I would also like to say a huge thank you to LANSW staff, Kerry, Diane, Darren, Alvin, Isabel, Hayley, Georgie, Trish, Amy and Greg for all of their assistance during the past year.

Finally thank you to all centres, centre representatives and zone coordinators who have supported me in my new role. Thank you for being patient.

I look forward to working with you everyone again in the upcoming year.

Chantelle Grills CENTRE LIAISON OFFICER

16 OFFICIALS

The following is a summary of some aspects of the 2011/12 season.

OFFICIALS ADVISORY COMMITTEE I would like to thank the members of the Officials Advisory Committee for their help and support during this season i.e. Heather Mitchell, Diane Levy, Lynne Whatman, Ron Daniel, Michael Gray and Les Kirkland. These officials have given up their time to review a number of aspects of the officials program this year.

APPOINTMENTS PANEL Thank you to the appointments panel of Kim Burton, Neil Sandall and Heather Mitchell for their assistance with the appointment of LANSW officials to State carnivals in 2011/12.

OFFICIALS SEMINARS In order to maintain and improve the quality of officiating, LANSW, through the zone coordinators provided a number of officials instructions seminars. The presenters for these seminars were usually experienced and accredited officials. The seminars provided details of the rules of competition and practical application of those rules. They are more specialised than the rules section of the BEIC courses and aimed at parents/ helpers who wish to specialise in specific events. I thank the zone coordinators and presenters for their help with these seminars.

LANSW KEY OFFICIALS SEMINAR A seminar was held in September for LANSW officials, key officials from zones and regions and others. Agenda items included:- • Changes to rules • Changes to procedures • Wrap-up of previous year’s championship carnivals • Workshop discussing scenarios • General discussion of officiating matters

EDM and wind gauge training sessions were held in the morning prior to the seminar.

ACCREDITATION There was a major change to the D Grade accreditation process this year where the requirement to pass a practical assessment was removed. Applicants still had to pass a theory assessment. There was no change to the requirements for the other grades.

The number of new or updated accreditations passed this year were:- 2011/12 2010/11 D Grade 404 84 C Grade 154 144 B Grade 11 3 A Grade 1 . Total 570 231

Thank you to all the centres and zone coordinators who encouraged parents to obtain accreditations.

17 OFFICIALS

OFFICIALS Volunteers are the backbone of Little Athletics; they fulfil a whole range of duties from the athletic officials on the field to the equipment officers, recorders, etc. Thank you to all the people who have given up their time and volunteered to officiate this season. Without your assistance none of the Little Athletics carnivals can happen.

CARNIVALS Changes to carnivals this season often meant that these officials were working longer hours or more days at most carnivals. I therefore wish to give a special thank you to the dedicated band of LANSW officials who officiated at State carnivals this season. I would also thank the centre helpers who fulfilled their rosters at championship events.

The following is a table of the number of positions filled by LANSW officials and allocated to centres at State Carnivals.

Carnival Association Officials Centre Allocation (positions) 2011 Cross Country 45 Trans Tasman Trials 79 State Relays 87 94 (Sat) 91 (Sun) State Multi 85 50 (Sat) 49 (Sun) State Track and Field 109 (Fri) 115 (Sat) 76 (Sat) 56 (Sun) 129 (Sun) 51 (Sun)

Peter Barnes OFFICIALS DIRECTOR

18 COACHING & DEVELOPMENT

What a big year it was for the coaching and development team! In total, through the regular programs such as school visits, camps and clinics, the team came into contact with approximately 84,000 school-aged children. This figure does not include ‘one-off’ events such as disability days, community programs and special appearances.

This report is for the period 1 April 2011 to 30 March 2012 unless otherwise stated.

DEPARTMENT RESTRUCTURE The staff restructure resulted in the new title of “Coaching & Development” for this department, which clearly identifies the role of the staff members involved. The coaching & development team consists of Alvin Umadhay (Coaching & Development Officer), Darren Wensor (Coaching & Development Officer), Scott Westcott (Regional Athletics Coordinator), Nick Bromley (Greater Western Sydney Development Officer) and Isabel Menton (Coaching & Development Administrator).

