Alice Springs Cycling Club

AGM and Awards Night

President's Report 2023

Saturday October 28. 5.45pm for a 6.00pm start.

WHERE: ASCC Clubrooms, Cameron St, Braitling

 

ASCC President’s Report 2023

Acknowledgement of Country

Gratitude for the ASCC Committee
As usual, I’d like to thank the ASCC committee for their commitment and dedication to all things
cycling over the last year. So much goes on behind the scenes to keep all aspects of the club running.
We are all volunteers and people put in as much as their busy lives permit. While most are time
poor, some go above and beyond to find a way to make things happen. I’d like to especially thank
Andrea Martin (Secretary) and Laurie Berryman (Treasurer) who have each worked tirelessly to fulfill
their respective demanding roles. Kathy Moylan has done an amazing job not just as Membership
Officer, but also helping Veronica Gailey with marketing and promotions of club activities and
events. Speaking of Veronica, taking on the role of compiling a regular newsletter is not one most
people would relish, but she has done a fantastic job in keeping the cycling community informed,
despite her increasing workload outside cycling. I am very appreciative of Ben Kaethner being back
on the committee and especially his accepting taking on the responsibilities of road race/event
coordinator, including compiling series and race results over the season and organising the awards.
This was an additional role I was happy to relinquish this year, but given the amount of work that
goes into the awards, I’m not certain that Ben shares the same level of happiness right now! Thanks
also to vice-president Mike Heyburn, who has been the conduit with the Alice Springs Masters
Games organisers, as well as being the mainstay of the track. Although work commitments have
hampered their availability, both Richard Farrell and Adrian Basso have contributed when they can.

Gratitude for Non-Committee Members
There are many people who are not on the committee who also make valuable contributions
throughout the season. Reg Hatch, the club coach spends much of his life at the velodrome watching
over and encouraging both adult and junior riders. This year in particular, he has presided over a
number of school students organised to have a series of sessions at the track. This is in addition to
his usual track commitments. Russell “Rusty” North has been another loyal contributor this year
again, organising and driving the bus back from Gran Fondos, and being the tail-end Charlie in driving
behind the last rider at several other events. A number of parents have helped out in supporting
not only their own children but others, and without you, we would not have the juniors in the first
place, let alone at the track or other events.
Note: voting for the Club Member of the year is still open! For those of you yet to vote, any of the
names mentioned (along with several others) would be worthy recipients of the award.

Safety
As a cycling club, safety is paramount. It is the primary role of the commissaire for our races, but it
is also every rider’s responsibility to ride in a safe manner. Despite this, we are still at the mercy of
drivers. One of the things that we introduced this year was the purchase of two sets of cycling
cameras for members to use to improve cycling safety. Accompanying this was the Bicycle Camera
Usage Policy I wrote as a guide, including what to do when footage of an incident or near miss is
captured. As I wrote in a recent newsletter, I sent footage of a near miss I captured on my camera
to the NT Police who investigated the incident and gave the driver a caution. This result can only
assist in promoting driver awareness and respect for two-wheeled road users. The committee will
continue to pursue good relationships with the NTG and the Alice Springs Town Council regarding
safety for cyclists.
On the subject of safety, I am very excited to advise that the ASCC has been announced as a finalist
in the NT Community Road Safety Awards. After the initial nomination, we made it through to the
semi-finals and are now one of the three finalists in this category. These are adjudicated by Awards
Australia, who since 1989 have been specialising in awards recognition programs on a state/territory
and national level. The Community Road Safety Awards have been awarded since 2002 but only
since 2020 in the NT. Club representatives have been invited to the gala dinner and award
announcements to be held in Darwin on Friday 08 December. Although it would be amazing to win,
just being selected as a finalist is a great achievement in itself, and a show of commitment that so
many people have made to the club in ensuring safe events for our members. Stay tuned for further
news!

Supporting our Volunteers
Clubs of all disciplines throughout Australia have been struggling for numbers of members and
volunteers – it is certainly not unique to our club. The introduction of a paid allowance for event
officials and key volunteers in recent years has no doubt assisted in providing a small incentive to
assist, but we desperately need more help. We need more people to do the Commissaire training
as there are precious few and the numbers are diminishing as people leave town or move away from
cycling. This year we paid for eight members to do their Foundation Instructor Certificates, which is
great. There is also support for members to do a first aid course if they volunteer. We are always
looking at ways to increase our volunteer and official numbers, so please consider helping out or
doing the Commissaire training, or let a committee member know if you have any ideas about how
we can improve in this critical area.

