2009 Annual Report Queensland Athletic Including Annual Financial Report Association Limited

Presented to Members at the Annual General ACN: 010 706 751 Meeting held on 8th May 2010

www.qldathletics.org.au

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Queensland Athletics Directory

2. Chairman‟s Acknowledgements

3. Directors‟ Report

4. Commission Reports

5. Open State Champions 2009

6. Athletics North Queensland President‟s Report

7. Sponsorship

8. Annual Financial Report

 Directors‟ Report

 Auditor‟s Independence Declaration

 Income Statement

 Balance Sheet

 Statement of Accumulated Funds

 Cash Flow Statement

 Notes to Financial Statements

 Directors‟ Declaration

 Independent Audit Report

 Disclaimer

 Trading Profit and Loss Statement

2009 Annual Report 1

QUEENSLAND ATHLETICS DIRECTORY AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2009

PATRON

Her Excellency Ms Penelope Wensley AO, 25th Governor of Queensland

VICE PATRON

The Honourable Anna Bligh, MP, Premier of Queensland Councillor Campbell Newman, Lord Mayor of Brisbane

BOARD OF MANAGEMENT

Mr David Keating (Chairman) Mr Michael Hillardt (retired 23rd May 2009) Mr Bill Buckby Mr Sean Collins Ms Nicole Davis Mr Cameron Hart Ms Ruth Marshall

STAFF

Chief Executive Officer – David Bell (resigned 25th August) Grant Cremer (appointed 4th December) Operations Manager – Nick Girvan State Performance Coordinator – Tim Klar Southern Queensland Development Officer – Vacant Bookkeeper (P/T) – Jenne Johnson

NORTH QUEENSLAND OFFICE

Athletics North Queensland is Queensland Athletics' agent in North Queensland. Their office is located in Townsville and is staffed by Mr Jim Minehane, Ms Robyn Potts and Development Officer Cameron Clayton.

COMMISSIONS

Education Commission Track & Field Commission Officials Commission Non Stadia Commission Luke Donatini Peter Hannan Julie Vogler Wilma Bain Tui Edwards Annette Rice Janelle Eldridge Chris Gale Andrea Field Tom Brandt Shannon Russo Terry Larkins Des Johnston Fiona Cullen Jim Minehane Ryan McDonald Trish Kinnane Leanne Hines-Smith Dan O'Sullivan John Purcell Peter Kropp Greg Ison Helen Roberts Michael Schultz Geoff McKinnon Yvonne Mullins Paul Sorensen Bailey Pashley Sharon Dale Don Wallace

2009 Annual Report 2 CHAIRMAN’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Queensland Athletics is fortunate to have a range of wonderful volunteers who provide invaluable assistance to our sport. Their contributions are greatly appreciated by the Board and the wider athletics community. Officials, coaches, managers, club delegates and office bearers all add value and provide services, without which we would not survive.

I would like to specifically acknowledge the contributions of our four Commissions and the individuals who convene and lead those Commissions. Each of the Commissions provides invaluable advice and support to the Board and the staff:-

Track and Field Commission: The Convenor is Peter Hannan Officials Commission: The Convenor is Helen Roberts Non-Stadia Commission: The Convenor is Don Wallace Education Commission: The Convenor is Des Johnston

These four people, and the members of the Commissions listed elsewhere in this report, provide an incredible volunteer resource to Queensland Athletics as an organisation and to the sport of athletics.

David Bell resigned from his position as CEO in the middle of 2009 and Nick Girvan acted in that role until the appointment of Grant Cremer in December. Grant is a former high performance athlete and has qualifications and experience which qualify him to be an excellent CEO of Queensland Athletics. Our congratulations go to Nick and other staff members for their work during 2009. Certainly a great deal of excellent work is done by a very small number of staff members.

I would particularly like to thank the Queensland Government for its continued financial support. This support plays a critical role in enabling Queensland Athletics to achieve our strategic objectives. The relationship with the Government remains strong and we also sincerely appreciate the fact that the Queensland Government supports community sport more than any other State Government in Australia.

I would like to thank each of my fellow directors for their support during the year. I would like to particularly acknowledge Michael Hillardt who resigned from the Board in May last year after 4 years as a Director. As a former high performance athlete for Queensland and Australia, Mike provided excellent service to Queensland Athletics and added value to boardroom discussions. In March this year Cameron Hart resigned due to pressure of work duties. Cameron worked and lived on the Gold Coast and had been a member of the Board for almost two years. It is a pleasure to work alongside the Directors, who all have a passion for athletics and wish to see Queensland Athletics continue to grow both in terms of numbers of participants and relevance in the sport community.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank Denise Boyd and Don Jowett for their support and wise counsel over the last twelve months.

At our most recent Board Meeting, we agreed to invite Pat Carroll and Chris Auld to join the Board and they will commence their roles as Directors in early June and will be nominated at the AGM in May 2011.

David Keating, for Board of Directors Queensland Athletics

2009 Annual Report 3

2009 DIRECTORS' REPORT

Here in Queensland, the National Championships were again held in Brisbane in 2009. However, undoubtedly the highlight of the athletic year was the Berlin World Championships.

