2003 – 2004 Annual Report CycleSport Victoria President’s Report Finance I am delighted to announce that for the sixth year running, CycleSport Victoria has returned a trading surplus and we have achieved what I believe is an excellent result. I commend the ongoing work by the Board and Staff in keep ing costs to a minimum with a special mention to Trevor Wilkie. As Finance Director he has ensured that CSV remain accountable, whilst ensuring that the membership is being serviced and the staff are working in comfortable conditions. We now approach a ver y important period at our new home where we face a considerable increase in costs, especially whilst setting up the facility. In terms of significant purchases that have been made, the timing equipment for DISC has been purchased, two new computers, new colour printer, new race radios along with a new refrigerator for the office. Membership CSV continue to place an emphasis on their servicing of the membership. We continue to explore all avenues in order to provide a greater level and range of servicing to our members. There has been a new website set up and continues to lead the field in providing up -to-date information relevant to our membership. The website is an excellent resource for our members along with the general public and now with the int rod uct ion of on -line entry, we have received some excellent feedback on the convenience and reliability of race entry via this method. In terms of membership figures, we are down on last year’s total by 31 members after increasing the figure by 207 last year. In terms of where the shortfall comes, Victoria follows the National trend in that 15’s and 17’s continue to fall. This is a matter which is high on the agenda at National level and an issue which will no doubt be heavily discussed at the November Council m eeting of the ACF. This figure represents the first overall drop in membership for four years. CSV have an additional 500-od d Aud ax members affiliated with it on top of this figure. Vodafone Arena It was encouraging to see that in the fourth season of promo t ions at Vodafone Arena there was finally a small surplus returned by the promoters. Albeit that it was due to severe cost cutting and not because of an increase in crowd numbers. With Cyclists International looking down the barrel at one point, it is exce llent 2003 – 2004 Annual Report CycleSport Victoria to see that they have put up their hand to run another track season at Vodafone Arena this season. Darebin International Sports Centre Construction has almost been completed at the Darebin International Sports Centre and we are likely to be racing o n t he new track in January 2005 for the Victorian Track Championships. The Licencing Agreement with City of Darebin has been signed after a few modifications have been made to a few areas of concern which were identified. We have had a reasonable resp onse from the clubs and the sub -committee have met with those who have demonstrated an interest. Now that we have a firmer date in mind for track completion we can now work towards finalising the individual agreements. We intend to have open racing every Friday night through the Summer and will be racing right throughout the Winter season with endurance points and madison racing. If the Winter racing proves popular then we intend to take this up to two nights per week. Major Events World Track Championships – As you are all aware, Melbourne hosted the World Track Championships in 2004 and the event was very successful. This was probably Melbourne’s greatest ever track racing event, complemented by excellent fields and world class racing. It was a great lead up t o the Olympics in Athens as the Australian team proved. The event returned a surplus to Australian Cycling of approximately $90,000. It is hoped that Victoria will see a component of this money for our work with the bid and the budget. Womens World Cup – In 2004 this event was again a success with some excellent racing. This will be on again in 2005. CSV have been and once again will be heavily involved in the conduct of this event . Victorian Cyclist of the Year – The 2004 awards night was quite w ell sup p orted and in 2005 we hope to increase the level of attendance when it is hosted at DISC. We would hope to see our members to continue to support this event. I would like to thank the Maillot Jaune club, especially John Green for their assistance w it h t his night. Also the work of the sub -committee once again this year was tireless from David Good, Mathew Wright and Christine Bell. We are looking at potentially holding the event in June next year. 2003 – 2004 Annual Report CycleSport Victoria Racing/Officials This is the reason why CSV exists and withou t open racing, especially on the road, its survival would be severely jeopardised. I would like to thank all the clubs and promoters involved in Victorian Open Racing, ensuring that we do have the best calendar in Australia. I wish to thank Ian Maher and Steve Peterson for their work from the office helping to ensure that the job of our officials is made easier and our riders’ experience is a good one. While on the officials I would like to thank them all for their hard work at open level but also club level. Without our officials to umpire our sport and ensure the safety of our riders, the sport simply would not exist. It is encouraging to see that over 170 members have chosen to undertake the club commissaire accreditation. Premises As you are probably aware, our offices have been re-located to the new DISC from our temporary home at William St in West Melbourne. This has led to a new security and phone system and it is good to see that the staff will finally be operating in comfortable conditions. Now t hat we are in a permanent home we can now begin to look towards setting up the facility, incorporating a memorabilia display. There has been a contribution from CFAC of around $20,000 which will go towards the setting up of this display. If there are any m embers with any older items which they would like to see displayed in the collection I would encourage them to pass these onto the office. Development Once again we have had a rollover of Development Officers this year and Warren Vigor has now replaced Kerrie Baumgartner. The Schools Championships were once again conducted in 2004 with over 700 entries. The key is to find out exactly how many of these participants are joining cycling clubs after the Championships and this is something we must focus on in future Championships. I would like to thank all the clubs which assisted in the conduct of the zone finals and to the Maillot Jaune who once again donated $2000 towards prizemoney. With DISC, we are now presented with some exciting opportunities for develo pment for all ages. Warren’s position should prove to be very busy in the coming seasons. His first development camp proved to be extremely successful with 53 participants, after previous camps had been cancelled due to lack of numbers. Staff 2003 – 2004 Annual Report CycleSport Victoria CSV is f unct ioning very successfully at present and much of this comes down to the commitment and dedication shown by our staff members. Ian Maher, Steve Peterson and Amy McCann have performed admirably throughout the year in the conduct of their various duties and Warren Vigor in the short time he has been with us has been very busy, working on his various projects. Their roles will no doubt expand and develop once DISC is fully operational and it promises to offer a major challenge to them and one which I hope they can embrace. Volunteers A special thankyou goes to all the volunteers, of which there are many in cycling, whose time and dedication spent around events and within clubs is much appreciated. The sport would not be anywhere near the position it is in at present if not for the tireless efforts of these people. Club officials, marshalls, commissaires etc are all unpaid positions, but are of vital importance in the ongoing work of this organisation and Victorian Cycling. CSV Board I would like to take this opp ortunity to personally thank the Board for their work this year which has seen Victorian Cycling once again taken to another level. The sport continues to improve in this state and the directors of this organisation play an important part in the direction we stride. I would like to thank the members for showing their overwhelming confidence in the Board and taking the correct steps in ensuring that the right people are in place to advance our sport. Joe Ciavola PRESIDENT 2003 – 2004 Annual Report CycleSport Victoria EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT My report focuses primarily on the racing and administration side of Cycle Sport Victoria. Our Victorian Junior Track Team once again dominated the Junior Track National Championships, which were held in Launceston, Tasmania from 5th t o 8th March 2004. 21 Riders represented Victoria, with 13 gaining medals. Victoria won 12 of the 21 events which equals 57.14% of the Gold Medals. Of the 63 medals, Victoria won 22 medals which equals 34.92% of all the medals.