Venues

ANSW understand there is considerable feedback that we should continue to use SOPAC as the home of athletics in NSW. To this end, and in a similar way to 2022, ANSW have scheduled 3 rounds at SOPAC plus the final.

However, we also believe we must continue to use the many quality venues around the Sydney metropolitan area to ensure they continue to attract quality athletics competitions which helps local clubs and ANSW lobby for venue upgrades. Hence, three of the preliminary rounds will be held at ‘outer’ grounds.

We believe this is a suitable compromise that achieves our aims.

Age Groups

In line with the recent strategic direction of the organisation, ANSW will add an Under 12 age group to the Treloar Shield to allow competition for athletes as young as 9. The U14 age group will change to U15, and be accompanied by the U18, Open, 35, 50+ age groups, providing a whole of sport competition for our membership.

Structure

After the success of the 2022 iteration, ANSW will again deliver 6 preliminary rounds of the Treloar Shield, that qualifies teams in each age group into a final. This allows all members of a club the opportunity to accumulate points and contribute to the team qualifying for the final.  

Event Grid and Offering

Athletics NSW is conscious that the Treloar Shield is a product for everyone, and attracts athletes of all ages, abilities and aspirations. To this end, we model a competition that is conducive to club competition, but also to ensure that each individual event is offered in a suitable frequency for those searching for competition opportunities and to qualify for Nationals.

While much feedback has been provided, we resolved to revert to and A and B type event grid, we are conscious that our workforce is not at the volume that allows this to happen. While we continue to develop and implement strategies to increase our invaluable officiating cohort, we have continued to try to uplift the number of occasions that each event occurs.  

To that end, the event grid is modelled as a base off A and B structure, with modifications based on our ability to deliver. We are mindful that the Treloar Shield attracts a range of standards and ages, and that considerable data we have gathered demonstrates that some events are more popular than others. It is no surprise then that these events are offered more frequently.

However, the ANSW competition structure allows clubs to deliver additional content, with considerable support from ANSW, to complement the ANSW offerings and to provide as many opportunities as possible for athletes to participate in their chosen event in our great sport.

28 October 2023