South Melbourne
Athletic Club
ANNUAL REPORT
2014-15
SOUTH MELBOURNE ATHLETIC CLUB INCORPORATED
ABN 58 608 327 597
AGENDA
1. WELCOME
2. APOLOGIES
3. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES OF LAST YEAR’S AGM
4. REPORTS
PRESIDENT – Michael Silvester
TREASURER – Greg Payne
COMPETITIONS – Corey Lawson
5. SPECIAL RESOLUTION – ADOPTION OF MODEL RULES FOR AN
INCORPORATED ASSOCIATION
6. COMMITTEE – ELECTION OF OFFICE BEARERS FOR 2015/16
7. GENERAL BUSINESS
8. CLOSURE
Dated 8th April 2015
By Order of the Secretary
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MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
SOUTH MELBOURNE ATHLETIC CLUB
HELD AT CLARKE SHIELDS PAVILLION,
AUGHTIE DRIVE, ALBERT PARK ON 9TH APRIL 2014 AT 7.30PM
Present
Shaun Bassett, Kay Bretz, Kirstin Bull, Gaby Carmona, Ivor Carter, Jonathan
Clamp, Caroline Cleary, Dave Cobb, Colin Crawford, Jim Crawford, Tim Crosbie,
Gordon Cumming, Clive Davies, Judit Dencs, Jacob Gifty, Will Grbic, Ashley
Humphries, Bronwyn Humphrys, Eran (Izzy) Lande, Corey Lawson, Felix
Lonergan, Joanne Lonergan, Brian Lynch, Noel Jones (invit.), Rosa Law, Tracey
Nguyen, Stuart Nicol, Lincoln Nyy (invit.), Greg Payne, Alana Plyman, Peter
Ramsay, Carlota Rodriguez, Martin Ryan, Mike Silvester, Duncan Sinclair, Alan
Smyth, Mikael Waltersson.
Apologies
Peter Logan, Dennis Wattie.
President’s Address (included in the Annual Report)
Stuart Nicol discussed the club’s growing numbers of female and junior
members, but stressed the club’s critical need to return to the Yellow Zone to
restore participation numbers in the Shield competition. He thanked the
outgoing committee members and reflected on nearly 20 years as SMAC
president as he retires from that position.
Minutes of 2013 AGM (included in the Annual Report)
Previous minutes were accepted without amendment. There was no business
arising from the minutes.
Treasurer’s Report (included in the Annual Report)
Greg Payne tabled the club’s annual financial statement, which was accepted by
the meeting. He discussed the main items, most significantly an annual loss of
$1492, due to a large clothing purchase and no fundraising events or S&P
sponsorship money this year.
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Competition Report (included in the Annual Report)
Corey Lawson noted the increasing number of competitors we gain each year
from the Crosbie Crew, particularly for XCR, but lamented the low participation
in Shield competition due to the club being in the White Zone.
Election of Office Bearers
The following were elected unopposed:
President: Michael Silvester
Treasurer: Greg Payne
Secretary: To be selected from the General Committee
General Committee:
Danny Bowerin
Kirstin Bull
Jonathan Clamp
Caroline Cleary
Billy Jenkins
Corey Lawson
Stuart Nicol
Nat Roche
Presentation of SMAC summer awards
Middle distance Championships:
1st – Caroline Cleary
Jacob Gifty
2nd – Rosa Law
Corey Lawson
rd
3 – Caroline Scott
Kay Bretz
Decathlon:
1st –Gabi Wilson
Corey Lawson
nd
2 – Caroline Cleary
Kay Bretz
rd
3 – Carlota Rodriguez Will Grbic
Junior Awards:
Male – Felix Lonergan
Female – Tracey Nguyen
General Business
There was no other general business.
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PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Introduction
Welcome to the Annual General Meeting of South Melbourne Athletic Club for
2015.
I pleased to say that the past 12 months has been a successful period for the club,
both on and off the track/road and trail.
