The first round of the 2008/09 AV Shield season kicks off this Saturday afternoon from 1:00 pm at Aberfeldie. There have been some major changes in personnel over the winter however your summer committee has been hard at work and twenty new Coburg Harriers will line up in Round 1, half of those coming from Coburg Little Athletics. With a few forms still to come in, this season the Harriers will have a bigger summer squad than last year and the largest in my six seasons at the club

I am very excited to report this season the club will field an U16 mens, U16 womens and U18 womens team for the first time in several years. The first step in a long term program your club has put in place to re-build junior numbers at the Harriers, this could not have been possible without the fantastic support of the board of Coburg Little Athletics and the athletes themselves. I hope you join me in making the families of our ten new athletes feel welcome. They are the future of our great club

The club has recruited several top line athletes. The sprinters welcome Craig Brown (PB of 21 seconds in the 200 m), Bola Lowal - a sub 50 second 400 m runner, and Pat Solano of the Paul Keating stable. The middle distance squad has been strengthened by the recruitment of Liam Magee - a 4:30 runner for 1500 m and Glenn Carroll, whose 92 mins in the Melbourne Half Marathon exceeded all expectations. The women's team welcome Stefanie Modesti and Julie Torrini who will join Rita Pana as our key sprinters. And the middle distance squad will be bolstered by the addition of club recordholder Sharee Sharam

Competition at North West Region has changed in several key areas. In the men's section Division 4 has been abolished and replaced with a 40 + division. So your Coburg Harriers will now field teams in Men's Division 2, Division 3 and Men's 40+ and as you will no doubt remember, with our all conquering women's team of last season winning Division 2, the club will also be competing in Women's Division 1 for the first time in it's history

For the throwers, quite a few changes. All athletes in men's open (Div 2 & 3) must throw with the heaviest weight or their performance will not count. Also, all competition will now be held strictly according to the program - eg, on Program 1 male Open throwers can only compete in Shot Put from the scheduled 3:20 pm, Discus from 2.10 pm - 3:20 pm and Javelin from 1:10 pm - 2:10 pm. And invitational throwing events will now appear at the end of each program, generally from 4:30 pm onwards. For the middle distance runners, Program 1 has only the 800 m, Program 2 the 1500/5000 m double and Program 3 has the 800/3000 m double

All athletes should bear in mind that qualification for finals has changed. To compete in the finals, you are still required to attend on four occasions. However, to compete in an event in the final, you will need to have finished that event over four sepeate rounds. For example, to compete in the 200 metres in the final, you need to run and complete that event in four different rounds

With all that out of the way, what can we expect on Saturday? The sprinters can look forward to the 100/200 m double, with the 4 x 400 m Relay the last event on the program. The middle distance athletes "only" have the 800 metres to run but no doubt you will be useful in the relays. The invitation events are the Walk and the Hammer Throw. And the Harriers are rostered on to provide a volunteer to assist with the invite Hammer from 4:30 pm. Just the one required

If you are new to competition, please remember to wear black shorts and someone will be on hand to provide you with a club singlet. With such a big team, so many new faces and a new look to competition this season, it should be a very enjoyable summer season ahead. I look forward to seeing you all on Saturday afternoon

DATES TO REMEMBER

Round 1 - Saturday, 18 Ocrober 2008 - AV Shield Round 1 at Aberfedlie

Round 2 - Saturday, 25 Ocrober 2008 - AV Shield Round 2 at Aberfedlie (we're on Shot Put - 4 volunteers required)

Round 3 - Saturday, 1 November 2008 : AV Shield Round 3 at Coburg (your assistance required for set up/pack up)

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