Waverley Little Athletics Centre Inc.

News - 2020/2021

Our Centre has a rich history that spans across 53 years. Several long standing records have been broken in recent years, which is a significant achievement for our volunteers. We have several long serving volunteers and active Life Members still involved and we thank all members for their contributions. Here are some interesting statistics as of the 2021/22 Season in regards to our Committee Members. The information below relates mostly to those who are currently serving on the Committee and is not a complete of historic facts about Waverley LAC:

• Wrapping up the 2020/21 season at the AGM, four Life Memberships were presented. This is the highest number of Life Memberships presented in a single season. Previously, the highest number was three, presented in 2008/09. 
• John Masters becomes the first and only Foundation Committee Member to be awarded Life Membership. 
• John Masters becomes the second person who's name features on three out of four Honour Boards at the Clubroom, serving on both the Little Athletics and Senior Athletics Committees. He is a WLAC Life Member, Athletics Waverley Life Member and was Athletics Waverley President in 1981/82. The only other person to feature on three honour boards is Mark Baxter. He is a WLAC Life Member, was WLAC President in 1998/99 and Athletics Waverley President from 2002/05. 
• Katy Smith wrapped up the 2020/21 season as the longest serving Secretary in our history, holding office for six consecutive years. She surpassed Anne Rennie's record, who was Secretary for five years from 1982/87. 
• Neetasha Dobson commences her sixth year as Registrar, and remains the longest serving Registrar in our history. The previous record was held by Mike Keeshan who was Registrar for four years from 1980/84.
• Four members join the Committee for their first season. Timo Brouwer (Secretary), Penny Siega (Results Manager), Derek Kums and Peter McCusker (General Committee). 
• Dylan Cooper commences his 12th year on the Committee and becomes the longest serving Committee Member in our history, surpassing Tony McMahon who served for 11 years from 1975/86. Several Committee Members have served for 8 or more years, listed below. According to historical paperwork, as it stands, the following number of people also served on the Committee: 8 people served for 7 years, 13 for 6 years, 21 for 5 years, 22 for 4 years, 46 for 3 years and more than 50 people served for 2 years or 1 year: (current)
  

  Name	Years
  Dylan Cooper	12 years
  Tony McMahon	11 years
  Ron Dempsey	9 years
  Mark Baxter	9 years
  Mark Cosham	9 years
  Daryl Thiele	8 years
  Russell Weber	8 years
  Steve Laidlaw	8 years
  Ian Morrison	8 years
  Bruce Lyon	8 years
  Lindsay Harrison	8 years

• Dylan Cooper commences his 8th (non-consecutive) year as Centre President and remains the longest serving President in our history. 
• Dylan Cooper commences his 5th (consecutive) year as President during his second term and becomes the longest serving consecutive President in our history, surpassing Tony McMahon who was President for four years from 1978/82. 
• Dylan Cooper is one of four Life Members that has served as Centre President. He is also the longest serving in this dual capacity. The Life Members that served as Presidents were: Bob Rennie (1987/88), Lindsay Harrison (2011/12), Mark Cosham (2015/17) and Dylan Cooper (2017/22). 
• Dylan Cooper remains one of many Past Presidents that continued to serve on the Committee, but also one of three Presidents that has served two terms as President. On 11 occasions, an individual Past President has continued to serve on the Committee at the conclusion of their term in office. And only twice in our history, two Past Presidents have concurrently served on the Committee (1993/94 - Mal Walker & Michael Fagan, 2009/10 - Lindsay Harrison & Matt Sturgess). The longest Past Presidents who continued to serve on the Committee are: Dylan Cooper (6 years), Lindsay Harrison (5 years), Tony McMahon & Mal Walker (4 years). 
• Dylan Cooper is elected President of the Southern Metro Region of Little Athletics Victoria. He is the second Waverley volunteer to serve as SMR President, following Tony McMahon who served for two years from 1985/87. Dylan also becomes the first and only Waverley President and Life Member to concurrently serve as SMR President. Tony McMahon was the Waverley Vice President (1985/86) and Life Member during his time as SMR President. 
• Our active Life Members are as follows: Bruce Reynolds OAM, Steven Lopes, Nicole Lopes, Mark Cosham, Dylan Cooper, Stephen Whitehead, Merryn Ashcroft, Katy Smith, Caitlin Brusco, David Coleman and Joanne O'Mara - a huge thank you to you all for you ongoing support and a thank you to those who are no longer actively involved but remain in communication with the Centre.
• Three Life Members serve on the Committee, the first time this has occurred in our history. Dylan Cooper (President), Caitlin Brusco (Vice President & Centre Mentor) & Katy Smith (Coaching Manager). On three previous occasions, two Life Members have served on the Committee (1985/86, 2016/17 & 2020/21). On 9 individual occasions, one Life Member has served on the Committee (1983/85, 1987/88, 1992/93, 1994/95, 1996/97, 2009/12, 2015/16, 2017/20). 
• Dylan Cooper, Katy Smith and Neetasha Dobson are ranked in the top six longest serving Executive Committee Members. Commencing the 2021/22 season, the following people are the longest serving Executive Committee Members: (current).
  

  Name	Years
  Tony McMahon	10 years
  Dylan Cooper	8 years 4 months
  Daryl Thiele	6 years
  Russell Weber	6 years
  Katy Smith	6 years
  Neetasha Dobson	6 years

• Two current Committee Members (Dylan & Caitlin) have volunteered for 10 years or more at Waverley.
• As of 2021, there are 8 female Life Members and 5 Life Members that have not served on the WLAC Committee. I like to highlight these facts as history shows, across many Centres, that Life Memberships are awarded to more men than women and favour those who serve on the Committee as opposed to non-Committee service. At Waverley, there is no stigma if you're worthy of Life Membership! 
• Dylan Cooper is one of nine Committee Members who has held the most number of Committee Positions. (current)
  

  6 Positions	Years on the Committee
  Ken Knight	7 years
  Ed Chinery	6 years
  5 Positions	Years on the Committee
  Tony McMahon	11 years
  Ignatius Calderone	6 years
  Tony Correll	6 years
  Mark Baxter	9 years
  Anthony Kelly	7 years
  Lindsay Harrison	8 years
  Dylan Cooper	12 years

  There are several volunteers that have held 4 Committee Positions (or less), too numerous to list. 

Added: 19/05/2021 20:17:00
Last Updated: 21/07/2021 22:04:27