Athletics Insight: New children’s athletics programme in Whanganui a highlight of spring competition

Athletics Wanganui's club nights, including a new children's programme, get under way at Cooks Gardens in October.

“It is now spring, A time blessed by the heavens for the comfort of the world ... The aged feel a kind of youthfulness and youth the spirit of life.” Nicholas Breton (1545–1626)

Spring may be a time of fickle weather, including our recent cold and wet snap, but we are not too far from warm, sunny days to restore spirits and the promise of summer ahead. The start of daylight saving on Sunday, September 29, as clocks “spring” forward, provides the promise of longer summer evenings and a further reminder to summer sports administrators that a new season is upon us.

The onset of summer sport is always heralded by a series of annual general meetings and special meetings. Last week it was the Manawatū Whanganui Centre AGM; next week the Athletics New Zealand AGM. This week’s regular Athletics Committee meeting is focusing on the imminent season and a further recent meeting of the working group from the Wanganui Harrier Club and Athletics Wanganui reported steady progress for both sections of the sport (highlighted in last week’s Insight).

“Spring is the time for plans and projects.” Leo Tolstoy’s comment on spring is particularly apt at this time, in view of the exciting plans for the sport. Edgar Guest said, “Spring’s greatest joy beyond a doubt is when it brings the children out”.

Children, and the planning for this vital and vibrant section of the sport, was central in all the recent meetings.

Last year the children’s section of the Athletics Club was sadly in recess as the organiser and young assistants were unavailable and we wanted to ensure that when we restarted, we could guarantee quality in the delivery for the children participating. The lack of a children’s section was also reflected in a drop in membership and income over the past season. Encouragingly, the energy put into the senior section which showed growth last year can be duplicated with the re-establishment and rejuvenation of the children’s section. We are confident of a similarly encouraging result.

Last week’s Insight indicated that the successful children’s development programme, under Paula Conder in winter, will continue in summer with Paula leading the team running the summer children’s programme. The club is encouraged by the good attendance at a parents’ coaching course run by Conder and Jodie Brunger (Sport Whanganui) last week.

The Children’s Club Nights (5-14 years) start at Cooks Gardens on Monday, October 14, from 4.30-5.30pm.

The Senior Club Nights start the following day (Tuesday, October 15) from 6.45pm. As in recent years, our Club Nights cater for athletes from intermediate school age (Years 7 and 8) through to masters. The masters grades always have special significance in years when we are hosting the NZ Masters Games athletics as we are in February. We hope that the new inclusive club registration encourages more masters athletes, including those who ran with harriers through the winter.

The club continues to run three main programmes. The A programme has on the track 100m, 400m, 1500m, a throw and a jump, short hurdles (70m up to 110m) and also a relay. The B programme has 200m, 800m and 3000m on the track, a jump and a throw, and long hurdles (200m, 300m and 400m).

The popular C programme, often on the Tuesday preceding an external competition, features shorter than standard races. The C programme will include a new initiative for children with a 6.15pm start and will include teaching warm-ups and coaching with some children’s races in the early part of the regular C programme.

A full programme for the remainder of 2024 appears on the club website and early 2025 will appear shortly. The timed weekly programme is published on the website. Additional events can be added on request with eight days’ notice to allow the additional events to be suitably advertised.

The Regional League once again provides excellent competition and preparation for our athletes. The Teams League starts in Hastings on November 2 with a round a week later on Saturday, November 9, in Palmerston North and concludes a fortnight later on Saturday, November 23, in Wellington. The league provides good competition for athletes of all abilities with its graded races and is especially valuable for athletes targeting New Zealand Secondary Schools to be held in Timaru on December 6-8. The Pak’nSave 3 Bridges Marathon, half marathon, 10km, 5km and kids’ 1.2km is a week earlier on December 1 in Whanganui.

The season gathers momentum after New Year and I will feature the programme, including our Pak’nSave Cooks Classic, in next week’s Insight.