News

April News Letter

Published Wed 20 Apr 2022

Hi Team Toowong,

Well, what an absolutely jam-packed couple of months we have had, the high and lows of competition at the national level and the challenges of natural disasters imposed upon all of us.

The end February through start of March had our clubhouse and track under 1.5m on water in the worst rain event since 2011. ☹

Though we have been severely impacted by the weather event it was heartening to see so many of our young club members club and local community come together to assist in the clean-up. More on the floods later!

This year has seen a real return to the track by Toowong Harriers Athletics Club – THAC- We have seen members mixing it at all levels of competition across Little Athletics, Qld Athletics and Masters.

Little Athletics State Championship (Brisbane), approx. 70 members competing
Queensland Athletics Championships (Brisbane), approx. 15 members competing
Australian Track & Field National Championships (Sydney), Congratulations to the following athletes were whom meet the tough qualifying requirements to be selected in the Queensland side and got the wear the Maroon colours; Grace Adams- 3000m; Samuel Anderson- 90m Hurdles, 400m & High Jump; Thomas Bryant 400m Hurdles; Sophie Scott- Pole Vault; Thomas Scott- Javelin; Rebecca Tehan- 3000m Walk

Australian Masters Athletics Championships (Brisbane), following athletes competed; Robert Gunningham, Peter Jones, Michael Jackson, Don Small, Darren Bryant, Dan Mellish, Miwa Kold, Joanne Boyd, Kim Shields, Bronwyn Battersby, Jessie Anderson.
Congratulations to Samuel Anderson being selected for the Queensland Team in High Jump to compete at the Little Athletics Australian Championship in Melbourne later this month.
Congratulations and very big thankyou to one of our Life Members, Mr Rik Hedge, whom was recognised at the Queensland LAQ Team presentation for his dedication to Little A’s over the last 30+ Years, with over 13 years as a Qld team selector. He was presented with is own Queensland Team Uniform from LAQ Operations Manager Shannon Kruger.

Now there is much more to all these competition efforts and results, Wayne Adams our Seniors Coordinator will be giving a full run down of the results and highs and lows of the competitions above in the coming week.

Winter Season 2022

Well after what has been an amazing stand-up summer athletics season for the Toowong Harriers community, we now move into the Winter distance season with high hopes for all in improving on the bases we established last season. As a club I would love to see us replicate the summer performances again this winter, Toowong Harriers came second in the overall club points last season and dominated at the top of the individual points classifications across the XC series.

This year’s winter season from April – September has an absolute multitude of events of offer from XC to 5-10km road, trail series and the 3x half / full marathon events, plus the Oceania Athletics Championships will be held in Mackay this June, so there really is something for everyone.

As a club it is impossible to support and be across all events so we have put together a list of events that club will generally be in attendance at, and or members will be there in force, by no means does this limit any members from getting out there and doing any of the other hundreds of events around the country. The table below lists the various events, their date, location, and a club member that will be coordinating club teams where possible.A couple of notes around this year’s XC22 Brisbane Series;Winter Schedule 2022

Point Score Competition details (only club members are eligible)
Entry is $12 per person; $36 for a family of 3 or more - if you have a family of more than 3 wishing to enter this event please DO NOT REGISTER HERE - send the names of the (registered) family members you wish to enter into this event to dave.brown@qldathletics.org.au BEFORE the close of registration (payment for discounted entry will be received separately).
There is no check in, just ensure you arrive with sufficient time to walk the course (before competition begins), collect your bib (look for the yellow "Info" flag) and be at the start area 10 minutes before your race start time.
Photos will be taken across the series. If you do not wish to be included then at the start line form a X with your arms so the photographer (who will be wearing a hi-vis vest) can note this.
Age/Distance classification Male & Female as follows;
- 1km Under 8/Under 10/All Ages
- 2km Under 12/Under 12 Mulit-Class/All Ages
- 3km Under 14/13+ Multi-Class/All Ages
- 4km Under 16/Open Short Course
- 6km U18/Masters (30+, 50+)/Open Medium Course
- 8km U20/Open Long Course
Competitors can run outside of their age classification but shall only earn 2 points.

