There are a few signs that summer is coming, over and above daylight saving this weekend and the arrival of the annual equinox winds.
The Whanganui Collegiate Annual Inter House Athletics Meet for the Collerton Trophy held on the last Tuesday of Term 3 is an annual reminder that only three weeks later, summer Club Nights commence at Cooks Gardens. A further reminder is the raft of pre-season meetings in preparation for the season ahead.
The Indoor House Meet has a long history, having started in the 1970s and evolved into a vibrant indoor team competition at Jubilee Stadium. It combines the best of sports hall athletics (popular in the UK) and normal indoor athletics and borrows team pursuit from cycling. Teams of six in six grades compete over pursuit (two rounds), 4x100 metres, 40m and 600m, with all six members of the team required to participate on the tight 100m circuit. More than 30 per cent of the school competed on Tuesday, with the rest providing noisy support. Grey House won the Collerton Trophy from Harvey by four points (140-136).
The indoor meet has stood the test of time and is perhaps the only event of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. I have long wanted other schools and regions to promote a similar meet. The 100m circuit and the close proximity of spectators add much to the evening. How much better it would be on a full banked 200m circuit that could materialise if the velodrome were roofed and how much easier it would be to sell the concept? An indoor track inside the cycle track at the velodrome would not only lead to major indoor meets, including championships, but would solve the problem of the lack of good warm-up track at major championship meets as we currently have to use Whanganui City College’s track, a couple of blocks away.
The other big indication that the season is almost upon us is the raft of annual general meetings and meetings both in person and by Zoom. AGMs, like elections, can be tedious but are an important part of the democratic process. In the past fortnight, Athletics New Zealand has had its AGM as has Manawatu Whanganui Athletics Centre (MWA), both held in Palmerston North. The latter approved a $3000 grant to all centre clubs that participated at the successful Cooks Gardens-hosted Colgate Games, thus sharing the success and investing for the junior end of the sport. The track and field report highlighted how successful the centre had been at the Athletics New Zealand Championships where MWA athletes, one of New Zealand’s smallest centres in both size and population, gained 31 medals (14 gold, 10 silver and seven bronze). Whanganui made a significant contribution to the medal haul. Both club and centre “punch above our weight”.