Nick Bromley joined the team during the 2011/2012 season in a dual role representing both Little Athletics NSW and Athletics NSW. Nick’s primary role is to service Greater Western Sydney in all aspects of both Little Athletics and seniors. Isabel Menton has only recently joined Little Athletics NSW and replaces Hayley McBurney. Isabel’s role is coordinating programs such as LAPS (Little Athletics Program for Schools) and ITC (Introduction to Coaching) courses and providing administration support to the coaching & development officers. We welcome Nick and Isabel into our family and hope that they “enjoy the ride”.

We would also like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the entire Little Athletics family, to thank Hayley McBurney for all her dedication, hard work and friendship over the last eleven years, and wish her and her family the best in their future endeavours.

COACH OF THE YEAR To promote, encourage and reward quality Little Athletics coaching, LANSW and the ATFCA NSW Branch cooperated for the 14th successive year to organise the Little Athletics Coach of the Year Award. Nine eligible nominations were received. Congratulations to Astrid Lepelaar who was presented with the award at the State Track & Field Championships in March.

CAMPS & CLINICS PROGRAM The camps and clinics program in 2011/12 was well attended and overall a great success. In total, 1302 young athletes participated in a LANSW camp or clinic.

CHRISTMAS CAMP The 2011 Christmas Camp was held at Blue Gum Lodge, Springwood and was open to LANSW registered athletes in the U9-U15 age groups. A total of 79 athletes attended the camp.

SCHOOL HOLIDAY COACHING CLINICS During 2011/12, twelve school holiday coaching clinics were held throughout New South Wales. These clinics were open to registered and non-registered athletes and were promoted as ‘come and try’ clinics. A total of 506 athletes participated in a school holiday clinic.

SPEED FOR SPORT CLINIC 2011 saw the Speed for Sport Clinic being held in Orange. This clinic preceded the LANSW AGM/ Conference. A total of 96 athletes registered for the clinic, which was 23 more than the previous year. 19 COACHING & DEVELOPMENT

SKILLS CLINIC DUBBO 2011 saw a skills clinic being held in Dubbo. 45 athletes attended from various locations, such as Albion Park, Cowra, Cobar and Young. This weekend clinic was the culmination of a proactive request by locals for “something to happen in Dubbo”. The clinic followed a rotational multi-event format with the addition of triple jump and javelin for the older age groups.

MULTI-EVENT SUPER CLINIC The 2011 LANSW Multi-Event Super Clinic was to be held in November and hosted by Cessnock LAC. Due to the lack of registrations, this clinic was cancelled.

NORTH WEST SUPER CLINIC This clinic was again conducted in Tamworth as a partnership arrangement between Little Athletics NSW and NSW Sport and Recreation. The 2011 North West Athletics Super clinic was in its 8th year and the relationship/partnership between the two organisations continues to be strong. The clinic was again open to both registered and non-registered athletes. It was disappointing that only thirty-six athletes attended the clinic. Registrations have been in steady decline over the past few years. After discussions with NSW Sport & Recreation, various changes are to be made: • The clinic is to be held in at the start of the LANSW season in October, rather than July as in previous years • The clinic is to be hosted by Tamworth LAC at their venue, which allows access to equipment and purposely built fields rather than just school grounds • The clinic can possibly be used as training opportunities for centre coaches.

LANSW SOPAC SUPER CLINIC The 2012 Super Coaching Clinic took place at Sydney Olympic Park on Monday, 16 January and Tuesday, 17 January. Nearly 80 athletes in the under 12–17 age groups enjoyed a program that included coaching sessions, a swim at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre and visits by several former Little Athletes who have gone on to achieve great success in their chosen sports.

Former Australian and NSW Origin rugby league player Eric Grothe Jnr chatted and even trained with the athletes, while World Championships 4 x 100m relay representative Hayley Butler, and World Youth Octathlon Champion and record holder Jake Stein spent time fielding questions from the group.

INTRODUCTION TO COACHING COURSES (ITC) In 2011, two Introduction to Coaching (ITC) courses were completed, attracting a total of 60 participants. This is disappointing as the ITC has proven in the past to be a fantastic beginner coaching course for age managers, parents and volunteers involved in Little Athletics.