It will be impossible to forget the absolutely sensational efforts of Queensland‟s own Mitchell Watt in his silver medal winning performance. His personal dedication and commitment, with the aid of a well balanced support team, was justly rewarded with an excellent series of great performances in 2009.

Queensland Athletics also had a very busy year in 2009 with progress being made in a number of areas.

Unification

The Board of Queensland Athletics is committed to the philosophy that our sport needs to be unified. Further meetings were held throughout the year with the Board of Queensland Little Athletics and it is fair to say that those discussions were more productive than in previous years.

These discussions have become more positive with the view to making more changes at the grass roots level to ensure that the two organisations begin working together on a range of issues. It is fitting then that the working group for these changes has taken on the title “Coming Together”.

Competition

The year 2009 continued the exciting interclub Shield Meet concept and Queensland Athletics is pleased with how the competition format is continuing to be embraced. Many clubs are viewing these Meets as a great way to invigorate their clubs and to build the sense of club pride.

The Shield Meets directly contributed to an increase of 24% in the Brisbane Track & Field Competition participation numbers from the 2008 season. Average participation jumped from 180 to 224 participants at each meet.

Track and Field Championship numbers also increased by 6.5% over 2008 entry numbers. Although the increase was not huge, it mostly came from participation in the younger age groups which is encouraging.

In the winter, Brisbane Cross Country participation decreased slightly from the fantastic year we had in 2008. Participation numbers in 2009 were similar to those experienced in 2007, but unfortunately the level of school participation dropped slightly from 2008 with the number of club athletes remaining steady.

However, the All Schools Cross Country Championships experienced huge gains with participation increasing by 43% from the 2008 Championships. The entry numbers were the biggest experienced in many years and are good indication of how this competition is starting to be embraced by the school community once again.

It is clear that recreational running numbers continue to increase and that the popularity of fun runs keeps on growing. The Running Australia program, launched in 2008, is continuing to expand with over 15 events signed up to the program in 2009. This saw over 30,000 Queensland runners take part in the National program which has boosted

2009 Annual Report 4 our recreational running membership numbers substantially. It would seem that this program has huge potential for future years, and this looks likely to continue to increase over the years ahead.

Representative Teams

In 2010, the competition format for those athletes competing in the National school-age championships has changed, allowing for the combination of the Youth event with the Under Age Group in a new Australian Junior Championships. As such, the 2009 Australian All Schools and Youth Championships were the last edition of the championships in their traditional format. Queensland was the largest team to travel to Hobart in December 2009 for the Championships, and the 407 athletes that competed were very successful. The team‟s athletes won 57 gold medals, 48 silver medals and 49 bronze medals.

The 2009 Australia Cup event was held in Brisbane and the Queensland team triumphed in this annual state-versus-state competition. Congratulations to the athletes that represented Queensland so capably. The Under 18 Youth Teams Match event was also held in Brisbane in 2009 and the Queensland team came from behind to beat Victoria in the final event of the competition. Congratulations to all the young athletes in this team, some of whom filled in at very short notice in extra events.

Acknowledgements and thanks go to all our selectors and team General Managers who donated their time to assist these teams. In particular, special thanks go to Wilma Bain, Greg Ison, Rob Gilfillan, Sharon Dale, Brett Green, Sue Harris and Russel Hansen.

Sport Development

Officiating courses were conducted in 2009 to train new officials and to up-skill existing officials across all areas of the sport. As always, Queensland Athletics is committed to the challenge of recruiting more officials and increasing the skills of all officials. It is important that Queensland Athletics seeks to establish an Officiating Course plan that provides opportunities for anyone interested in officiating to become involved and further, that Queensland Athletics actively encourages people to get involved.

Queensland Athletics enjoys a strong working relationship with the Australian Track and Field Coaches Association and is very proud of the Coaching Courses that we continue to run.

In the lead-up to the substantial changes that will affect the coaching accreditation landscape in Australian in 2010, Queensland Athletics coordinated two Level 1 Coaching Courses and two Level 2 Coaching Courses in 2009, in partnership with Sports Credentials. Through these courses, Queensland Athletics oversaw the accreditation of 86 Level 1 coaches and 79 Level 2 coaches.

The 2009 Schools Knockout Competition was very well supported in Queensland, with some schools competing for the first time. The 42 teams entered for the South-East Queensland final competed very well and the victors in the four divisions are as follows: Moreton Bay College (Junior Girls), Fairholme College (Senior Girls), Ipswich Grammar School (Junior Boys and Senior Boys).

In excess of 80 schools were visited by the Queensland Athletics Development Officers in 2009, and wherever possible, Club representatives were encouraged to attend. Queensland Athletics would like to see more club involvement in these school visits to assist Queensland Athletics Development Officers to link clubs and schools.

2009 Annual Report 5

The Clubs On Track program was rolled out in 2009, and while clubs were offered assistance in engaging in this program, a very small number of clubs participated. I would like to acknowledge the work of Jennifer Eggleton, Suzy Langford and, in particular, Vance Berry in assisting our clubs in a voluntary capacity.

