As a sport we don’t need two separate Boards setting two separate strategies and employing two different CEOs to implement them.
There’s clear efficiencies from removing duplication, greater effectiveness in alignment and opportunities like clearer pathways and better products that can’t be realised any other way.
A new national body will be greater than the sum of its parts.
That’s the essence of the business case for a merger between Coles Little Athletics Australia and Athletics Australia.
Sport needs to run on good business principles. But sport is always more than just business.
It’s passion. It’s family. It’s fun. It’s fitness. It’s individuals striving to be the best they can, communities connecting, and so much more. For everyone – and particularly so for administrators – I think it’s about contributing to something bigger than yourself, and leaving it in a better position than you found it in.
Leaving it in a better position than you found it in. This is the opportunity the merger presents.
There’s no alternative vision for Australian athletics. The status quo is not effective or sustainable. Not for the sport overall, or for any of its constituent parts. In unity there is a future. One that can be bright.
This Thursday marks a big day for Australian athletics. It is the opportunity for the sport to take a step forward, when the state associations of Little Athletics Australia and Athletics Australia each vote on resolutions to merge as one.
The merger is not the finish line. It’s just the start. There’s much to be done in Australian athletics and it can only be done as a united sport. Here’s to the sport getting out of the blocks with a clean start this time around.
Read more information about the One Athletics merger at https://oneathletics.com.au
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