JUNIOR ENCOURAGEMENT & TALENT SQUAD (JETS) The 2011-2012 JETS program proved the most successful so far since its introduction three seasons ago. The program boasted more than 170 members, the highest number of members since the program’s inception. Part of the program’s growth was due to the introduction of the under 12 age group and a revision and modification of qualifying performances. As well as the expansion of the potential target market, the awareness of the program continued to grow. Some of this was due to the offer of invitational places at many JETS clinics, where non-members in specific category could attend for a higher fee.

Another development within the program was the introduction of the JETS Performance Coaching Camp, conducted 13-15 July at the Sydney Academy of Sport & Recreation. 20 COACHING & DEVELOPMENT

LITTLE ATHLETICS PROGRAMS FOR SCHOOLS (LAPS) For the purpose of this report, LAPS will be covering the 2011 school calendar: February 2011 to December 2011.

Over the course of 2011, a total of 46 schools directly booked the Little Athletics Program for Schools.

In the Newcastle area, eight schools booked for the Little Athletics Program for Schools.

In 2011 we offered to help officiate at school athletics carnivals. A total of three booked this service, compared to four in 2010.

Another 18 schools participated in LAPS through the LANSW School Visit Program and also during country coaching clinics. Therefore, the total number of schools that participated in LAPS was 64.

The program took place over 88 days in 2011, compared to 95 in 2010 and 74 in 2009.

A total of 45,025 students participated in LAPS this year, compared to 37,239 in 2010 and 35,467 in 2009.

94% of these students participated in the program for more than one day.

26 days were affected by wet weather and 14 days were re-scheduled, with 12 days not rescheduled.

72% of the schools had previously participated in the Little Athletics Program for Schools. There were 13 new schools this year.

SCHOOL VISITS The 2011 LANSW School Visit program took place between Tuesday, 20 July 2011 and Friday, 16 September 2011. As in previous years, the development team conducted early school visits in May/June as requested by Trangie LAC (a new centre) and Moree LAC.

A total of 55 centres (49 in 2010) requested school visits. Nine centres cancelled all or part of their school visits (five in 2010). Therefore, officially 46 centres received visits from LANSW, visiting 38,541 students (34,191 students in 2010).

LANSW again offered LAPS coaching sessions instead of presentations to centres that continuously visited the same schools or found it difficult to attract schools to the program. Again, as in 2010, an effort was made to ensure that if any school participated in LAPS, a presentation was conducted to the classes not involved in the coaching sessions. This was to make sure there was some type of direct contact with every child in the school.

Three elite athletes made appearances during the school visit program - Melinda Gainsford-Taylor, Jake Stein and an impromptu appearance by Nick Bromley.

Melinda’s availability was limited to the visiting of schools within the North Sydney/northern beaches area due to other commitments. The centres Melinda represented were Wakehurst Little Athletics Club, Mosman LAC and Northern Districts LAC.

Jake Stein, via Hayden Knowles (Pirtek Athletics Allstars) agreed to be involved with the program. Jake represented Kings Langley LAC and Hawkesbury City LAC.

This worked well as Jake had not long returned from the World Youth Games after winning gold in the Octathlon with a world record point score.

21 COACHING & DEVELOPMENT

New Greater Western Sydney Development Officer, Nick Bromley was invited to observe a school visit presentation. Nick was also utilised as part of the presentation, as an elite athlete and ex-Little Athlete. Nick represented Mosman LAC and Wakehurst Little Athletics Club on the day.

The 2011 School Visit program was very successful with all the aims for the program met. The reactions from centres when seeing a visit is usually: “I don’t understand why more centres are not requesting/being involved with the program?” The 2012 School Visit program will directly coincide with the 2012 Olympic Games, which offers great leverage in the promotion of the sport.

2012 STATE TEAM Congratulations to the 2012 NSW State Team which won both the Trevor Billingham trophy for the under 13 point score and the life members trophy for under 15 point score at the ASICS Australian Little Athletics Championships on Saturday, 21 April at The Domain Athletic Centre, Hobart.

It was a wonderful performance by a fantastic NSW team. Some stand-out team statistics include:

• The under 13 team won the Trevor Billingham trophy for overall point score. • The under 15 team won the Life Members trophy for overall point score. • It was only the second time the NSW team had won both the Under 13 and Under 15 point score at the same championships. • The day saw the NSW team members achieve more than 18 personal best performances. • In the 33 events on offer, the NSW team achieved 28 medals (11 gold, 9 silver and 8 bronze). • The team achieved 48 top 8 performances. • The team achieved one ABP (Australian Best Performance), two electronic ABPs and one electronic championship record.