Elite Athlete Development

Queensland Athletics continued its close association with the Queensland Academy of Sport and with Athletics Australia in 2009, with a belief that this association allows for the effective and sustainable nurturing of Queensland‟s best athletes. This association facilitates the seamless contribution from all three bodies to Queensland‟s High Performance programs, funding initiatives, scholarship athlete support and liaison with athletes and coaches.

Queensland enjoyed another successful year with respect to representation on Australian teams at major international competitions, with Queensland athletes chosen to compete at the World Championships and the World Youth Championships.

World Championships representatives from Queensland included Sally McLellan, Mitchell Watt, Justin Anlezark, Caitlin Pincott, Matt Davies and Patrick Johnson. An additional two athletes were selected to compete at the Championships, but were forced to withdraw through injury. Special congratulations to Mitchell Watt for winning the bronze medal in the Men‟s Long Jump, and to Sally Pearson for finishing in the Top 8 in her event. Sally also broke the Australian record in the 100m Women‟s hurdles in the lead-up to the Championships.

World Youth Championships representatives from Queensland included Alex Beck, Luanga Andria, Dane Bird-Smith and Taryn Gollshewsky. An additional two athletes were selected to compete at the Championships, but were forced to withdraw through injury. Special mention must be made of Dane Bird-Smith for his Top 8 placing in the 10,000m Walk.

The 2009 Australian Athletics Championships were again held in Brisbane, and the Queensland athletes excelled in their events, with the following athletes crowned National Champions: Sally McLellan (100m and 100m Hurdles), Justin Anlezark (Shot Put), Alana Boyd (Pole Vault), Liam Zamel-Paez (High Jump), Jacinta Boyd (Long Jump), Darren Thrupp (Long Jump Ambulant) and Matthew Cameron (100m Wheelchair).

It is important to acknowledge the retirement of Bronwyn Thompson in 2009. Bronwyn was an outstanding athlete, representing Australia at three Olympics and winning the Womens Long Jump event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Bronwyn has given a great deal to the sport, as an athlete, an ambassador for athletes and as a mentor to younger athletes. Bronwyn is currently a Director of Athletics Australia.

2009 saw the expansion of the Queensland Athletics High Performance Pathway program, which continued to support athletes at two levels: the Emerging Athlete List (EAL) and the Talent Identification Program (TID). These programs were designed to assist our emerging and elite athletes and aid them with services and advice that may assist with future progression into the AA National Squad system and the QAS Scholarship program, as well as assisting to reduce the cost associated with competing for those athletes who are already within the elite National and QAS programs.

2009 Annual Report 6 In 2009, the TID program was expanded to include a „second-year‟ program for those athletes returning to the program from 2008. The Talent Identification Graduate Program (TIDG) sought to further develop the potential of the identified athletes.

In 2009, there were 38 athletes that held Queensland Academy of Sport scholarships. In addition, there were 23 athletes in the TIDG program, 24 athletes in the TID program and 100 athletes on the EAL. A total of 185 athletes were involved in the established High Performance pathway with Queensland Athletics.

Finally, Kate Abbott concluded her time with Queensland Athletics in 2009, and I would like to take this opportunity to recognise Kate‟s invaluable contribution to the high performance area of the sport in Queensland. As the inaugural State Performance Coordinator, Kate made significant inroads into bringing a new level of support and assistance to the state‟s best athletes and coaches and her legacy forms the platform on which the 2010 programs and those that follow can achieve their success.

North Queensland

The year 2009 saw athletics in the North again perform very strongly. Athletics North Queensland continued to provide a full range of competitions and opportunities for their members via their extremely dedicated Board, staff and volunteers. Athletics North Queensland is particularly proud of the performance of Chris Hobson for winning gold in the M35-39 400m at the World Masters Games in Sydney.

As always, the ANQ season was busy and successful with the highlights being the North Queensland Games, the Athletics North Queensland Championships and the successful Oz Squad development camp.

Further details of North Queensland‟s activities are enclosed within the Athletics North Queensland‟s President‟s Report which begins on page 17.

Communication

Queensland Athletics remains committed to continual improvement in its communication and sees the Clubs on Track program as a critical new part of that. The Clubs on Track program continued with clubs participating in an evaluation reports on their strengths and weaknesses.

By having significantly increased contact with clubs through the Clubs on Track program and ensuring that Queensland Athletics better understands the difficulties clubs are facing, Queensland Athletics is confident that clubs will be able to be better assisted by Queensland Athletics throughout 2010.

Our Operations Manager, Nick Girvan, has been instrumental in ensuring that stakeholders are kept up to date through the Queensland Athletics website (which contains a plethora of information) and regular e-mail updates. The sponsorship with Vision 6 (an e-mail marketing company) continues through 2009 and this allowed Queensland Athletics to provided regular information to all members.

Membership

In 2009, membership numbers were up by over 200 over the 2009 season, moving to a total of 4345.

Athletics North Queensland led the increase moving up to 2,451 South Queensland reported a small decrease to a total 1,894 members.

