Chair of the Board of
Directors Report
AGM 2005
I would like to convey my thanks to all those who made the 2004 a productive year for BCA. In particular, I would like to thank the new members of the Executive Committee Jim Cummins and David Polisi for their valuable input and fresh ideas. Also a sincere thank you to fellow board members for their patience and understanding.
On behalf of B.C. Athletics I would like to welcome Peter Ogilvie as the new Technical Manager of T&F and the Director of Power and Speed. Peter brings a competitive aspect to the sport of Athletics, having represented Canada as an Olympic athlete in the sprints. Our finance and accounting were contracted out on a part time basis and have assisted in giving us a clear picture of our financial status. We are on target to having a balanced budget for the present fiscal year.
We were saddened at the loss of a number of valuable members of the athletic community in B.C. in 2004. Jane Swan from the Valley Royals Club passed away in March as well as Bill English from the Nanaimo T&F Club and Al Lonergan a long time and VOC member. We have also recently lost Percy Perry from the Coquitlam Cheetahs Club who passed away in Jan, 2005. These exceptional individuals to the sport of athletics will be sadly missed .
Membership increased slightly in 2004, up over 300 from 2003 to over 4100 in 2004.There was however a large increase in Supporting Members, Masters Athletes and Juvenile memberships. We also saw an increase in the number of 14/15 yr olds, mainly due to the BCSG in Abbotsford in July.. The number of member clubs remains steady at 69 across the province.
Running again continued to grow in numbers. The Sun Run attracted almost 50,000 runners and the Times Colonist in Victoria pulled in over 8300 participants. The Timex Series in the summer continues to improve in numbers as did the Cross Country Series in the fall. The Haney to Harrison is almost at capacity with over 315 teams and was a tremendous success.
The Canadian and Olympic Trial T&F Championships were held in Victoria in July attracted some of Canada's finest athletes. We sent 6 able bodied BC athletes and 7 Paralympic Athletes to compete for Canada in Athens in 2004.
After much discussion at the Board of Directors Meeting we regrettably withdrew from hosting the World Masters Non Stadia Championships in Vancouver in 2006. . Simon Fraser Univ. was also successful in winning the bid to host he Legion T&F Championships in 2006. We were however successful at winning the bid to host the 2005 and 2006 Canadian Cross Country Championships.
In 2003 BCA reinvested in running by awarding prize money at the B.C. Cross Country Championships held in South Surrey in October. Overall winners in each age category were given merchandise prizes in the B.C. Cross Country Series. Total investment in running was over $3450.00.
The BCA website continues to improve with B.C. Athletics sanctioned races and events highlighted as they draw nearer. The Weekly Bulletin has proved to be a resounding success, providing up to date information, links to other pertinent sites and upcoming workshops, camps and clinics. We are constantly looking for ways of enhancing electronic communication to better serve the membership.
One of the primary goals of 2005 is to develop a strategic plan for the next quadrennial. We will be asking the membership to comment via the website on the 2001-2005 Strategic Plan and ask for suggestions on what to include as our focus for the 2005-2008 plan. A planning committee has been formed to work on this in preparation for submission at the 2006 AGM.
We face some interesting challenges as we look ahead to the following years. Certainly our aforementioned Strategic plan is our primary concerns it will set some goals for the organization that we will attempt to attain. We are looking forward to increasing overall membership in BCA as well as increasing the number of sanctioned events throughout the province. The challenge of certifying coaches under the new CBET program will also be a formidable undertaking over the next couple of years. Providing increased value for the members of BCA is a constant objective as we are in competition with running stores and charity events for products, clinics and non sanctioned running events.
Submitted by
Tom Hastie
Chair of the Board of Directors