News & Updates

Club membership numbers have remained healthy in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic (Photo: Alisha Lovrich)

At the recent World Athletics Awards, the inaugural Athletes Community Award was presented on behalf of athletes globally by Athletes’ Commission Chair Renaud Lavillenie and Deputy Chair Dame Valerie Adams to all the clubs around the world.

For us here in New Zealand, the award is recognition of the hard work that our clubs put into navigating the Covid-19 global pandemic.

Reflecting on the past year and the special award, Athletics NZ Community Manager Hamish Meacheam noted:

“We are currently sitting at 97 per cent of our club membership numbers from last year, which we believe is a remarkable result given the extended time we were operating under various restrictions. This success is all down to our clubs, who kept up with our communications, followed guidance, were resilient and innovative. We especially note that some clubs managed to actually grow their membership over this time.

“Our distance running community are especially deserving, having successfully utilised the Athletics NZ Virtual Champs during Level 4 lockdown, and then implementing hygiene and contact tracing protocols to allow cross country and road competitions to resume through the winter months.

“Athletics NZ wishes to extend its congratulations and thank you to all clubs for all the work you do.” 

Our own Dame Valerie Adams was one of the co-presenters of the award and in her speech presenting the award said:

“Clubs around the world are so important for the development of our sport, especially at a grassroots level. They are an opportunity for communities to come together as one and to participate in something we all like to do – whether it’s once a week or on a daily basis.

“We’re so excited to be presenting the 2020 Athletes Community Award to all the clubs around the world. As a token of recognition, we would like to invite any athletics club from Athletics NZ to receive a specially designed winner’s badge for your websites and social media channels – or to print and put up in your club houses.”

A link to the full personal thank you message from Dame Valerie Adams and Renaud Lavillenie, along with registration to receive the specially designed winner’s badge, can be found by clicking here