ATHLETICS TAIERI INC. 60th Annual Report and Statement of Accounts for the year 2016/2017. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Thursday 21st September, 2017. Clubrooms, Memorial Park, Mosgiel. OFFICERS OF THE CLUB FOR THE PAST YEAR 2016/2017 Patron B. Cashmere and T. Bent Life Members R.I.Bates, T.E.Bent, B.Cashmere, B.J.Findlay, R.J.Findlay, M Gibbons, R.Gough, F Harvey, L Mackay, D May, R.A.Mears, A.A.Merrilees, J.C. Merrilees, W Nisbet, R.J.O’Brien, L.C.Taylor, R.T.Urquhart, M Weddell, P Wyber. President L. Mackay Immediate Past President I.G. Harvey Vice Presidents – Children A Beattie Harriers R.T. Urquhart Senior A McDonald Executive Secretary R.T. Urquhart Executive Treasurer R.B. Linklater Club Executive L. Mackay, R. B. Linklater, R. T. Urquhart, Trustees – Trophies Children Harrier W. Nisbet Senior R. Ashton Coaching Convenor R. T. Urquhart Club Statistiian T. E. Bent Webmaster B Watt BUILDING & GROUND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE Convenor D. May Committee A.A. Merrilees, S. McKay, B. Sharkey. CLUB DELEGATES Otago Children J. McNally, A. Beattie Otago Masters F. Harvey ATHLETICS OTAGO INC. Athletics Otago Board R.I. Bates, M.J. Gibbons (Chair) Cross Country Committee B. Sharkey Track & Field Committee A. A. Merrilees, ******************************** CHILDREN’S COMMITTEE Convenor A Beattie Treasurer B. J. Findlay Committee S Thompson, M McKenzie, P Eley, P Gibbons, G Beattie L. Mackay (ex officio) HARRIER COMMITTEE Convenor R. T. Urquhart Secretary L Barnes Treasurer D Millis Club Captain P. Wyber Deputy Club Captain D. Millis Committee Everyone SENIOR COMMITTEE Convenor A McDonald Secretary D Gouvenour Treasurer D. May Committee J Merrilees, R Bates, A Merrilees, M Gibbons, J M c N a l l y . ***************************************** President’s Report The Strength of Athletics Taieri is its members and the strength of its members is the Club.... those were the words of Ian Harvey who was President when I took over the position, and I would like to think going forward those words ring true. It is my pleasure to present my annual report. As I reflect on the past seven years, I am reminded of the highs and lows of the club. We have lost some very significant members – Keith Knox, Bert O’Brian, Margaret Taylor, and most recently Trevor Bent & Russell Findlay. The dedication, commitment and passion they gave to the club were second to none. Within the club all, our athletes are striving to be the best they can and I commend them for always giving their all. We have had many athletes achieve at the highest level of their competitions, and coaches that have also been recognised for their commitment to the sport. Raylene Bates was awarded ‘Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit’ for Services to sport ‐ particularly athletics that is a credit to her passion to see all athletes achieve to their potential. I would like to thank the children’s committee lead by Angie for continuing to deliver Tuesday night’s programme and being in charge on Saturdays at the Caledonian. Over the years it always been a struggle to get parent support and I do not see it changing in the immediate future, but I hope we can continue to offer a programme that is inclusive for all athletes. Peter also for running the Kiwi Sport section – these wee athletes are our future winners. The senior section, guided by Alan, although having a large number of members struggles to attract athletes on a Tuesday night and a small number of officials continue to hold things together. Over the years, there have been many changes to the programme and going forward it would be detrimental to the section and the athletes coming up from the children’s section if we lost the Tuesday events in some form. The clubs harrier section lead by Rob and supported by Pam as club captain has again continued to grow and attract a variety of new walkers and runners. Robs sports round up reports continues to highlight the sections weekly antics. Athletes have attended various events such as Lovelock Relay, Edmund Cup and Peninsula Relay along with a couple of half marathons & 10 km walks/runs for a number of the members. There are many supporters of the club that do not always get recognised but to thank a few – Donal for always keeping the building up to speed and being instrumental in the upgrade of the toilet facilities it has certainly made a huge difference to the areas, and also being on the spot to help move things and clean up when we had the flooding. Alex and Joan for always keeping me updated with things that needed sorted, to Ross for all his work on the