RWNZ AGM 2007 - President's Report
A year ago I wasn’t really sure what I was taking on in this role of President. To be honest I knew very little about the NZRWA other than the fact that I occasionally received a Contact magazine. In talking to other walkers, I quickly learnt that they were as confused as I was. So I started my Presidency by writing a short article entitled “Revitalising NZRWA”. I re-read this a couple of days ago to remind myself just how far we have actually come this last 12 months and what we have achieved as an Organisation. This has only happened because of the efforts of this Committee, not just in the last 12 months, but the ground work from previous years. May I start my report by thanking the Committee for their hard work in the last year; in particular David Lonsdale and Jack Tregurtha.
Most of our activity has focused on the profile of the Organisation. Firstly we have given ourselves a more modern name of Race Walking New Zealand along with a new Constitution. We all now know that we exist as an Organisation to promote walking, with the main emphasis being Race Walking.
Many walkers and in particular quite a few members of RWNZ had been calling for Walkers to be recognised at the Rotorua marathon. There has been a separate category for many years but no formal recognition. Jack and David Lonsdale had gone to great lengths to study the walkers in 2006 and give a report to Angela Salmon as to what could be achieved with a Competitive Walkers Section. In 2007 we managed to convince the Organisers to have a separate category and for RWNZ to award trophies. We had to supply the Scrutineers, but the thanks we got from walkers was well worth the effort and it was I believe an excellent PR job for us. We have achieved a similar deal for 2008.
Last year’s AGM approved a new relay championship to be raced over the marathon distance (an Ekiden style event). Put on by Wellington Scottish, this event was the highlight of the year for many clubs. The planning and logistics that went into the event were very involved. To get 200 walkers in 1 event was an awesome achievement. Take a bow David Lonsdale, Bart Jones and the team at Wellington Scottish. Also, well done to Taranaki, who were worthy champions of the first RWNZ relay championship.
In leading up to the Ekiden relay, the committee had discussed the importance of awarding medals that were worth winning; a medal that you would have pride in. The committee had a design already to go into production when Glenn Burrell suggested it was a bit “old fashioned”! He said “I can design a medal worth winning”. Well this committee of advanced years had the courage to listen and what a result we got. Some had the view that it was a lot of money, but what an impressive medal we got for our money. When you see the big loss we made this last financial year, just remember what we achieved with our money! This not only lifted the Profile of our Organisation but invested for the future.
The Taranaki Open Walks has always been a highlight on the events calendar. Traditionally, the only awards that have been presented have been based on a closed handicap system. To add a new dimension, the RWNZ awarded its 15K championship to this event. The result was a huge success; a record number of walkers took part, with over 50 on the start line. Those that have not been to the Taranaki weekend, please do so it is not to be missed. In 2009 it is the 50th Anniversary of the Taranaki Race Walkers, which will be celebrated as part of the Open walk weekend.
In August, Manawatu Athletics organised the 1 hour race. Well done Michelle and her team for putting on such a great event. Even though it clashed with the Taupo half and the “Twin Towers” in Wanganui, there were good numbers of Race Walkers and Free Stylers taking part. Good to see Manawatu back on the Race Walking event’s map. Let’s see even more take part next year.
This year at the Ekiden relay we saw the re-emergence of Auckland Race Walking. They managed 2 teams, when previously they would have struggled to even have 1. A big thank you to Mike Parker and David Sim for their efforts to get Race Walking revitalised in the Auckland region. We can expect even greater results next year with the Harry Kerr relay being organised for July.
One of the stated goals of this Organisation is to be the leading authority in matters Race Walking in New Zealand. Traditionally there has been the tendency to sit back and wait for Athletics New Zealand to look after our sport. I think we have all learnt by now, this is never going to happen; they have enough problems in Athletics as a whole without having to worry about one discipline. We must at every opportunity work with Athletics New Zealand to get events organised to a suitable standard; to ensure Officials are trained; to help at events and above all to take part in events. In David Lonsdale we also now have an excellent liaison person to meet with Athletics New Zealand and it will in the future prove to be of great benefit for both parties.
I have always believed in a self help Society and so it is in our sport; Individually we may not be able to make much of a difference but as an Organisation we have strength, if we want things to happen then they will. There are many diverse views amongst our Committee and I can assure you there have been some interesting discussions. We all though have the same focus, we are here because of Race Walking, we are here to support and grow Race Walking and I think we will all be back for another year!
I am happy with what we have achieved in 2007. We have revitalised RWNZ; we have had more Race Walking events to compete in and we have seen excellent progress in Auckland. This is not enough. We have seen very little growth in our junior ranks, other than Canterbury. Jack keeps warning us we will become a sport for geriatrics if we are not careful. On the one hand we have in Kate Newitt the fastest junior we have ever had in New Zealand, but on the other hand, for her to qualify for the Worlds she had to do a time trial. It is time to try to change this. Our focus in the coming year must be on juniors. To kick off the new year we have 2 items on the Agenda today – a proposal for a Junior Development fund (all you have to do there is put your hand in your pockets) and then there is a discussion item “Getting new Race Walkers”. This is the most important issue facing our sport today. What can we as members of Race Walking New Zealand do to grow our sport? What can we do to give Kate some rivals so that she is not doing time trials to qualify for World champs?
I started out 12 months ago wondering what our Organisation stood for. Today I know what we stand for. We are not just here to support Race Walking, we are here to develop Race Walking, we are here to help at events, to ensure we have Officials, to ensure we have suitable courses and above all we must find competitors for Glenn and Tony for Kate and for Daniel and Nathaniel.
Alan Clarke