Many thanks to Brigitte Bannister and Kerry Smith who joined staff members Darren Wensor and Alvin Umadhay to prepare and manage the team.

TEACHER TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT Only one teacher training workshop was conducted 2011/2012. 22 teachers from Glendenning Public School participated in a full-day teacher workshop.

PIRTEK ALLSTARS CLINIC & CELEBRITY RELAY Over the last few years LANSW and the Pirtek Allstars’ Hayden Knowles, have worked together to boost the profile of athletics in Australia, the Athletic Allstars elite athletes and participation of Little Athletes. Darren Wensor assisted with the Allstars coaching clinic featuring ex-Little Athletes Dani Samuels, Jarrod Geddes, Hayley Butler and Jarryd Hayne. This clinic was held during the LANSW State Relays. Alvin Umadhay also assisted with the Athletic Allstars Celebrity Relay featuring ex-Little Athlete Matt Shirvington at the Sydney Track Classic.

SENSORY & PHYSICAL DISABILITY ATHLETICS COME & TRY DAY Little Athletics NSW again supported this annual event with through the presence and active involvement of Coaching & Development Officer Darren Wensor.

PREMIER SPORTING CHALLENGE LEADERSHIP COURSE The development team attended three days (Central Coast, Western Sydney and North West Sydney) in support of this inititaive. 22 COACHING & DEVELOPMENT

REGIONAL ATHLETICS COORDINATOR NEWSCASTLE/HUNTER Scott Westcott The year ending in April 2012 was successful in many ways. It saw new initiatives such as the Schools Knockout making a home in the Hunter and key events like the Festival of Sport Coaching Clinics and Hunter Track Classic continuing to develop. This report will outline the projects undertaken in the previous 12 months and also highlight the challenges that face the area for continued growth to occur.

Strategic Objectives The strategic objectives for the regional coordinator have remained the same for the past three years: 1. To use a number of strategies to increase the number of dual registration-aged athletes across both LANSW centres and ANSW clubs. 2. To provide support in establishing a sustainable winter and summer competition. 3. To work with local coaches in delivering the LAPS (Little Athletics Program for Schools) across the region.

PROJECTS 2011 Winter Series The three-part Winter Athletics Series were all held at the Hunter Sports Centre Glendale from May – July. Now in its third year, the winter series provides opportunities for Australian team members to achieve pre-departure standards, senior athletes an avenue to compete over winter and provides school-aged athletes exposure to ANSW competitions. There were 280 entrants across the three meets.

Schools Knockout – Hunter Round The schools knockout is a terrific tool that can be used to connect with secondary schools and students. In its first year, the Hunter round had 18 teams participating in all 6 categories. The best performing winning team would have finished 8th once results were combined with the SOPAC round which was held a week later. The schools knockout will be expanded to include a Central Coast round in 2012.

Coaching Clinics There were five coaching clinics held in the region. The largest was the Hunter Festival of Sport Clinic that has become part of a two week-long multi-sport festival held in the July holidays. This clinic was held over two days and had 90 athletes participating and employed 10 coaches. The other clinics included 2 x Little Athletics centre based clinics and the Hunter Track Classic Clinic that in its second year received terrific support from participants and marquee athletes including Benn Harradine, Dani Samuels and Tamsyn Manou.

Skills Nights To support the skill development in Little Athletics centres skills nights were offered where coaches attended a regular competition night and demonstrated skills games and drills. While two centres were beneficiary to these skills nights it is hoped that they can be used more widely in future.

Little Athletics Program for Schools (LAPS) This program continued to be in demand from primary schools looking to further the athletics skills of its students and staff. The program improves the visibility of Little Athletics within schools and provides opportunity to develop coaches with a total of eight coaches employed on a casual basis in the program.

Little Athletics Schools Visits This is probably the most powerful recruitment tool that Little Athletics has leading into each new season. The format of a school visit is a 40 minute presentation to a school cohort. The schools to be visited are organised by the local centre and several schools may be visited in a single day. Over 35 schools were visited in the Hunter Area between July and September 2011.