Attracting Junior Riders
In addition to volunteers, we also are trying to encourage more junior riders. This is the engine room
of our future and it is critical to the survival of the club that we get more juniors on board. For this
reason, we recently made the decision to reduce junior club membership to $0. This year we had
great success with the Come and Try sessions at the track, with good numbers from Centralian
Middle School, Ross Park Primary School and the Scouts, but we could do so much more with
additional volunteers. Thanks to our junior members for supporting this, especially Xavier Taig and
Adam Duncum. In addition, extra thanks to Laurie and Andrea for their commitment to this
program, as well as Aaron Hester, Mandy Hargreaves and Stu McDonell. Notably, several students
continued to attend regular track sessions after the school’s series of sessions concluded.

Asset Management
Managing our considerable assets is an important job of the committee, particularly keeping the
velodrome safe and clubrooms and grounds neat and in working order. This year we spent over
$9000 getting the lines on the velodrome repainted, and Kym Hansen did a great job fixing and
replacing the toilets in the velodrome area. One of our biggest positives is having track and some
road bikes available for use by members and school groups, but keeping these well-maintained is a
challenge we are still grappling with. We purchased a further 10 bike helmets for juniors this year.

Visit to the ASCC by the NT’s Highest Official
On Wednesday 12 July 2023, I had the pleasure of hosting His Honour Professor the Honourable
Hugh Heggie PSM, (to use His Honour’s official full title; PSM being the Public Service Medal awarded
in 2021), Administrator of the NT, together with his partner, Ms Ruth Jones and an entourage of
others including an official photographer. They were in Alice Springs for the week and wanted to
visit a number of organisations and a few sporting clubs, of which we were one. As Administrator,
His Honour represents the Crown in right of the Northern Territory and performs a similar
constitutional role to that of a State Governor and does not participate in the political process. The
Administrator of the Northern Territory is the highest official on the Northern Territory’s Table of
Precedence, and is therefore accorded priority over other officials such as the Chief Minister, the
Chief Justice and the Lord Mayor.
Joining me to welcome the guests were Elite Commissaire Mandy Hargreaves and coach
extraordinaire Reg Hatch. It was great to have such knowledgeable people on hand to help convey
the history of the club, its facilities and notable past riders. Both His Honour and Ms Jones are keen
fitness and sports people who took great interest in our club and seemed to enjoy the tour of the
clubrooms and the velodrome. While it was a relaxed atmosphere, we were all mindful of the strict
range of official protocols we were required to follow regarding the visit, including how to address
His Honour the Administrator.

ASCC Constitution Updated
After many years of the subject being mentioned, action was taken this year to finally update the
ASCC constitution, which was seriously in need of an overhaul. My gratitude goes to Secretary
Andrea Martin for her work in drafting the revision and ultimately getting it officially updated.

Term Deposits Opened for ASCC Funds
At the suggestion of Treasurer Laurie Berryman, funds that had traditionally sat in one account were
transferred into three separate term deposits. This not only will provide a greater level of interest
for our reserve, but by being split, still allows for flexibility should we need to draw on funds with
short notice e.g. for an urgent purchase with significant outlay, or where a grant is applied for but
we must also make a contribution. Thank you Laurie for your advice and guidance on this for the
betterment of the club’s financial resources.

Trophy Overhaul
Together with the constitution, another area that was in urgent need of change was the trophies.
Some were overflowing and in need of replacement, while others were just old and outdated. Some
awards were very similar in purpose and intent, with duplication occurring in several instances.
Accordingly, Ben Kaethner, Kathy Moylan and I met and made what were considered necessary
revisions which will hopefully make for more meaningful award presentations.

Notable Achievements
ASCC Members in the medals at the 2023 AusCycling Masters Track National Championships
Congratulations to ASCC members Kym Hansen and Mike Heyburn who each graced the podium at
the Anna Meares velodrome in April. Mike had an awesome ride in the M7 IP final and Kym cleaned
up in the M9 category, including gold in the 500m TT final. Amongst the officials was none other
than our own Mandy Hargreaves, doing her National Commissaire duty!

ASCC Members in top 10 in 2023 AusCycling Road National Championships
Congratulations to Clive Hickey for his top 10 finishes in the Road and Time Trail Nationals.

Graham Tjilpi Buckley
Earlier this month Tjilpi completed the 210km Round the Bay in a Day ride in Melbourne. Again.
Last year, Tjilpi was the oldest participant (85) just – by 4 months. I am not aware, but I’m guessing
at 86, he may have comfortably been the oldest this year. You continue to inspire us all, Tjilpi!

Max Yffer
President
ASCC
October 2023