News :: Club Activities
2008/ I have pleasure in presenting my annual report to the AGM. The 2010/11 Triathlon & Duathlon season has been another successful one for this club, the Taranaki Triathlon & Multisports Club. The voluntary committee worked hard throughout the year to ensure the club activities and events were well planned, well organised, and safe for all of our participants. More about the committee later. There are many area’s by which a season could be measured, member or competitor numbers, the number and nature of our events, the support generated from sponsors, and the delivery of Triathlon and Duathlon as a product to name a few. There were a total of 186 club members this past season, an increase in member numbers from the previous year by 22. This has reversed the trend of the past few years where we experienced a slowly declining membership for reasons I cant explain, but I could certainly speculate about. Given the sheer number of available sporting events that are available to people of all ages, genders, and sizes, and the difficulties our economy has faced in recent years, the increase in numbers is one pleasing aspect of the past season. Events This past season, the club hosted a total of seven club races at various venues in The Cycle Inn Duathlon at Lepperton. The Carefirst Medical Centre Triathlon and Duathlon was held at the Inglewood Pool. The Taranaki Civil Construction Ltd Triathlon and Duathlon was held at The Powerco Triathlon and Duathlon was held at The Port Taranaki Triathlon and Duathlon was held at The Mitchell’s Cycles Duathlon was held at Lepperton. Total competitor numbers at our seven events throughout the season totalled 490 (including some casual teams). All of our events have points up for grabs for club trophies in various divisions, and at each of our events spot prizes are the only prizes we award. 1 person in every 4 wins a spot prize, so given our total numbers that raced I can calculate that we awarded at least 122 spot prizes for the season. The club is lucky to have accumulated a substantial amount of assets over the years for the staging of Triathlons, Duathlons, or any other multi disciplined event. Other race organisers have either used or hired our equipment in the past twelve months, and these events/organisers include: NP Joggers, Energy City Harriers, Gutbuster Multisport, NP Half Ironman, SheWoman Triathlon, Numerous Primary Schools, and Police education officers. Club members have also volunteered their time to assist with marshalling or similar for some of these other event providers, and I would like to again acknowledge those wonderful members who volunteer to assist the club - by assisting others. The guest speaker for the evening was Megan Stewart. Megan wear many hats : St Johns Ambulance Paramedic, Taranaki Rescue Helicopter Trust crewperson, Taranaki Land SAR volunteer, and ultra distance Megan gave a presentation on her experience preparing for, travelling to, and participating in the I am often surprised that more of our members do not turn up to this event to share in some social interaction with club members, and celebrate not only the achievement of prize winners, but the success of our club and the season in general. As mentioned, our club has an emphasis on participation and enjoyment, striving to provide safe, enjoyable, affordable, and achievable events for participants of all abilities, regardless of gender or age. However we also encourage members to seek higher honours and achievements. Again this past season we have had a number of members wearing the silver fern and racing alongside the best in the world, be it at elite level, or against the best in the world in their respective age groups. Club Website The Club website has been a very successful tool for us, being an efficient and effective way of communicating to our members and the Triathlon public, whilst providing race details, entry forms, electronic event entry, and results to name but a few. We will continue to utilise this website in the coming season, and hope to increase content in the area’s around coaching, advice, and training. Special thanks to Mike Tapp for his commitment with this club assett, and his patience obtaining the appropriate and accurate information from the likes of me! Newsletter The past season has also seen a regular informative newsletter prepared to keep our members up to date via emailed newsletters. Peter Crawford has maintained this communication with our members and I acknowledge the time and effort Peter has invested for the good of the club. Sponsors The club is fortunate and very grateful to have the support of a number of generous sponsors. Without these sponsors, it would not be possible for this club to operate in the manner we do, or provide our events at the very low prices they currently are. I would like to acknowledge those sponsors as follows: Taranaki Civil Construction Ltd, Carefirst Medical Centre, Kim Roberts Heartland Insurance and Investment, Powerco, Port Taranak Ltd, The Frontrunner, Mitchell Cycles, Tasman Amcal Westown Pharmacy, Cycle Inn, Egmont Seafoods. Traffic Management Our former committee member Stuart Skene resigned last season after recurring injury spelt an end to him being able to run, and therefore fully participate in our sport. However, Stuart recognised he still had skills that were of benefit to our club, and he prepared all of our Traffic Management Plans for the season of events. Not only that, he was present at every single race as the STMS, so I tip my hat and acknowledge Stuart and the time and effort he has given to this club. I am pleased to add that he has agreed to continue in this role for the coming season. We also had many club members assist us with numerous tasks throughout the year, and the list is exhaustive. I fear leaving someone out so I have chosen not to try and name them, but they all know who they are. Many hands lighten the load, and enthusiastic people are always welcome, so thank you very much to each and every one of you for your support throughout the season. New Equipment Throughout the season the committee were working away behind the scenes designing, purchasing, and making our own finish gantry similar to the Harrier Club one we borrowed for a season or two. This gantry is now complete and ‘in service’. We are pleased to announce that the club was successful in obtaining significant funding support from TSB Community Trust, towards our project of replacing the gear trailer with a box body truck. This purchase was completed mid winter, and the truck has now been fitted out thanks to the voluntary time of Russell Mancer, and it is race ready. The gear trailer has served us very well, but our increased equipment load has made the trailer heavier and heavier, and the box body truck now eliminates the need for a high powered vehicle to tow it etc. I acknowledge the assistance with this project by Craig Clarke at Tasman Toyota, and the sub