2009 Annual Report 7 Membership broken down according to gender is as follows: NQ – 1,299 male and 1,152 female. SQ – 1,053 male and 841 female. Total - 2,352 male and 1,993. The graph below shows the changes in membership levels since 2000.

5,000

4,500

4,000

3,500

3,000 Male

2,500 Female

Total 2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

1

Financial Performance

Financially, Queensland Athletics again showed a healthy profit in 2009 of $88,808 with net assets moving to $365 769.

However, this profit is in large part due to the reduction of staff working in the office, this represented a large proportion in the reduction of expenses.

Revenue in 2009 showed a small increase. Both Cost of Sales and Operating Expenses were much lower than 2008.

The tables below graphically represent the Revenue and Expenditure and Surplus and Net Asset changes since 1999.

2009 Annual Report 8

Revenue and Expenditure

$1,200,000

$1,000,000

$800,000

$600,000

$400,000

$200,000

$0 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Revenue Expenditure

2

Surplus and Net Assets

$400,000

$350,000 $300,000

$250,000

$200,000

$150,000

$100,000 $50,000

$0 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 -$50,000 -$100,000

Surplus Net Assets

3 Our key expenditure groups of coaching and development, competitions, and communications had a total expenditure of approximately $393,502 when taking into account all related areas (i.e. employee expenses, administration and office expenses).The breakdown of this figure is approximately $168,226 for coaching and development, $158,792 for competitions and $66,484 for communications.

2009 Annual Report 9

Key Expenditure Groups

$180,000

$160,000

$140,000 $120,000

$100,000

$80,000 $60,000

$40,000

$20,000

$- Development Competitions Communications

Program Expenditure Other Expenditure

4

Whilst again financially successful in 2009, the Board is cognisant of the difficulties regarding new revenue streams and the need to identify and utilise additional corporate partnership opportunities.

2010 is the third and final year of the Queensland Government funding cycle and there have been no guarantees that our funding for 2011-2013 will be continued at the same level.

Queensland Athletics‟ current position is financially and organisationally sound. We see that our major challenge is to continue our attempts to invigorate the club system and continue to strive to be the pacesetter state for athletics.

David Keating, for Board of Directors Queensland Athletics

2009 Annual Report 10 2009 COMMISSION REPORTS

Non-Stadia Commission

The Queensland Athletics Non-Stadia Commission met throughout 2009 and organised and conducted a successful series of events and championships based around cross country, road running and road walking.

The cross country running season included;  2 Challenge meets which attracted a total of 218 athletes. This was substantially down on 2008 as participation from school athletes at the beginning of the season dropped away dramatically.  The continuation of the 4 shield meets which attracted a total of 582 athletes. Early season participation was good but the final meet was poorly attended which is generally the case each season once the school season finishes.  4 State Championships - short course, age championships, 12km and relay championships were conducted. Participation was steady on 2008 numbers and with the addition of the All Schools Relay Championships, another strong turnout was achieved at the relays.  The All Schools Championship at St Paul‟s School which attracted 1165 athletes. A fantastic result with a 43% increase in participation from 2008.  4 mid-week school meets that exposed more secondary students to Queensland Athletics cross country running.  Sending a team to compete at the National titles for Cross Country in Nowra, NSW.

On the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore Athletics Club and the University of the Sunshine Coast Athletics Club once again conducted their popular 6 race cross country series with very good participation numbers. The Non-Stadia Commission established an event on the Gold Coast in 2009, by holding a Shield Meet at Runaway Bay. This attracted some of the South Coast schools to take part and it is hoped that this event will continue to grow over the next couple of years.

Road running championships were conducted in conjunction with the Gold Coast Airport Marathon, Doomben Half Marathon and the Noosa 10km. While there is still very strong participation at major road running events in Queensland the profile of Queensland Athletics clubs at these events remains almost non-existent. Due to the lack of stand- alone QA road running competitions, the Commission established a road relays event at the Nundah Cycle Track which proved popular with athletes. The Commission aims to expand upon this with a couple more road events in 2010.

Road walking championships we invigorated in 2009 with a change of venue to the Murarrie Sports Centre. The May and July championships format was continued with the reinstatement of the All Schools Road Walking Championships in July. With the addition of a school competition for road walking, it is hoped that the profile of the sport will be raised in the school community and participation numbers will increase across the season.

While the Non-Stadia Commission has worked hard to conduct meets, currently only six clubs have the resources, both human and otherwise, to regularly support the Commission's activities. One of the aims of the Commission is to help clubs establish their own competitions throughout the season so the efforts of the Commission can be focused on expanding competition opportunities and State Championship events. It also remains a priority of the Commission to get distance running coaches, especially those

2009 Annual Report 11 involved with secondary schools, better involved in Queensland Athletics competitions as at present there is not a high degree of involvement from these coaches.

Don Wallace Chair

Education Commission

The Education Commission comprised Des Johnston, Trish Kinnane, Geoff McKinnon, Luke Donatini, Tui Edwards, Bailey Pashley, Andrea Field and Peter Kropp, David Bell and Tim Klar were regular attendees at meetings.

