Knox Little Athletics Centre Inc.

Anthony Macintosh, LAVic CEO, in a memo to all centre this afternoon, provided the following updates for Regionals and State Championships:

In a follow up to yesterday’s announcement regarding the cancellation of the 2021 Regional Track and Field carnivals several key developments have taken place in recent hours.

The State Government late last night issued permits for LAVic to conduct all 16 Region Carnivals and 2 State Championships for the 20/21 summer track & field season.

The State Government pledged whatever support and resources would be required to help successfully conduct the 2021 Region Track & Field Carnivals due to take place on the weekend of 13th and 14th February.

The Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Martin Pakula, has taken a particularly keen interest in our issue. Accordingly, the two major impediments for proceeding with the 2021 Region Track & Field Carnivals were:
1. the lack of permission to run our Region Carnivals and State Championships events from the State Government COVID Events team; and
2. manpower available for Region Committees to organise the events within the required time. Both of these issues have now been resolved.

A teleconference was conducted with representatives from all seven Regions at 9.30am this morning to discuss the prospect of conducting Region Track & Field Carnivals for each Region. All Regions were in agreeance to proceed, with the proviso that extra State Government support and resources would be made available.

On this basis, LAVic has made the decision to proceed to conduct the 2021 Region Track & Field Carnivals, as originally planned. Accordingly, it is expected that entry portals will open this afternoon and will close on Friday 5th February at 12pm (midday).

A lead up email will be sent to families advising of portal opening details.

If you are a Knox LAC Athlete wanting to register for regional carnivals the please look for the email from LAVic that is due to be sent this afternoon. It will contain the registration details and link to the registration portal.
You need to have registered for regionals by 12pm Friday 5th February. There will be no late acceptances.
EMR is being hosted at the Knox Track this year, so lets encourage as many Knox LAC athletes to register.

Good luck everyone.

See you at the track.

LAVic have sent out this afternoon to all centres a memo advising that the 2021 Regional Athletics Carnivals have been cancelled.

LAVic CEO, Anthony Macintosh advised the following:

LAVic has taken the decision to cancel all 2021 Region Track & Field Carnivals, scheduled to take place on 13th & 14th February.

LAVic has sought, but not yet received, legal permission from the State Government via the ‘Public Events Framework’, to conduct the 2021 Region Track & Field Carnivals.

It’s now clear that, time has run out to satisfactorily and confidently organise these events from opening the registration portals through to the finalisation of competition. LAVic does not intend to place the Region organising bodies in a position where they cannot deliver a Region Track & Field Carnival across all seven Regions at the required standard in the current timeframes utilising their existing resources.

Conducting an alternative Region Track & Field Carnival for less than 1000 patrons (inclusive of athletes, parents, siblings, coaches, grandparents and spectators, exclusive of officials) has been given due consideration and deemed not feasible due to the ability to limit athletes in events and to provide an equitable competition that also provides qualification for the 2021 State Track & Field Championships.

The intention remains to run the 2021 State Track & Field Championship on 13th & 14th March, pending State Government approval. The program, venue, athlete registration procedure, any change to the competition regulations and any conditions imposed by the State Government will be communicated in due course.

The 2021 Commonwealth Bank Region Relay Carnivals and 2021 Commonwealth Bank State Relay Championships are also pending State Government approval. The programs, venues, athlete registration procedures, any changes to the competition regulations and any conditions imposed by the State Government will be communicated in due course.

Centres are free to conduct Centre competition on the weekend of 13th February, should they choose to do so.

We are all disappointed with this decision. We can expect many to vent their frustrations via their Centre/Region Committees, directly to office holders, on social media, and possibly mainstream media. For this, LAVic apologises in advance to those having to bear the brunt.

Further information on the cancellation of the 2021 Regional Athletic Carnivals can found here:
https://lavic.com.au/track-and-field/2021-region-track-and-field-carnivals-cancelled-30020/

The KLAC Executive Committee will provide further information as it comes to hand.

Eastern Metro Regional Athletics Carnival is being hosted by Knox LAC this year, therefore a working bee is needed to get the track prepared and looking good.