AGM & Committee Elections

Our AGM will be held on the 19th May at 7pm. Please find a link to notice of Annual General Meeting and elections of Executive for the Toowong Harriers Inc. including club & committee roles, and general committee members.

The agenda will include:

Acceptance of nominations for Life Membership;
Appointing the new committee for 2021/22; and
Approving the audited financial statements.

If you have any general matters you would like to raise, please contact Karen Lee @ secretary@toowongharriers.org.au .

All members (which include parents of Little Athletes) are welcome and encouraged to attend (even if you are not able to nominate for committee positions). We do need a quorum for our governance requirements.

Committee Positions

At the AGM all club positions become vacant, we are particularly looking for new people to get involved with our great club nominate for positions, please understand that no one goes in cold, the old team will always be there to support new committee members:

Executive Roles

President *
Centre Manager *
Secretary *
Treasurer *

Committee Positions

Canteen Coordinator
Program Officer
Senior/QA Coordinator
Recordings Officer
Coaching Coordinator
General Committee member (noting that you will need to have available to attend monthly meetings

Support Roles

Officials Coordinator
Nominations/Registrations Officer
Team Manager
Equipment Officer
Grounds Officer
Grants Coordinator
Publications Officer
Uniforms Coordinator

The Committee roles broadly cover our main administrative and operational functions whereas the Support roles generally support one or more of the Committee roles. We would love to see some new members join our committee, so get involved it’s a great bunch of members. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with either Trudy (0433056991) or Ross (0487710101) to discuss the roles. Or feel free to come along to our monthly committee meeting THIS Thursday, 22 April at 7:15pm.

Life Membership

Nominations for Life Membership are currently being called for is an honour bestowed through unanimously endorsement of the club upon an individual club member who have demonstrated exceptional service, contribution and dedication to the Toowong Harriers Athletics Club over a long and consistent period on time. The provision of measurable benefits to the club and its members in preserving the highest standards of athletic pursuits in competition, officiating, coaching and or committee representation.

Examples of criteria below that may qualify a member to Life Status may include but are not limited to;

This may be demonstrated through a minimum 15years of active club membership
Has served on the club committee for a minimum of 10 years, or 8 years in an accountable role or Executive position.

A nomination for Life membership can be made by any member in writing to the Secretary secretary@toowongharriers.org.au , at any time, and must be received prior to the monthly committee meeting before the AGM.

General Business & Flood Recovery

Uniforms, Club caps are back in stock, as is full range of sizes of our awesome competition singlets, we do still have a limited number of training shirts, but more of these can be ordered upon request. The limited run of long sleeve polos that were manufactured for our club officials to keep the sun off during the long afternoons in the filed have also proven popular and are available upon request.

Volunteers required for the two T.H.A.C hosted XC events at CJ Greenfield Reserve, Richlands on the 21^st May and 30^th July as we are hosting the Queensland State XC Championships, we want to put on a great event.

This year the Harriers be running a water station at the Brisbane Marathon on the 5^th of July, it’s always a great morning encouraging athletes of all levels competing in a full or Half Marathon. We need to organise 15 members for the station, A volunteers T-shirt & snacks will be provided. Please see the attached the registration link, for everyone volunteering will need to register. If available, please nominate your interest to Wayne or Bruce at Seniors@toowongharriers.org.au

https://vmodcui.active.com/volunteer/jobs?eventGroupId=2217034&jobGroupId=397132

Flood recovery continues, we have all given many many hours to get club back up and running are there is still a long road ahead. At this stage it appears we should receive a level of support through our association insurance policies and government industry support grants. Though this will not cover our total losses, I believe the club will recover stronger than before through perseverance and our strong membership base. If you able to help please do not hesitate to put your hand up, this club is a large family, we all stand up together to support one another and make it better for everyone.

Communications to keep up with all the action around the club - club training, meets, working bee’s, officiating etc. through the club’s StackTeamApp. We still have our Facebook and Websites for all the details however, if you have a quick question or need to know what’s on, go to the Team App.