finances and help with grant applications, I would also like to thank all the committee people for their input to the club; a small but very important group that continues to do their bit for the club and athletes. The sections work well together in fundraising events and grant applications have been very successful for a building upgrade and general expenses for which we are grateful to Bendigo Trust. I would also like to thank Bev for always being there with info I may have missed and all her paper cut outs for me and also to Rob who really has been a tremendous support as my ‘temporary’ secretary as well as a mentor, his guidance and enthusiasm and often humour has helped me keep on top of things over the years. As I close off for the final time, with what is our 60th Annual Report I would like to wish the club all the best for the future and say, how much I have enjoyed working with all the sections over the past seven years. And to quote Trevor Bent – ‘the harder you train, the luckier you get’ Lyn Mackay President Building and Grounds 2016 / 2017 Grounds: Our thanks must go to Raylene and Alex for their liaison with the DCC. New contractors marked the track for our regular Tuesday night meetings. Also thanks to Alex who marked out additional Field markings on the Park plus assistance with building maintenance. Building: Projects The Major project undertaken during this time was the recently completed toilet area upgrade plus the creation of wheel chair accessible cubical. Flood: Late September during a period of heavy rain ground water entered the clubrooms. The impact was minimised due to the assistance of Rob, Alex, Michael and their respective teams, with the initial bale out, mop up and disinfection. As convenor, I extend my thanks to my fellow committee members and others who have assisted to keep the facilities both functional, clean and tidy. Donal May In Memory of Russell Finlay Russell Findlay, who passed away on 25 August 2017 had been a member of Athletics Taieri since the early 1970’s and was the Club President from 1975 till 1979, and he was Club Secretary in the 80’s. He was also Athletics Otago President for 3 years in the early 80’s. In 1991 both Russell and Bev received Athletics New Zealand Long Service Award to Clubs. And in 1996 was awarded Life Membership by the Taieri Club ‐ Athletics Otago and he also became a Life Member of New Zealand Children’s Athletics Association. Russell semi‐retired from Athletics round 2000. Russell was also involved quite a lot with selecting and managing of Otago Under 18 Teams for New Zealand Championships and Otago Interprovincial teams. Russell and Bev were also heavily involved with Colgate Games throughout the regions for many years. Individuals like Russell who gave so much of their time to the sport, are a rarity now, his commitment, dedication, and his relatively quiet demeanour, meant that a lot of the stuff he did for the Taieri club, Otago children’s athletics and the wider Otago senior scene, often went un‐noticed. But he was always there!!! He was dependable, the answer was ‘YES’. Russell was always present for working bees at the clubrooms, and he was an avid supporter of the club’s efforts to secure permanent clubrooms, and his commitment was second to none when it came to the welfare of the Taieri club. Russell and Bev were known locally among the children as …… Mr & Mrs Athletics. He would run Bev to meetings, picking her up when they finished, and he would deliver Minutes and Annual reports around Mosgiel, to make sure everyone received them. He was always happy to contribute where he could. Russell was always there as an official on Saturday morning and afternoons at the Caledonian, he was ever present at the Tuesday night club meetings, and he coached many junior athletes, always proud of what they had achieved. He volunteered his, and Bev’s time as officials and timekeepers in the winter season, standing out in all weathers to record club championships. He would even ring Rob on occasions, when there was no report in the local paper re the Harrier activities. Even after Russell retired from being actively involved with the club he still took a keen interest in how many of the athletes were going.... and often quoted athlete’s times and distances they had achieved either on a Tuesday night or events at the Cale. We have been fortunate to have had Russell’s on‐going contribution to the club and his presence will be sorely missed. CHILDREN’S SECTION –2016/2017 The Taieri Children’s section this year again had a good number of athletes returning from last season and also a lot of new children.