It has been more than 20 years in the making and at this year’s AGM on 23rd July, a new Constitution for the sport was adopted. This is a significant step for us – not so much that we have a new guiding document, but rather in so much that we have embraced that we can do better in how we deliver our sport and what value we offer to our members. It is a chance to energise our structures and provide some new and interesting elements into what we do. Ultimately it is all about making athletics:
- Much bigger & more diverse in its “membership” offerings
- Wider in its range of programmes, products and services
- Higher in profile in the life of New Zealanders
- An agile organisation able to recognise and take advantage of new opportunities
- A strong participant focused sport with a sense of ‘team’ at grassroots and national level
While for the majority of participants currently in the sport the new constitution will have little immediate impact, what has been created is a mechanism for starting to attract a wider range of “members” to our sport. Our old narrow and technical membership definitions have been replaced with the opportunity to promote “non traditional” membership offerings, a specific opportunity for us to actively move into the casual running and walking markets. Over the next 18 months we will be developing and testing a range of new products and initiatives and then rolling these out throughout the country.
We will have a very focussed approach to communication and will be talking directly and regularly with clubs and members. Our image and brand will be tested and reformed as necessary to support the new products and membership types and a new member management system will be implemented to enable strong communication to occur.
Amongst all of the opportunities, we still need to deliver exceptional experiences in our traditional offerings of track & field, cross country and road events. This is our foundation and where we will enjoy the international successes of our athletes who drive the profile of our sport. The first noticeable change as a result of the new constitution will occur for Clubs at a Special General Meeting to be called for in November. This will be the first opportunity for clubs to become active in the governance of the sport. The members are now a step closer to the decision making of the sport. Additionally, one of the early focuses will be to create a strong Club Development Programme to assist our clubs in improving their operation.
A copy of the new constitution is available at http://athletics.org.nz/Resource.aspx?ID=9192
Scott Newman
Further information or feedback:
Scott Newman scott@athletics.org.nz or 0275 103 743
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