Commissioners whenever possible made themselves available to support the work of the Development Officer, particularly in relation to school visits and Regional Carnivals in both Cross Country and Track and Field.

Regular meetings of the Commission supported the work of Queensland Athletics as it related to team selection policy for the representative teams which were chosen to compete at National exchanges.

The Commission accepted the responsibility of appointing team managers and coaches for the aforementioned teams. Such appointments were made based on applications for the positions to be filled and after taking the advice of Queensland Athletics officials.

The Commission throughout 2009 has been working on a proposal to develop an Athletics Trailer that will offer and provide quality track and field coaching and education clinics to Queensland‟s remote regional and rural communities so to offer both existing and potential athletes and/or coaches opportunities to learn, develop and enjoy the disciplines and events within the sport of track and field.

The objective of this trailer is that through the use of a compact, secure and fully equipped (resourced) trailer, qualified coaches and current senior athletes will travel to indentified regional towns and communities to undertake clinics and coaching sessions focusing on all areas of Track and Field.

The purchase of the custom built trailer and all its resources/equipment will be through the application of a Gaming (sporting) Grant. It is hoped that this grant application will cover all costs incurred in the complete set up of this program and that the trailer will be available for use from the middle of 2010

An ambitious program of meetings within the parameters of the re-worked Roles and Responsibilities will continue to challenge the Education Commission in 2010.

Des Johnston Chair

Officials Commission

Officials Commission

The Officials Commission for 2009 has many new members. The retirement of Don Jowett from the position of chair and the appointment of several new members made 2009 a transitional year.

2009 Annual Report 12 During the early part of our tenure, we met with the Officials Committee from QLAA. This was a productive meeting and we re-affirmed our commitment to invite them to all courses and assist where possible. Donna Smith, Chair of the QLAA committee, is also part of the AA Review of Officials and is keen to promote closer ties between the 2 groups at a National level.

The commission has continued to promote officiating through conducting several courses and seminars throughout the year. The first of these was a Track, Jumps and Throws Level C course held in May. This was not just for QA members but also for teachers and members of Qld Little Athletics.

Following this, we held the Annual QA Officials Workshop at Robertson Gardens in September. This proved to be very successful with 43 attendees from various clubs and Little Athletics Centres. As the prime focus for this workshop was the new IAAF rules and their implementation, coaches, athletes and club administrators were invited to attend. Several Administrators came but unfortunately no coaches or current athletes. The commission is working on ways to better communicate this type of information to this target group.

Our planned Level B course for October was put on hold due to the extent of the new and revised IAAF rules and will be conducted this May with along with another Level C course.

During the 2009 track season, the commission actively sort new volunteers to help at meets. This has proved to be mildly successful with several athletes expressing an interest in assisting at Shield meets..

The Commission has been fortunate to have the assistance of Fiona Cullen assisting us with strategic planning for recruitment and retention of officials. This is an ongoing project and we are looking to plan, not just for now, but also for the future.

During this year, we have had 2 members of QA appointed to International or Area Panels. Congratulations to Reg Brandis on his re-appointment to the IAAF International Technical Officials Panel, and Helen Roberts to the Oceania Area Technical Officials Panel.

The commission has several plans for the 2010 season with the continuation of our Retention and Recruitment Plan as well as our Education courses conducted for all members of the Athletics community.

The commission would like to give a special thank you to David Bell for his support during his time as CEO. He was always giving of his time, especially at those early morning Road events, the coffee was always appreciated!

Helen Roberts Chair – Officials Commission

Track and Field Commission

Commissioners: Peter Hannan, Sharon Dale, Greg Ison, Annette Rice, Leanne Smith, Tom Brandt, Fiona Cullen, Yvonne Mullins

The Track & Field Commission assumed a new appearance when a number of new Commissioners were appointed for the 2009-10 season. Greg Ison, Tom Brandt, Annette

