History of the Senior
Athletics Club
Brief History of Bankstown
Sports Athletics
Adapted from John Fletcher’s
“Club History”
Bankstown Sports Athletics Club is one
of the premier athletics clubs in Australia. With its
home at “The Crest” of Bass Hill, Bankstown Sports
Athletics has facilities found in few other places in New
South Wales. The club caters for all disciplines in athletics
and has had sprinters, hurdlers, middle and long distance
runners, throwers, jumpers and walkers representing Australia
at Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and World Championships.
Bankstown Sports Athletics is a club that welcomes anybody of
any age or ability to compete in its weekly Tuesday evening
competitions at “The Crest”.
Before “The Crest” (1961 –
1980)
The club was formed in 1961 and
initially known as the "Bankstown - Lakemba Amateur
Athletics Club (AAC)". For unknown reasons, there was
soon a change to the “Bankstown - Canterbury AAC”.
Training was at Belmore Oval. There were interesting moments
when the Canterbury - Bankstown Rugby League team, now the
“Bulldogs”, also wanted use of the oval. The
Canterbury-Bankstown Rugby League club eventually gained the
exclusive use of Belmore Oval and the athletics’ club moved
to Memorial Oval in Bankstown for summer training.
Memorial Oval posed some difficulties
for the athletics’ club as the oval was designed for
cricket. When training, the club had to share the oval with
Bankstown Cricket Club. This did not prevent the club
from hosting a major carnival for the Combined Schools. This
was the fore-runner to the club successfully organising many
state and national cross country championships up to the
present day. In winter months during these years, the
club trained at Playford Park, Padstow.
In 1971 the club approached Bankstown
District Sports Club for some support. On 2nd August,
the committee readily agreed to the conditions that the club
was called “Bankstown Sports Athletics” and that green and
gold be included with the club’s white. The first
green was “emerald”. From that day, the
directors of the Bankstown Sports Club have been very active
supporters of “Bankstown Sports Athletics”.
From the early days the club had a
strong spirit of achievement even though it lacked the
athletic facilities of the bigger metropolitan clubs. Track
training was limited at Memorial Oval and distance training
took place around the streets of Bankstown and Revesby. There
were no throw circles in the Bankstown district - practice was
done by drawing white lined circles. This did not prevent the
club from winning its share of state throwing titles.
The walkers and distance runners were just as competitive and
successful.
These shortcomings just increased the
enthusiasm of the athletes and the committee to push a little
harder in competition. “Accept the Challenge” was the cry
from the pioneers of the club. “Do your best no matter the
difficulty” permeated the thoughts of the athletes. To
Bankstown Sports athletes defeat was not an option, but it was
also not a disgrace. This attitude continues to the
present time.
Bankstown Sports Athletics was unable to
compete in Athletics NSW competitions in its early days under
its own banner because of its size and its insufficient
numbers of "A" grade qualified runners. All
fledgling athletics clubs had this problem and had to team up
with one of the major, long established clubs. Bankstown
Sports Athletics linked with Western Suburbs Athletics Club
and, through this association, won a number of A Grade
Premierships. At the same time it was winning lower grade
competitions in its own right. After the association was
dissolved in 1980, the club committee decided to join St
George Athletics for interclub competition. After two years
Bankstown Sports Athletics had the necessary strength to
compete under its own name.
To “The Crest” (1980 - Present)
When the club was in its nomadic days
operating from Memorial Oval, Playford Park and Lake
Gillawarna on Sunday mornings, club athletic gear was stored
at Kelso Park, Panania, before moving to a storeroom at the
Bankstown Sports Club. This made it very difficult to control
the movement of the gear between venues. A staunch club member
arranged a deputation to the mayor. This resulted in an
equipment room being built at The Crest Oval. Completed in
1984, it doubled as a clubhouse and storage facility.
Bankstown Sports Athletics at last had a permanent home and
training venue.
The current clubhouse, designed by a
club member, was built in 1991. The building of the new
clubhouse was financed from funds from Bankstown City Council,
a grant from the federal government and a $23,000 loan from
Bankstown District Sports Club. The loan was repaid in
full over ten years. As a result of funding from the state
government, an all-weather track and covered spectator
facilities were built for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
“The Crest” was used as a warm-up track for athletes
competing at the Games. Bankstown Sports Club and Bankstown
City Council have supplied funds so that The Crest Athletics
Centre has all the equipment necessary for Interclub
competition and major school carnivals.
Tuesday evening competitions commenced
in 1984 with a summer cross country of 7.5km and a winter 5k
track series. These competitions have continued without
interruption expanding to include track, field and road race
events.
Australian Representatives
In 1982, Bankstown Sports Athletics had
its first Commonwealth Games representative, Laurie Whitty.
He was followed by Penny Just who was selected in 1986.
In 1998 at Kuala Lumpur, Debbie Sosimenko came first in the
hammer throw, the club’s first athlete to win a gold medal
at an international event. At the same Games, Bankstown Sports
was represented in the walks by Ann Manning and Brent
Vallance.
Others who have represented at the
Commonwealth Games include Luke Adams (walks), Clinton Hill
(400m) and Isaac Ntiamoah (100m relay) in 2002. Adams
has been chosen for the 2006 Games in Melbourne in the 20km
walk. He will be joined by Greg Eyears in the 110m
hurdles and John Steffensen in the 400m individual and relay
races.
The club’s first Olympian was Ann
Manning in the walks in 1996. At the Sydney Olympics,
Debbie Sosimenko (hammer throw) and Lauren Poetska (400m
hurdles) represented Australia while Zid Abdou Hamed ran for
Syria The number of representatives increased to four at
the Athens Olympics in 2004 – Debbie Sosimenko, Luke Adams
(walks), Clinton Hill and John Steffensen. The last two were
in the 4 x 400m relay team which won a silver medal for
Australia. Paul Croft was a Para Olympian from 1984 to
1992 and again in 2000.
A World Junior Championships is
conducted every two years. Bankstown Sports Athletics’
first Australian representative at these Championships was
Katrina Steele in the shot put and discus in 1999. Kris
Neofytou represented in the 200m in 2002 while in 2005 two
more athletes gained selection - Emanuele Fuamatu (seventh in
the shot putt) and Amy Saddler (heptathlon). In the
World Youth Games, Neofytou ran in the 100m and 200m in 2001.
Fuamatu has gained selection for these Games in 2006.
The Future
Bankstown Sports Athletics has a
well-designed Strategic Plan which ensures that the club
becomes even stronger in competition while catering for the
athletics’ needs of people of all ages and abilities.
It will continue to promote athletics throughout the Bankstown
City and surrounding Councils and support the endeavours of
other athletic organizations especially Athletics NSW,
Athletics Australia, NSW Masters and Bankstown Sports Little
Athletics. As always, it will be grateful for the support
given by Bankstown Sports Club and for the time given by the
members of its highly effective committee and by its band of
ever-willing volunteers.
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