Dear Members,
I thought it was about time I provided the membership with an update from the Board in my capacity as interim Chair of Bike Manawatu (BM).
Board membership
Paul’s shoes are very large ones to fill. He has left the Board and the organisation in good shape, and I hope, in the short term at least, I can do as good a job as he. I will continue as Chair until the AGM, at which point we will see who is on the Board from that point forward. In accordance with the BM Constitution, the elected Board then will elect a Chair for a one-year term.
With Paul’s resignation however, and that of Sue MacMaster more recently, there are two spots on the Board to fill. The Board has the power to co-opt two members to the Board and one of these positions has been filled by Brendon Hapeta. We welcome Brendon’s business knowledge and enthusiasm and support for cycling, and I’m certain he will be able to help us successfully achieve our goals. The Board thus consists of: Steve Stannard (Chair), Mike Christie (Deputy Chair), Iona McCarthy, Marcel Hollenstein, Kelly Johnson, and Brendon Hapeta. Glenys Taylor is the secretary of BM, reporting to the Board.
Awards and prizes
It’s notable that mid-October signals the beginning of prize-giving “season” in the Manawatu. We have a number of members nominated for and finalists for awards at a variety of prize-giving functions. Last night I attended the Girls High Sports Awards and it was great to see so many cyclists receiving commendations for their performances through the year.
These prize-giving events culminate with the Manawatu Sports Awards on the 7th of Nov; we have quite a number of BM riders in there as finalists, including Jesse and Simon in the Sportsman of the Year category. Good luck to all finalists!
Bike Manawatu holds three awards events each year; the track-racing prizes at the AGM in April; the “major” club prizes at the end of winter at our formal Awards evening; the road-racing prizes in December. Thus, the latter event is coming up soon and will involve a BBQ Christmas function, so expect to here more about that soon. I note that the School’s Cycling group have also organized a prize-giving event on 9th November prior to track racing commencing.
Events
Whilst numbers were down somewhat for the Feilding Festival events this year, the good weather and superb organization enabled us to successfully run the event once more. Much thanks goes to Glenys Taylor and Michael McKnight who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure the smooth running of the event. Thanks also to Oods Kaihau for his oversight duties of the FFOC, and reporting back to the Board.
Road racing has continued on Saturdays with a solid calendar and shows moderate attendance. The latter is, in part, due to School’s cycling finishing for the year, and the absence of other junior riders at national and international events. The three-race graded handicap series was a hard-fought affair, especially in A-grade, where Alex West showed why he’s a National Rep by winning overall against strong opposition. It would have been nice to have seen a few more B and C graders participate.
The planned inter-club events with Wanganui sadly have not eventuated. We will look at encouraging the Wanganui club to participate in 2015, as in the past these have been popular events. However, the Wanganui club is organizing the WCNI Road Champs on November 8th, so put that in your diary.
2015 Licenses
These should be available to purchase from Nov 1st. Please ensure that, when registering on the BikeNZ portal, that you indicate affiliation with Bike Manawatu and only tick the box that says “payment to BM not required if you have paid your membership direct to BM.
A reminder will come again in the next week or so.
Structure of Bike Manawatu
Any organization should be looking, every now and then, to make some structural changes as it evolves to face old and emerging external influences and pressures, both good and bad. Bike Manawatu is no different. Between now and the end of the year, the Board will therefore be considering how we might slightly change how we work and how we look (to outsiders) to see if we can do things a bit better. Although we haven’t got anything major planned just now, we will keep you abreast of any changes which might be occurring.
It is likely some changes might require some members to commit to a specific volunteering role for a year or two. If you would like to participate in some of our activities, please consider offering your services. An organization of our size and scope of activities does not run well when only a handful of people shoulder many of the necessary tasks. For young people especially, some formal experience in an organizational or communications role can be very useful as work experience. The Board is very keen to assist and provide advice to those who might consider becoming involved.
We are particularly interested in finding a member who will take on the responsibility of Event Coordinator. This is essentially a communications role which ties together information from the various working groups, ensuring that toes are not trodden on, and needs from each group are met. If you’d like to consider doing this, please give me a call (021809597) or send me an email (s.stannard@massey.ac.nz).
That’s rather a long-winded letter, but I hope you appreciate being kept up to date.
Safe riding,
Steve.