2009 Annual Report 13 Rice and Leanne Smith were the new appointees, while Peter Hannan, Yvonne Mullins and Sharon Dale continued in their roles. The first meeting of the Commission was held in April 2009, with subsequent meetings held in early May, early June, and early October. The meeting scheduled for November was deferred until after the end of the year. The Commission met regularly throughout the year. Despite difficulties in finding times for meetings which suited everyone, all meetings had the majority of Commissioners in attendance. In addition, the Competition Manager of Qld Athletics, Nick Girvan, attended most meetings as a guest, and the CEO of Qld Athletics also attended most meetings. Between meetings, Commissioners kept in regular contact with each other through emails. At the first meeting of the Commission in April 2009, some key policy decisions were made –  to have U18 & Open State Championships conducted as separate events from the Qld U14, U16 & U20 Championships (incl U23);  to work towards the inclusion of AWD events at our State Championships;  to aim to have a Relays Championships as a separate event;  to reduce the number of Shield Meets from 6 to 4, with possibly another 2 track & field meets plus relays Championships – Shield Meet programmes to be revised:  to try to avoid wherever possible clashes with QLAA dates Some of the policies adopted at the first meeting had to be revised at the second meeting of the Commission in early May 2009. By this time, AA had had their Calendar meeting. AA advised of the introduction of a National U14-U20 Championships to be held in March. QA was to consider bidding for these Championships. In light of the new U14-U20 Championships proposed by AA, and in order to come into line with AA Championships, the Commission proposed that Qld conduct State championships U14 –U20 on 19th,20th and 21st Feb 2010 (age groups being U14, U16, U18 & U20). AA had dropped the U23 age group as a separate event. It was likely to be held with the National Championships in Perth. AA as yet had not set dates for the Combined Events Championships. The possible State Championships Open and U23 date was set as 26-28th March. The State Championships date for Combined Events could not be decided until AA confirmed dates. A sub-committee was formed to look at Shield Programs and possible dates. The Commission met for the third time in early June. The major issue which was discussed at this meeting was the limited availability of the SAF during the Championships period for our sport, due to various other bookings (concerts, etc). The Commission had to consider the possibility of alternative venues for the State Championships, and would also look at the possibility of conducting the Qld Open Championships in conjunction with the Qld Masters Athletics Championships on March 19-21. AA had by now set the date for the Australian Combined Events Championships as 9/10 April (venue to be decided). A date for the Qld Combined Events Championships (U14- Open) was set as January 30th & 31st, incorporating the State Relay Championships. Because of the unavailability of dates, the Relays were not able to be conducted as a stand-alone competition, hence the incorporation with the Combined Events Championships.

2009 Annual Report 14 The sub-committee reported back with proposed dates and possible rules for the Shield Meets. It was decided to ask Clubs to provide volunteers to assist with the smooth running of the Meets.

The Commission did not meet again until early October. The main issues discussed were:  finalising arrangements with Qld Masters for the running of the State Championships;  continuing liaison with Sporting Wheelies and other parties re inclusion of AWD events;  sanctioning of meets;  releasing Draft Shield timetables;  releasing Draft Championships timetables; Issues to be pursued included:  formulating rules and guidelines for Shield Meets;  consideration of point scoring and prizes for Shield Meets;  updating General and Championships rules;  liaison with the Officials Commission re Shield Meets and Championships competitions

The final meeting for 2009 was held in late October. At this meeting the Chair of the Officials, Helen Roberts, attended as a guest via phone link. The main item of discussion revolved around the safe integration of AWD athletes with able-bodied athletes in our Championships. There were further discussions regarding timetables for Shield Meets and the various Qld Championships, as well as the arrangements for incorporating AWD events into State Championships.

In 2009, the Track & Field Commission, despite difficulties with unavailability of venues, has been satisfied with the work it has done to date. The most pleasing aspects of the year have been the closer worker relationships with the three key sectors of our athletic community - AWD associations and athletes, Queensland Masters Athletics and QA Officials Commission

Peter Hannan Chair – Track and Field Commission

2009 Annual Report 15 2009 OPEN STATE CHAMPIONS

Event Male Female 100m Matt Davies Sally McLellan 200m Matt Davies Sally McLellan 400m Nelson Stone Caitlin Pincott 800m Fraser Coss Caitlin Pincott 1500m Matt Fox Margie Atthow 5,000m Track Walk - Samantha Tesch 10,000m Track Walk - Roslyn Jackson 100m Hurdles - Sally McLellan 110m Hurdles John Burstow - 400m Hurdles Sasha Alexeenko Larna Dieckmann 3000m Steeplechase Daryl Crook Ashlea Gilfillan High Jump Liam Zamel-Paez Vicki Collins Long Jump Mitchell Watt Jacinta Boyd Triple Jump Mark Lawrence Tracey Barnett Pole Vault Matt Boyd Jeanie Paton Shot Put Cameron Crowley Lara Nielsen Discus Julian Wruck Catherine Tattersall Hammer Craig Seage Lara Nielsen Javelin Joshua Robinson Sonia Weatherley 5,000m Patrick Nispel Clare Geraghty 10,000m Jonathan Peters Brooke Condon 100m Wheelchair Matthew Cameron - 200m Wheelchair Matthew Cameron - 400m Wheelchair Matthew Cameron - 10km Road Mitchell Kealey Clare Geraghty Half Marathon Michael Reeves Roxie Schmidt Marathon Don Wallace Roxie Schmidt 10km Walk - Samantha Tesch 20km Walk Ignacio Jiminez Noela McKinven 30km Walk Peter Bennett - Combined Events John Lane Jay Affleck 4km Cross Country Jayden Russ Clare Geraghty 8km Cross Country Jayden Russ Clare Geraghty 12km Cross Country Andrew Ferris Clare Geraghty Mountain Running Patrick Nispel Hubertien Wichers

2009 Annual Report 16 PRESIDENT’S REPORT – 2009 ATHLETICS NORTH QUEENSLAND

On behalf of the Board of Athletics North Queensland (ANQ) I present to you the 2009 Athletics North Queensland report. The 2009 athletics season was one of our best with a number of important administrative decisions being made along with another outstanding competition season.

In February, 2009, Cameron Clayton joined the Athletics North Queensland team and with youth and enthusiasm Cameron has been a terrific asset to the ANQ athletics family.