NSW All Schools Multi and Hunter All Schools The NSW All Schools Multi Championships were again held at the Hunter Sports Centre. To support the relatively small fields that the multi attracts an individual event program was established and named the 23 COACHING & DEVELOPMENT

‘Hunter All Schools’. 80 individual athletes from around the region and beyond took the opportunity to compete at the meet, many using it as a ‘tune up’ for NSW All Schools three weeks later.

Recruitment and Development of Officials Whist no formal structure exists, the benefit of hosting several permit meets in the region is the continued exposure for local officials to oversee permit level competition. The experienced senior officials from the Central Coast/Hunter have been generous in welcoming new officials to the ranks. ANSW acknowledges the commitment from these senior officials!

Coach Development A level one ‘Beginning Coaching’ course was held in February 2011. The course was successful with a dozen young and developing coaches taking the first steps in receiving formal qualifications. Unfortunately there were no further opportunities to attend accredited courses in the region in 2011.

The Hunter Track Classic The 2012 Hunter Track Classic held on Saturday, 21 January. This time the event had received National Series status from Athletics Australia, meaning it was part of the series of elite level meets culminating in the Olympic Trials in early March. The success of the 2012 event can again be directly attributed to the level of local support it receives; local business partners, widespread media coverage, officials and volunteer involvement, athletes, coaches, ANSW clubs and Little Athletics centres. Alison Fairweather provided ANSW with administration support that was crucial in running a smooth event.

• 291 athletes took part • 63 athletes were from interstate • 85 international athletes (USA, UK and PNG) • 73 Athletics NSW officials ran the event • 60+ uniform volunteers assisted • 130 Little Athletes from 40 centres attended the All Stars Clinic on Sunday morning • Presence of guest elite athletes Ben Harradine, Dani Samuels, Tamsyn Manou, and Jake Stein • Seven Little Athletics teams contested the Australian Little Athletics Team Challenge, this included ACT, Tasmania and five zone teams • The gate takings were up 75% indicating more attendance • We had 140,000 viewing minutes with our own video livestream • Comprehensive print coverage in the Maitland Mercury, Newcastle Herald, Newcastle Star and Run for Your Life magazine • Online coverage on several athletics websites including Runners Tribe, Inside Athletics, Athletics NSW and Athletics Australia • Comprehensive coverage by NBN Television including a 30 second TVC • Radio coverage increased with 2HD and local and Central Coast FM radio stations pre meet

GWS (GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY) DEVELOPMENT OFFICER Nick Bromley Little Athletics and Athletics NSW introduced the Greater Western Sydney Development Officer role late October 2011. The role came about due to funding from the Australian Sports Commission. This role had a number of duties, not only to service and develop the clubs and centres of the Greater Western Sydney area but to primarily increase the exposure of the sport of track and field in the region. Since the role has been introduced there have been a number of positive outcomes achieved.

School Carnivals Blacktown International Sports Park hosts over 50 school carnivals and various zone and regional championships from May until September. This enables this role to gain an introduction and communication between schools and centres/clubs of athletics in NSW. These contacts are added into the data base which

24 COACHING & DEVELOPMENT

is building and by October will give access to over 50 schools (30,000 athletes) who entered through the gates of the Athletics Centre.

Holiday Coaching Clinics The GWS coaching clinics proved popular with the new coaching clinic structure being very popular. Two clinics where held at Blacktown International Athletics Centre on the 6th of January and (every school holiday period) attracted 86 participants. This was a great result for the inaugural clinic with each junior clinic reaching maximum numbers. We look forward to building the momentum from these clinics in the coming months.

GWS Summer Series Competition is central to the life of athletes, coaches, officials and clubs/centres. The GWS Summer Series was developed to provide a first opportunity to athlete’s coaches and officials in the area to compete in a low key relaxed atmosphere under ANSW permitted rules. The series was a huge success and we look forward to providing more official competitions next summer under the same name.

Coaching Education Two coaching education courses where conducted in the area this year. A level 1 and a Level 3 course were conducted with S.E.A.L (Sports Education and Leadership) at Blacktown and Sydney Olympic Park.