There have been some wonderful personal achievements amongst our members
and teams across winter and summer competitions, which have extended to
representative levels. I will allow Corey Lawson to expand on this further in his
Competitions Report.
Finance
The club has recorded an operating surplus of $330 for the year.
Further details are provided in the Treasurer’s Report. At this point, I would like
to acknowledge the hard work of our Treasurer Greg Payne, who continues to
manage the club’s finances, and also to Stuart Nicol who has assisted with the
Club’s migration to new accounting software.
Membership
Membership for 2014/15 season peaked at 94 late last year and has remained
stable the past two seasons. The club has come a long way from a membership
of 26 in 2008/09 (which included 1 open female and 2 junior females) and
female athletes now make up >30% of total members.
Registrations for the current season opened on 20 March 2015 and, at the time
of writing, our membership had reached 33 of which 11 are new members.
We also continue to get great support from Tim Crosbie and Andrew
Sutherland and the recreational running group, the Crosbie Crew that, once
again, has provided new members for the club this season.
Grants
The club was successful, thanks to the expert assistance of Caroline Larcher at
South Melbourne Districts Sports Club (SMDSC), in obtaining a grant from the
City of Port Phillip for $1,000 to help support disadvantage athletes.
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The club has previously assisted athletes including a number of Ethiopian
athletes who competed for the club and will again seek to provide support for
athletes as needed.
Website & Marketing
I hope you have all had the opportunity to visit the club’s new website and view
the promotional video.
This is the culmination of some great work by committee members Billy Jenkins
and Danny Bowerin, along with club member Amanda Kramer.
The committee took the decision to develop a new website last year and set a
budget of $1,500 to cover its development along with some marketing materials
(video and club flyer). Due to the efforts and connections of Billy, Danny &
Amanda, I am pleased to say that we came in under budget at a total cost of $650.
There is still some content to make its way onto the website and will be
uploaded in the coming months.
Separately, SMDSC is exploring the redevelopment of its website and the
intention will be to include a link to the SMAC website as was previously the
case.
Club Connect
Last October, Athletics Victoria introduced the AV Club Connect Program, a
mandatory 3-season program commencing this year and developed in
conjunction with the Australian Sports Commission.
The program was developed to build and maintain strong governance, effective
management and planning within AV clubs to ensure the ongoing strength and
growth of AV clubs in Victoria. By the end of the 2017/18 season, all AV clubs
will have met the required standards.
The program focuses on 5 main areas:





Governance,
Communication
Membership
Volunteers; and
Partnerships
We have already made some inroads into the above areas ahead of the
requirement to formally report to AV by January 31 2016.
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Governance – adoption of Model Rules, development and publication of an
athlete support policy, adoption of the AV Member Code of Conduct and
publication of AGM Minutes and Club Annual reports to the club website.
Communication – new club website to provide up to date information for
members, stakeholders and the general public.
We will focus on Membership, Volunteers and Partnerships in 2015. There is
also further work to be done this year in the areas of Governance &
Communications.
Committee
The efforts of the committee and their dedication to the club should be
recognised by all members. In my first year as president, the committee has
been a great support. As well as attend regular meetings, they have been a
strong presence across winter and summer competitions and worked on a
number of projects.
This year it looks like we will operate with a smaller committee as 5 of last year’s
committee have chosen to step down for various reasons.
I would like to single out Billy Jenkins and Caroline Cleary who have decided to
step down from Committee this year.
Caroline’s dedication to South Melbourne Athletic Club and her management of
the women’s teams, which get bigger each year, has been fantastic. Thanks
Caroline for your contribution to the club and its welcoming culture and best
wishes for the upcoming season.
Billy is returning to Ireland and will be missed. Billy has been both a great
competitor for the club and also a great contributor of his time and expertise to
the club website development. Billy, we wish you all the best for the future and
there will always be a spot here on the team for you should you return to our
shores.