Cameron has proven that no task is too big or too small for him to tackle, he has tireless in his efforts to get the ANQ brand out and about in our area and has assumed a strong coaching presence both in Townsville and around the region. There is no doubt that Cameron‟s personality has been infectious and that his passion for athletics has taken over our sport. Cameron has also proven to be an accomplished athlete and has somehow found the time to run a national qualifying time in the 800 metres.

Cameron‟s relationship with clubs, sponsors and other stakeholders in the sport has developed over the past 12 months and there is no doubt that his ability to speak with people at every level should be applauded. The Board of Athletics North Queensland looks forward to working with Cameron in the future and to seeing how we can grow the sport through his persistent determination.

In reflecting on the Cameron‟s appointment it is important to note that for the first time in the history of Athletics North Queensland, Cameron comes under the banner of Athletics North Queensland rather than Queensland Athletics and that Cameron‟s salary is paid directly from funding from the Queensland Government to Queensland Athletics. In addition the ANQ vehicle was also purchased by ANQ and is the responsibility of ANQ. Thanks to Bill Buckby, Director of Finance, Queensland Athletics and to past CEO of Queensland Athletics, David Bell for their dedication to ensuring that this sometimes testy area of our relationship was resolved with the very best outcome.

The OZ Squad was moved on the calendar to July in 2009 and proved to be a huge success with all coaches and athletes agreeing that the change in date was worthwhile. This new direction will continue in 2010. Thanks to Jim Minehane, Robyn Potts and Cameron for putting together a great program for our athletes and coaches alike. OZ Squad continues to invite junior athlete athletes and their coaches to a live-in coaching clinic where Australia‟s top coaches join them in developing their ability. The change in date has meant that athletes can take what they learn at OZ Squad forward in their training programs and put them into practice in the months leading into the Athletics North Queensland and Queensland and National Championships.

In March of 2009 ANQ Board Members, Rob Murchie, Chris Tsilimanis and myself attended a Queensland Athletics Summit in Brisbane. The Summit discussed the age old problems of how to attract athletes to our sport and how to retain them. It was clear to the three of us from Athletics North Queensland that the problems in the south are quite different to those in the north. Clearly the strength of Athletics North Queensland is in its clubs and clearly the weakness of Queensland Athletics is their lack of club structure, a matter that the Queensland Athletics Board needs to address as a matter of urgency.

Unfortunately the beginning of the year also saw MacAir, our Development Squad Sponsor go into liquidation, this was a huge blow for ANQ. Fortunately for us though, Shirts North came on board as a sponsor and we hope to continue that sponsorship in the years to come.

2009 Annual Report 17 Athletics North Queensland was able to purchase a gator with a grant received from the Queensland Government Gambling Community Benefit Fund. The Gator was christened „Searly‟ for the incredible amount of work that Peter Searle has done for Athletics North Queensland since our inception.

Another blow came to ANQ when Townsville Athletics Club became a victim of a lack of volunteers and had to close its doors. Townsville Athletics Club was amongst the oldest clubs in the region.

In April, Cheryl Dixon and Bill Caulfield join the Board, Cheryl to the position of Director, Southern and Bill as the Director Development. Because of personal matters Bill was unable to continue in the role however Cheryl has continued to be a valuable member of the Board.

2009 saw the Board review the rental costs of the ANQ office and although we were not able to immediately make changes we have now moved to Sports House at the Townsville Sports Reserve. The savings we will make are tremendous and will allow ANQ to continue to support development in the region. The benefits of being close to the Sports Reserve will no doubt be immeasurable and the opportunity to work closely with other sporting bodies can only assist with our growth.

Officials continue to be a very important part of our Athletics Family and ANQ continues to conduct officials‟ courses throughout the region thanks to the dedication of Jim Minehane. Jim is no doubt one of Australia‟s and Oceania‟s most experienced officials and to have him available to our officials is truly a good thing for our sport in the north.

The Arafura Games in Darwin welcomed Athletics North Queensland officials, Catherine Welsh, Brian Smith and Barry Mullins and we congratulate them on their appointments. The same three officials were joined by David Hinschen, Leanne Hinschen, Margaret Smith, Jim Minehane and myself and headed to the Australian Championships in Brisbane. Congratulations to Catherine Welsh on her appointment as an IPC Classifier for athletes with a disability. Catherine had the opportunity to travel to both Japan and Papua New Guinea in 2009 in her capacity as a classifier.

Competitions continued to be our focus and seen by the Board as our core responsibility to our members. In 2009 Mackay Road Runners ran a very successful Athletics North Queensland Cross Country Championships in Mackay. Corey Jensen (Bowen) and Daijah Martens (Mulgrave) received North Queensland Sports Foundation Awards. L esha Beer (Sarina) and Robert Johnson (Mulgrave) were named in Athletics Australia‟s National Under 17 Development Squad. Our Masters athletes were not to be left out and Heinz Steinmann (Tablelands) was a member of Qld 4 x 400 relay team that set a new world record for M65 age group.

