Photo by Bobby Gavin
John Rodger believes a huge team effort across athletics in Scotland continues to drive our sport forward.
Our President was speaking at the Annual General Meeting of scottishathletics as the governing body looked back at the year ended 31 March 2024.
The meeting was held online on Saturday morning with more than 35 clubs represented (with 29 mandated plus one proxy). Just over 50 individuals were present on the call.
Age group category changes were agreed with Scotland to fall into line with World Athletics categories (U14, U16, U18).
The AGM also agreed to an increase in membership fees and conferred Honorary Life membership status on three deserving stalwarts of our sport – Margaret Brown, Charlie Forbes and Ricky Taylor.
Lead roles in our Commissions – Track and Field, Officials, Hill Running, Road Running and Cross Country – were confirmed again and there was a thank-you for Jo Butterfield, who steps down from a Board role after eight years of service.
‘The great thing about our sport is its diversity and inclusivity,’ John told the meeting.
‘There is no age barrier to taking part and from the wide range of events and year-round competition, the sport ensures that there is something for everyone.
‘It includes the stars of track and field, road, cross country, hill and trail, to those going out for a recreational run as part of our jogscotland programme.
‘One of my responsibilities as President is to write a piece for the Annual Report that looks at the sport in its entirety and measures how we are performing nationally and internationally.
‘It is about how we support our athletes through our club structure, coaching, officiating, volunteering, parenting, safeguarding and national planning.
‘In a sport as diverse as athletics this can be difficult to evaluate. What we can say is that scottishathletics membership has continued to recover towards pre Covid levels, participation numbers are healthy, and our international athletes continue to bring recognition on the world stage.
‘Late in 2023, scottishathletics were once again short-listed for the Team Scotland Governing Body of the Year Award which is a measure of how we are perceived from an organisational perspective by other sports.
Megan Keith won Euro Cross U23 gold in Belgium last December (photo via Getty Images)
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