Jonathan Clamp is another to step down from committee this year due to work
commitments. Jonathan has assisted in developing a stronger connection with
South Melbourne Little Athletics through his attendance at LA committee
meetings and will continue to assist committee in a less formal capacity this
season.
Natalie Roche has decided to leave the committee and country in recent months
and we wish her all the best as she travels and works her way through Europe
etc.
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Ivor Carter, who assisted the committee over the past year and after many years
also serving on the club committee, is taking a break this year. Thanks Ivor for
your contributions to the committee and club over many years and I hope that
this season we will see you running again.
Coaching
The club welcomes Kirstin Bull and Norm Maguire to its coaching panel for
2015. Kirstin is a longstanding member of the club and current committee
member and I thank her for nominating for the panel. Norm comes to the club
from Essendon Athletic Club and brings with him years of competition and
coaching experience and we welcome Norm to South Melbourne.
Srini Mandava, current coaching coordinator for the South Melbourne Little
Athletics, has also accepted an invitation to join the club coaching panel and we
will soon have Srini’s details up on the club’s website.
The club is also looking at further coaching appointments to support summer
and winter athletes.
South Melbourne Districts Sports Club
We maintain a very good relationship with South Melbourne Districts Sport Club.
Alongside Stuart Nicol and Greg Payne, I have attended various committee
meetings throughout the year.
Senior Athletics remains vey well supported by SMDSC and I thank Hugo
Armstrong, Districts President and his committee for this support.
The Year Ahead
With the introduction of the AV Club Connect Program, there will be plenty of
work to do over the next three years, but we have made some good early
progress.
The new club website will serve as a repository for much of this information and
this year we will continue to develop and add required policies and mandatory
items.
The website will also enable a greater level of transparency and consistency in
the governance and operation of the club which will be to the benefit of all
members/new members.
With registrations for the 2015/16 season having recently opened, our
immediate focus remains recruitment of new members and retention of our
existing members. I would also like to see us broaden our membership base
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further to include more track & field athletes. This would give us an even greater
presence across the summer months as we have some great junior athletes
coming through and around which we can build this area of the club.
We are committed to ensuring that the club maintains a healthy membership
base, continues to promote a supportive and inclusive club culture and enables
our members to achieve their athletic goals.
In closing, let me thank all of the Committee members and those in attendance at
this AGM for their ongoing support and commitment to the Club.
MICHAEL SILVESTER
PRESIDENT, SOUTH MELBOURNE ATHLETIC CLUB
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TREASURER’S REPORT
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GREG PAYNE
TREASURER, SOUTH MELBOURNE ATHLETIC CLUB
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COMPETITION REPORTS
WINTER XCR
XCR14 is over and results are in. It has been a very successful season for our
club, further demonstrating the depth in distance running at South Melbourne.
Our women’s Division 3, 4 and 5 teams finished first and our premier women
finished third. Men’s Division 2 finished 4th as did men’s Division 4.
There were some great individual performances with Sinead Diver winning
Ballarat 15km, Albert Park 10km, Burnley Half, and placing 2nd at Brimbank
Park 6km, thus claiming the very prestigious George Saunders trophy for first in
open female. Sinead becomes the first South Melbourne athlete to win this
award.
Sinead also had sensational results on the national scene, placing 2nd at the
National Half Marathon Championships in Sydney in September and 2nd on
debut at the National Marathon Championships in Melbourne during October.
Sinead’s marathon time of 2.34.15 is a club record.
Sinead qualified for the National XC in Albany Perth in August. She ran a strong
race over the relatively flat course finishing 2nd. We are all very proud of her
results and look forward to many more successful races in 2015.
Phillip Bowes won the Peter Battrick Bronze Medal for being the Men 55+
Champion. Phil ran in 5 of the 6 rounds, winning each race and thus convincingly
winning the 55+ category. Phil runs strongly and competitively against athletes
half his age and is a credit to his preparation and commitment to his running.
Congratulations to everyone. Every single member contributes in some way to
the above results, whether it’s making up numbers in a team, being supportive or
creating the great atmosphere which makes people want to run with our club. So
even if we don't all get medals, we are all still part of the success.