The Student Games/ All Comers Meet continued to grow and is now a permanent fixture on our competition calendar and we celebrated Longreach Athletic Club‟s 25th Anniversary at the Sunset Carnival, a huge achievement for our western club.

Athletics North Queensland continues to come up with new and innovative ways to a attract athletes to our events and in 2009 we introduced a gift voucher scheme for our senior athletes. This was carried through to our ANQ Championships and looks set to stay in 2010.

Schools across the north have seen the benefits of using photo finish at their school and regional meets and Athletics North Queensland continues to work closely with our school partners.

2009 Annual Report 18 The Western Games were held for the first time in 2009 in Mt Isa and although they were not as big as we would have hoped they were an opportunity for the Mt Isa club to be involved in the conduct of a carnival. Thanks for Mt Isa for taking on this event and to Barry Mullins for making his way to the Isa to assist with the photo finish. A huge thanks to Stuart Gibson and the North Queensland Sports Foundation for adding the Western Games to the calendar, we look forward to supporting it again in 2011.

International recognition for our athletes continued at the INAS-FID Global Games with Australian representatives Colin Abbey (Townsville North Star), Madelyn Currie (Barcaldine) selected.

The Townsville Running Festival, hosted by Townsville Road Runners has established itself as the number one Running Festival in our region and is only rivalled by the Gold Coast for number one status in the state. ANQ congratulates TRR for their continued persistence in hosting this event at a very high level.

ANQ also congratulates Whitsunday Athletic Club for hosting its first carnival in a decade. The Pentathlon Day proved to be a huge success for the club and looks like becoming a permanent feature on our calendar. Tablelands Athletic Club has been the leader in Pentathlon Days and continues to host their very successful event in the far north.

Clermont hosted a small but successful carnival in 2010 and we thank the Clermont community for welcoming Athletics North Queensland to this event.

The Athletics North Queensland Championships were again the highlight of our competition year.

Robert Johnson (Mulgrave), Tara Whitehead (Mackay), Matthew Bailey (Townsville North Star), Kertisha Thompson (Mulgrave) and Shannon Smith (Townsville North Star) were all named in the shadow Australian World Junior Squad. Whilst Chris Hobson (Townsville North Star) won the M35-39 400 metres at World Masters Games in Sydney.

The year has been busy and we have relied on a number of volunteers to assist us. Thanks go to James Grech (Mackay) who has continued to assist Cameron with the ANQ website. Congratulations to the ANQ Office for putting together the junior and senior booklets which will be distributed to our members this season. Our registration is still growing and we hope to have well over 3000 members in 2010.

The Board of Athletics North Queensland would like to acknowledge our sponsors. Ergon Energy who sponsor our ANQ Championships, Shirts North who are the proud sponsors of our Development Squad, North Queensland Games Foundation who support the All Comers / Student Games, Multicom, Charlie Doyle OAM and Cold Rock Ice- creamery for their continued support and the Councils of Cairns, Townsville and the many other regional Councils around our region.

To each of you we say thank you for your support we look forward to continuing our association in 2010 and beyond. We are indebted to the North Queensland Games Foundation for their continued support of athletics in the region and in particular to Stuart Gibson and Sally Lambert for their personal support.

A huge thank you to my fellow Board Members for your continued support in 2009. Thanks to Brian Smith our Financial Director and to each of the Vice Presidents –Neil Rogers, Cheryl Dixon and Chris Tsilimanis our Senior Vice President! Also thanks to Catherine Welsh, Rob Murchie and Barry Mullins and David Nahrung for the important roles they play in competition around the region.

2009 Annual Report 19 The membership of Athletics North Queensland would like to thank David Bell, retired CEO of Queensland Athletics for his support over the years that he was in the position and to wish him every success in his future endeavours. Although David and Athletics North Queensland may not have always seen eye to eye on every issue, David‟s ability to listen and react in a co-operative manner with ANQ ensured that the relationship between ANQ and QA was strong. If that relationship is to continue the same level of respect for each other‟s views must exist!

In signing out for another year, the Board of Athletics North Queensland would like to put to paper my personal thanks to Cameron Clayton, Jim Minehane and Robyn Potts for their undying support of our Association. We also say thanks to their long-suffering families for allowing them to work so hard for what can sometimes seem like little return. Believe us, the return is in seeing our athletes at our competitions achieving their best and seeing their smiles, makes it all worthwhile.

The Board of Athletics North Queensland will continue to discuss with Queensland Athletics the limited financial support that the office is afforded in the QA budget. ANQ membership continues to grow and yet funding across the state is still not equitable. It is important that the Board of Queensland Athletics recognise the efforts of ANQ in growing the sport across the Northern Region and support their efforts. With over 2,500 athletes it is difficult to comprehend how ANQ still has only one Development Officer to cover such a huge area, this deficiency, amongst others, needs to be addressed by Queensland Athletics.

On behalf of the Board of Athletics North Queensland we look forward to seeing everyone around the tracks in 2010 and in continuing to make Athletics North Queensland the number one individual sport in our Region and to continuing to welcome athletes from throughout Queensland and Australia to our competitions!

Yvonne Mullins President, Athletics North Queensland

2009 Annual Report 20