committee who have invested so many hours on that project. We have also been successful with a recent funding application to NZCT for the purchase of a new timing clock which will hang from our new finish gantry. The Coming Season The 2011/12 season is fast approaching, and commences on I am confident that we will see many of our current members return for another season of events, and I encourage as many as possible to challenge their family, friends, and colleagues to get involved also. I would also like to see some of our former members come back to the club and participating in the events we offer. There is also a new Youth Triathlon Training initiative being driven by Triathlon NZ, and contracted to local clubs to entice the next generation of Triathlon competitors. Our club has signed a contract with Tri NZ for this initiative, and Graham Park will be delivering this project which is set to launch in late October 2011. Club Spirit The challenge we face every season is to work towards a better club spirit, one where members are enthusiastic about having some sense of belonging and less of us being seen purely as “event organisers”. If you have any suggestions or comments about the club, the events, or the social aspects which need boosting, please do not hesitate to contact any member of the incoming committee to discuss. Committee I would like to acknowledge and thank the hard working, enthusiastic, voluntary club committee who have invested endless hours into the running of this club. I can assure you their time commitment is significant, and I am pleased I have not counted the actual hours for I fear it may be discouraging to others contemplating a move to join this committee. The committee members for the past season are: Eleanor Hamilton, Each member of the committee brings excellent skills and experience, and without them and their efforts this club just simply would not function. It has been an absolute pleasure working with this committee for the past season. Standing down I wish to advise that I will be standing down from this committee effective from this AGM. Quite simply my two children are growing up just as fast as everyone elses, and they are involved in their own sports and interests, and I want to spend some time involved in that before I am someone they don’t want to be seen with! Triathlon is a huge passion for me, and I will continue to be involved in the sport through competing where possible and attending this club’s events as time permits. I have given a considerable amount of personal time to this club, and I have enjoyed the challenges it has sometimes presented. There have been so many absolute highs, and also a few lows that have tested my patience, but at all times I have done what I consider was in the best interests of this club. I also believe it is time for a change and I challenge everyone here to give consideration to getting involved on the committee to see if you can make things even better than the previous season. Thankyou for the experience, and the support given to me, and I wish the club every success with the coming season and beyond. Jeff McGrath Club President Prize winners for the 2010/11 season Duathlon points trophies Junior women Jessica Leary Open Women Brenda Smith Veteran Women Ra Rubick Junior Men Nicholas Tipler Open men Paul Randall Veteran Men Russell Mancer Club Duathlon Champions Women Brenda Smith Men Edward Rawles Triathlon Points Trophies Junior women Jessica Leary Open women Melanie Hansen Veteran women Sandra Sharp Junior men Nicholas Tipler Open men Aaron Wood Veteran men Darrin Grey Club Triathlon Champions Women Melanie Hansen Men Darrin Grey The most improved athlete for the 2010-2011 season is Russell Mancer The most outstanding athlete for the 2010-2011 season was Edward RawlesAnnual Report on 2010/11 Season
Membership
The Kim Roberts Heartland Insurance and Investment Triathlon and Duathlon was held at
Taranaki Secondary Schools Sports Association
The Committee also assisted the TSSSA in convening and hosting the Taranaki Secondary Schools Triathlon at
It is always a pleasure to work alongside TSSSA and assist them with their events. The enthusiasm of the students involved and the atmosphere is a buzz and quite frankly something I take great pleasure in being a part of.
Many thanks also goes to the club members who demonstrated great club spirit by volunteering some of their own time following our event to stay and help us marshall the TSSSA race.
The TSSSA Duathlon was held in April at Lepperton, and this was scheduled for the same day as our club Duathlon champs. The secondary schools raced first with the club race following in the afternoon. Once again club members volunteered their time to help us with the TSSSA event, and I thank all of those members who freely give up their time to help the club provide this event for the students.
Equipment use & Volunteering
End of Season Prizegiving
Our Annual end of season prize giving was held at the Fitzroy Surf Clubrooms in April, and was attended by approximately 60 members/guests.
Season loyalty prizes including Saucony running shoes, a Digital Camera, two half ironman event entries and five free club memberships for the following season were won by some of those attending the prizegiving.
Members Achievements
RACEDAY ENTRIES WILL CLOSE 15 MINUTES BEFORE RACE TIME
A race day change this season will see race registration close when the the race briefing begins. This will be 15 minutes prior to the published race start time.
Unfortunately late arrivals hold up our race start times and they penalise competitors who arrive and register in time for the briefing and advertised start time. This has become a trend and it needs to end.
So, from the next event, race registration will close 15 minutes before the advertised start time and no late comers will be allowed to participate in the event. There are several reasons for this:
- We need to ensure all participants have registered and therefore completed an entry form, read the "race information", and signed the declaration;
- We need to ensure those who have entered by email have actually arrived and will participate;
- We need to know how many participants are competing, to ensure every one is accounted for from start to finish;
- We need to ensure all participants are present and listen to every aspect of the race briefing. This is a health and safety essential;
- We need to respect those members who have arrived in sufficient time to be ready to start our event on time;
- We have
So please arrive at the venue in sufficient time to register, assemble or prepare your equipment, warm up if desired and listen to a full race briefing.
Our club and events are friendly and fun and the last thing we want to do is alienate any members. As a committee we are always trying to improve our delivery of these events to you and this change really needs to be made.
Newsletters
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