A massive thank you to everyone who bakes slices, cupcakes, cakes, biscuits and
other amazing creations – with special mentions to Rosa Law, Caroline Scott and
Clem Scott! It is all appreciated and is the special element that defines our club.
For most, running is an individual sport. However, when you run for a club like
SMAC, you realise how important it is to share each other's glories. At each of the
rounds, the comments about cooking and camaraderie are the envy of other
clubs. It is a great example of our team spirit in that, instead of just celebrating
our own achievements (and annoying our families, friends and coworkers
talking about the race), we get to celebrate with our team mates. It is the effort
that is always recognised, rather than the finishing time.
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As a club, we want our members to enjoy running with us and we probably don't
focus as much as some other clubs on season points and individual results.
However, it is important that we are competitive and cater for faster runners
who want to do well, so it's fantastic to have such a strong premier division,
especially considering there was only one female member a few years ago! Hard
to believe really.
COREY LAWSON
SECRETARY, SOUTH MELBOURNE ATHLETIC CLUB
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SUMMER SHIELD
South Melbourne returned to the Yellow Zone for season 2014/15.
Whilst we did not make shield finals, Yellow Zone did win the Zone v Zone finals
and SMAC had runners qualify for some events.
The club also welcomed new members and track runners in Nathan Coade and
Josh Lowndes this track season. Nathan and Josh competed regularly for the club
over the summer and we hope to have them on board again for 2015.
SMAC’s throwing over the shield season benefitted from a couple of training
sessions from Robyn May early in the season at Lakeside so, in the lead up to the
shield season this year, we will look to get Robyn back to help us brush up on our
techniques.
The shift back to Yellow zone has been well received by members. However, it
remains a challenge for the club to build our participation over the summer track
and field competition.
Thanks to all of those who competed across the summer track season for the
club and also to the great volunteers who gave up their time over summer to
assist with duties.
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SEASON RESULTS
JUNIORS
Ramen Nayar was awarded the Junior Rising Star last October for his great XCR
season in 2014 and we are excited to have Ramen back again competing this
season.
Across the XCR season, we had good representation from the juniors and will
look to build on this in 2015.
There were some outstanding performances at the recent Victorian and
Australian Championships. The club had great representation at both events and
some strong performances.
Gigi Maccagnini won the U14 400m and 800m at the Vic Championships and
backed up with a win in the 800m and 2nd place in the 400m at the Australian
Championships.
Felix Lonergan continued his dominance in the 800m winning both State and
National titles and placed strongly in 400m and 1,500m events.
2015 Vic Championships
Tamzin Hall
Ramen Nayar
Felix Lonergan
Angus Donnelly
Maysen Duffy
Chelsea Saw
Mitchel Waring
Ma-Ree Lou Boyle
Gigi Maccagnini
Coco Sable
age
U16
U14
U17
U15
U18
U15
U14
time
5.10
4.49
4.15.6
2.08.1
2.23.3
11.02.2
10.28.1
13.60
59.82
67.0
dist
1500
1500
1500
800
800
3000
3000
100
400
400
place
th
4
2nd
8th
6th
5th
11th
th
7
winner
time
2.24.2
2.25
50.40
dist
800
800
400
place
6th
time
dist
place
2nd
1.57.3
800
1st
7.14.6
2000
Steeple
200
800
4th
28.32
2.20.4
6th
winner
2015 Australian Championships
age
time
dist
place
Felix Lonergan
U17
1.55.7
800
winner
Maysen Duffy
U15
4.44.4
1500
5th
Mitchel Waring
U15
7.14.3
2000 Steeple
11th
Gigi Maccagnini
U14
2.12.8
800
winner
*Australian Champs – results are in finals except where indicated.
time
50.11
2.20.4
dist
400
800
place
4th
6th in heat*
58.99
400
2nd
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SENIORS
XCR
16
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TRACK & FIELD
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