All Schools Relay Championships One of the main competitions that will be driven to schools and clubs through winter is the All Schools Relays Championships to be held on 30 August 2012. This will be a new competition which helps to create a way of connecting schools into the LANSW and ANSW community.

Community Events Panthers on the Prowl: a community program organised through Panthers Rugby League Club, conducts a sports expo in which LANSW has been involved since its inception. The one-day expo aims to expose and encourage school children to participate in a variety of sports and lead a healthy lifestyle. LANSW Coaching & Development Officer, Darren Wensor and GWS Development Officer, Nick Bromley attended in 2011 to conduct game-based coaching activities. In total we were able to contact approximately 500 children and promote the various local centres in Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains.

2012 Blacktown City Fun Run/Walk: A “Come and Try” clinic in conjunction with the Blacktown City Fun Run/Walk was conducted and lead by Olympian (and ex-Little Athlete) Cheryl Webb.

There are positive plans in place to continue the steady momentum gained in this initial year. The LANSW School Visits program will begin in August as well as directing the All Schools Relays. Coach education will take a prime focus in the lead up to summer as well as delivering GWS Clinics during every school holidays. This role will play an important part to not only capitalise on the growth of Greater Western Sydney, but, to help increase communication between Athletics NSW and Little Athletics NSW to improve the sporting pathways of all athletes.

I would like to also take this opportunity to thank the staff of Athletics NSW, Little Athletics NSW and Athletics Australia for their continued support. A special mention should be given to all centres and respective administrators who have got behind this program.

THANK YOU In conclusion, many thanks to our casual coaches who have supported the coaching & development staff over the last twelve months without whom many of the programs and services would be impossible to conduct.

A special thankyou to all our guest athletes who have taken time out to support Little Athletics by giving 25 COACHING & DEVELOPMENT

back to the sport and inspiring the next generation athletes.

Thank you to all the centres, centre representatives/volunteers and zone coordinators who have assisted or involved themselves with various development initiatives.

Finally, a big thank you to the LANSW Board of Management and fellow staff members for all of their support and assistance during the last twelve months.

Darren Wensor & Alvin Umadhay COACHING & DEVELOPMENT OFFICERS

Isabel Menton COACHING & DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATOR

Nick Bromley GWS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

Scott Westcott REGIONAL ATHLETICS COORDINATOR

26 RESOURCES

The 2011/2012 financial year continued the growth of LANSW financially and in the strength of net assets of the organisation. In 2012/2013 LANSW will need to review its foundations and revisit the growth of the organisation back through its membership base and ensure that it is strong and will allow us to grow in the future.

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE Income was $23,519 or 1.7% above budget. During the year we received a government grant via the Australian Sports Commission which has allowed NSW to employ a development officer in targeted areas. Registrations were $54,114 below budget and needs concentrated attention in specific areas across the State.

Positive growth in income was seen in coaching camps and clinics, sponsorship and interest earned.

During the year we hosted the ALAC Championships which bought in additional income and costs related with that event.

Expenditure was $9,817 or 0.5% above budget for the year.

Championships expenditure was below budget. This was mainly due to the fact that we were able to run the ALAC Championship in April below budget and below the income that it generated.

A major upgrade of computer software and consequential computer support was made during the year with the implementation of new office software. In addition we had the purchase of 27 Meet Manager licences for all of the zones and for the additional three regions across the State.

A replacement was made of a large number of marquees and pop up shelters based on safety issues. In addition some purchases of throws equipment was made for the three additional regions.

Part of the cost of developing the online official’s exams was provided for in the financial year.

The additional development officer which was not budgeted for in income also meant unbudgeted expendi- ture in relation to salaries and motor vehicle costs.

The Trans Tasman Tour is planned every second year and is based on estimated costs for airline tickets, exchange rates and other costs on tour. A risk is taken by LANSW on the actual costs, which could increase or reduce the actual costs when ultimately incurred. This year those costs were less and resulted in a surplus but the actual costs could also be more with any given tour and result in a loss.

BALANCE SHEET The most significant item on the Balance Sheet was the strengthening of the asset base and the utilisation of an investment strategy which has improved the returns to LANSW. The purchase of new computers in the office, two additional Electronic Distance Measuring equipment and a vehicle for the extra development officer accounted for the increases in fixed assets for the year.

Greg Dickson RESOURCES DIRECTOR

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