Date: Sunday 7 February 2021
Time: 10 am Start
Bring your own tools (shovel, rakes, pruning shears etc., blowers, line trimmers, edgers etc. (petrol power is preferred)
Jobs include: General cleaning up, weeding, edging, cleaning up presentation area.

Refund: Eligible families that attend the working bee will eligible to receive a working bee levy refund – just remember to sign in and sign out for the working bee.

Please note: Covid Protocols will be in place. There will be sign in desk with a QR code to scan and sign in and a covid safety officer will be on duty. No sharing of equipment or tools. Social distancing will need to be maintained.

For those heading to State Combined Events this weekend, please note that the duty roster has been finalised and is posted below. Families will have been emailed a copy of the timetable and duty roster yesterday. If you do not have the email please check your junk email box. LAVic have also provided some last minute changes to the timetable.

Here are the main changes to the Timetable:

• U13 Boys: The first event is now Hurdles, then the block of Discus for Groups A & B, and Long Jump for Group B. The 100mts is now after the Girls 100mts.
• Multi-Class athletes: The second events are swapped, the Girls Shot Put is now before the Boys Discus.
• All Shot Put: Shot Put 1 and Shot Put 2 are now outside, directly behind Gate 1, access is from inside the stadium.
• U15 Boys: Long Jump is swapped from Pit 1 to Pit 2.
• Delay the start of the Discus 1 – inside the venue, for a few hours.

More information can be found at https://lavic.com.au/event/2021-state-combined-events-championships/

Parents, Family members and Duty Roster

• LA Vic have confirmed that both parents/guardians, and siblings can attend. This will help with parents on duty and ensuring that athletes can be delivered to call room/events on time.
• Reminder:The event is capped at 1000 patrons per day. This means that no spectators will be permitted to enter the venue. Please do not invite grand parents, other family members or friends.

Duty Roster
The roster has been setup so that each family will do similar amounts of time on duty for the days they are at the Championship. The duty roster can be downloaded below. Please note your duty and time. As the duty roster is set, there will be little chance of changing it.

Please note: Parent duty at State Combined Event is compulsory. Parents must complete their duty at the allotted time. There will be little chance of making changes.
Knox LAC does enforce the policy that any family that does not turn up for duty, or complete their allotted duty, their child will be withdrawn from competition and take no further part.

Covid Protocols will be in place for both days, including that parents must wear a face mask when watching long jump.

Venue access

There will be 2 entry points, Gate 1, and Gate 2, located at opposite sides of the stadium. At each Gate, there will be a two-stage entry process. All attendees will be separated into lines, and physical distancing between lines will be in place to allow attendees to scan the QR code and enter the required details, prior to proceeding to the venue gate, where staff will check the QR code details, to gain access to the venue.

The gates open at 7.30 am.

Saturday:
Gate 1 – Under 9 athletes, Under 13 athletes, Under 15 athletes.
Gate 2 – Under 10 athletes, all Multi-Class athletes.

Sunday:
Gate 1 – Under 11 athletes, Under 15 athletes
Gate 2 – Under 12 athletes, Under 14 athletes, Under 16 athletes.

Event Registration Patch

This year due to COVID restrictions, athletes will not receive an event patch, and there is no athlete check-in. Athletes are required to wear their Knox Centre uniform, that has the Coles badge sewn onto their uniform top and their weekly Registration patch.

Registration patches that still have Subway on them, will need to be updated with a Commonwealth Bank sticker, that will be supplied to the Knox LAC Team Managers on the day by LA Vic. All athletes must have the correct registration patch to compete. Please do not forget to bring your registration patch.

Uniforms

All athletes competing must wear their approved Centre uniform which conforms to the standards as defined in the LAVic Centre Uniform Booklet.
All uniforms must display the Coles logo above the LAVic logo.

The committee has inspected the track and the competition areas. With the continuing rain and thunderstorms possible this evening and concerns with meeting covid protocols with everyone in the grandstand, the committee has determined that athletics is cancelled for tonight.

Good luck to those heading to State Combined tomorrow and we will see everyone next week.