The Competition Calendar for Season 2020-2021 has been an evolving piece of work that contains a constantly changing set of variables. The last few months have seen various editions of the calendar that have been worked on in preparation for release, only to be amended due to COVID-19 restrictions at the time. With the latest easing of COVID-19 restrictions for Regional Victoria according to the Government roadmap, our Affiliated Centres who are in these areas can now commence their season. We expect the Metro Melbourne Affiliated Centres to commence as soon as the restrictions allow it.
The factors that have influenced the competition calendar this year are more complex than normal, however, some fundamentals remain. That is, how we can provide competition opportunities for our athletes, minimise clashes with other athletic organisations, provide adequate resources to deliver the programs in terms of our volunteer workforce and their capacity, balance the needs of participation at Centre level compared to Region / State opportunities, maintain an attractive athletic experience for athletes, parents, coaches, officials, administrators and committee members at all levels.
The calendar has been designed to achieve these goals, however, it must be understood, that this season it will require, Centres, parents, athletes, coaches and officials to carefully consider the most appropriate method of participation in order to look after the health and wellbeing of all concerned. The period of increased demand on everyone’s time and effort is extended over the months of January to April. All Region, State and National events are condensed into this period, along with State and National events for both Athletics Victoria (AV) and Athletics Australia (AA).
We are working with Regions to provide assistance with the administrative requirements of a condensed competition period, along with reviewing some competition regulations and requirements to facilitate these changes.
The major change for this season is moving both the Region and State Relays from before to after Christmas.
One of our goals is to minimise clashes, however this season that is not always possible. To ensure we are not disadvantaging athletes and teams at the Region Relay Carnivals, as this clashes with the AV State Championships, which is a qualifier for the AA Nationals, our qualifying Region Relay Carnivals for this season will only be for the U9-U12 age groups. The athletes in the U13-U16 age groups will be able to enter directly into the State Relay Championships. We will be conducting State Relays over two days, the Saturday will be for U9-U12, and Sunday will be the U13-U16 age groups. We will not have a cap on numbers for the U13-U16 age groups. Further details will be supplied on the entry process, along with the updated rules and regulations for Relays.
We understand the extra events after Christmas will impact Centres in terms of their weekly programs, however, the main changes of Relays being conducted on a Sunday in late February can allow programs such as twilights and modified competitions especially for the U6-U8 age groups to proceed. The State Relays being the last weekend in March, could impact upon Centre Championships or Presentation Days, so Centres might consider the week after State Track & Field Championships as an alternative.
Please review the attached calendar and use this to set your Centre programs.
We understand the need to be flexible at this time, and if required, due to changes in the COVID-19 restrictions, we might need to amend the calendar accordingly. In this case, we will advise everyone immediately.
Thank you for your patience with this process.
Click here for the Competition Calendar. It can also be found on the LAVic website under Calendar.
