Wanganui athletes set to 'test the water' in Victoria

BY DAVID OGILVIE David.ogilvie@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
Wanganui athletes will soon be receiving their club email asking whether they want to compete in the Stawell Gift professional athletics meeting in Victoria at Easter.
This is the first tangible evidence that the offer from the Victorian Athletics League for Wanganui to take up its New Zealand franchise is being treated seriously.
The VAL offer, confirmed at the weekend when three top league officials visited Wanganui for talks with Wanganui city organisations, takes its next steps this week when the VAL board meets on Friday ? and Wanganui's key players John Quigley (Wanganui Inc) and Philip Kearney (Sport and Rec Wanganui), start to "crunch" figures before addressing their respective boards.
But Athletics Wanganui has got the ball rolling already.
Spokesman Fred Holmes said yesterday the club was putting together a newsletter to club members seeking those who were interested in going to Victoria at Easter to compete in the Stawell Gift meeting ? the centrepiece of the 25 franchise-strong VAL.
The offer for Wanganui's athletes "to test the water" means they can compete in this Stawell gift meeting without paying an affiliation fee to the Victorian Athletics League, according to Holmes.
"We want a commitment from them before Christmas," Holmes said, "and we'll try to get some funding together for them."
The VAL wants a Wanganui "Development" squad to take part in meetings in Bendigo in March and at Stawell. The latter had prizemoney of $A100,000 this year and is likely larger this time.
Professional athletics is all about handicaps, rather than all starting from scratch ? and therefore allows all ages, sizes and ability to take part.
Holmes says Athletics Wanganui would be keen to have all sports involved if the project takes off. Victorian meetings involve many sports, bringing the whole community together.
"We want them all to be part of it ? this is quite exciting, and it has some real potential," Holmes said.
"The beauty of it is being handicapped ? that's why we feel we don't get many of the rugby players down to our club nights. They feel they might embarrass themselves ? whereas if you do it all on handicap, it's a different ball game altogether."
Wanganui Inc chief executive John Quigley is in the firing line if Wanganui seizes the carrot. His organisation is charged with bringing new events to Wanganui and boosting its economic and tourism development ? and this one appeals.
"I'm actually quite excited about it," Quigley said yesterday. "Our involvement is quite valid in this. If the dollars stack up in terms of growing it, and we can get the people to come here ? we could build it into something."
Quigley said his organisation "was enthusiastically having a look. Now Phil (Kearney ? Sport and Rec Wanganui) and I will sit down, crunch some numbers, and talk to Athletics Wanganui and Cooks Gardens.
"It's a case of working as a team in co-ordinated fashion." Quigley says he's very interested in the idea of Wanganui gaining the New Zealand-wide franchise.
"The possibility of being involved in the management of expanding it across the whole country, but controlling it ? and taking a return for that. This does interest me."