Life Member: Ginninderra Athletics Club Steve Dodt, April 30, 2018November 30, 2023 Established in 1976, Ginninderra Athletics Club is based in Belconnen a Town Centre of the ACT. Steve Dodt was awarded a Life Membership to Ginninderra Athletics in 2018 following his strong commitment and outstanding service to the Club. Steve Dodt first joined Ginninderra West Belconnen Little Athletics Centre as a parent in 2007 and was formerly an athlete of the University of Canberra Athletics Club (Combined Universities) from 1995. In recognising Steve Dodt’s contribution to Ginninderra Athletics, the Club printed a special “edition” of the “Tiger Times”, the Club Magazine. The 68 page document highlighted the many and varied contributions Steve made to the Club but also Athletics and the wider community. The following words are taken from that publication. Unstoppable Force Steven is the founder and president of Ginninderra Athletics club. Steven is an unstoppable force. Displays strong leadership, and commitment. He commits to the ideals of the club and works hard in all committee matters. Steve develops and introduces new ideas, approaches and innovations. Made History Steve led Ginninderra Athletics club into an era of significant and positive change. Steve first formed the UC Ginninderra Athletics in the 2015 season. A seniors Athletics club with a robust and sustainable committee of volunteers. The club supported junior athletes moving into competing in ACT athletic events. The volunteers provided a supportive and welcoming environment for junior athletes to succeed. And in July 2018, Steve made history. He envisioned one club (One Athletics). And through endless effort and hard work, he made it happen. His campaigning led to all members, making a unanimous decision. They voted to merge the Little Athletics Centre and the UC Ginninderra Athletics Club. This founded the Ginninderra Athletics club. One Club for all ages and all levels. The club provides a fun and inclusive sporting community. It supports and provides pathways to all athletes throughout their career. It creates a community and builds friendships. Highlights Since the Appointment of Steve as President, the Athletics Club has registered a gain in number of Athletes each season. Doubled the number of participants in the past year. Increased the athletic performance of hundreds of athletes. Won several local, national and international awards. Leadership Steve Dodt leads by example. He leads has a strong and committed volunteer leadership group who dispose of philosophy and commitment to Athletics, to inclusion and to the members of the club. In developing programs, Steve has developed a universal design that permeates the club’s programming, policies and attitudes, stretching far beyond basic physical access to the whole environment. Led by Steve, the club draws on resources and support from governing bodies and agencies, such as the Department of Sport and Recreation, the Australian Sports Commission and Disability ACT. Sprint and Hurdles Coach Steve has been a sprints and hurdles coach since 1995. He runs coaching three times a week for UC students. He’s also always willing to lend a hand to other coaches whenever possible. Recently, one coach planned to give up coaching following a series of crisis within his own squad. Steve was able to stop him. He pointed out the positives, advised on the negatives and offered ongoing support. Steve leads by example. He exhibits excellent communication skills, contemporary knowledge, and genuine concern. His Athletes attest to his enthusiasm, dedication, and encouragement. Steve has a strong relationship with his athletes. His personal ability and commitment to coaching continues to grow his squad numbers. His athletes have one national and international medals. Steven developed an accredited coaching squad and support program for fellow coaches. The program trains coaches to meet the needs and abilities of all Athletes. These coaches are Athletics Australia accredited coaches. They specialise in starts, sprinting, throwing, jumping, hurdles, walking, middle distance and fitness. CBR Sport Innovation Award The Canberra Sport awards are Canberra’s premier sporting awards. Steve’s hard work, and leadership led Ginninderra Athletics Club to win. The Award celebrates the outstanding achievements of Canberra top athletes and teams. They also recognise those behind-the-scenes special contributors that make our community so great. The reinvigorated format for the Canberra sports awards includes nine award categories. The annual ACT Sport Hall of Fame induction is also embraced within these awards. Uniform In 1976 a uniform for Ginninderra was picked that consisted of a yellow T-shirt and a black and white shorts. In 1978, the Committee looked to change this uniform to blue and gold, but this was not possible as was deemed in conflict to ACT colours. Instead, the uniform of gold and black was kept now with black shorts with a yellow trim, and a black and yellow striped athletic singlet. This has remained, however, with Steve as President the design, material of the shirts was updated to be more in line with changing times. Along with the changing shirt design, Steve sourced overseas suppliers, greatly reducing manufacturing cost and providing a revenue raising avenue for the club. Steve also expanded the merchandise and personally designed and sourced additional uniform supplies, including crop tops, tights, hats, socks, hair ribbons, shirts for Junior Coaches, shirts for Committee members, and shirts for Academy Athletes. Facilities and equipment Steve is without doubt a rockstar when it comes to all the money he has been able to inject into Ginninderra. In 1976. Charnwood was an empty field with nothing on it. In 1978 a shed was erected in the grounds near the tennis courts at Charnwood Oval, saving parents time and effort transporting things from their homes. However, the shed was demolished soon after, and a permanent structure was built at the northern end of the oval became operational in the 1989 season. Today this looks completely different. Steve’s hard work and amazing ability to get sponsorship and write grants has seen equipment and facilities go from a few things in one small shed to many very large sheds and two shipping containers bursting with equipment. In the time that Steve has been part of the club he has bought in over $200,000 of funds (grant and sponsorship funding) and has been a lead in adding: discuss cages, long jump pits, shot put circles, seating stands, large sunshade shelters, storage shed, and shipping cages, electric Timing gates, flags and banners, and marques. Online Media Steve is truly the face at the front, and also at the back of the club. Ran by Steve, Ginninderra has a very active social media presence. Steve actually actively posts on Facebook pages and Twitter, providing constant and relevant communications to members. In addition to Facebook pages and Twitter, Steve has adopted several specific private Facebook groups, which facilitate Good governance, communication and awareness. These are linked to dropbox for collaboration and records Management. Steve designed, wrote and manages an interactive secure web content management system, that provides up-to-date, informative, and relevant information. The website uses open source and responsive technology, accepting online payments, including credit card, and PayPal for memberships, uniforms, special events, fundraising, and donations and contains online forms and submission management, including electronic workflows. Steve has also developed a web mobile app. Smart phone access, especially on the Field providing access to resources including cheat sheets. Steve promoting encourages culture inclusion to all club members throughout information in newsletters, noticeboards, websites, social media, networks, and attendance and participation in club events. Wi-Fi With the wonderful support of another successful grant written by Steve, the Telstra foundation provided Ginninderra with free Wi-Fi. Through Steve’s hard work and implementation now each member of the club has access for free Ginninderra Wi-Fi. Steve has also connected the Timing gates to the internet to provide Live Results via the Results HQ web app. Promotion Steve has hidden talents in all areas. From Graphic design to writing great stories, he promotes the club in many ways. Steve has designed, printed and distributed, many flyers, brochures, and other merchandise to showcase the great programs at the club. Photography Steve is a talented photographer and has taken thousands of photographs at Athletics. These photos are bursting with images of Athletes filled with joy, happiness, and fun, sharing, connecting, and making friends. Each weekend Steve tirelessly spends many hours editing photos and carefully selecting photos display on the Facebook pages. It would be difficult to find an individual Athlete or regular official who’s photo has not appeared, at least once in a season. Steve’s representation and knowledge of individuals in these photos is a testament to how much he cares and how much time and effort he puts into knowing and welcoming each and every individual. The memories that these photos bring to families is Priceless. Club for all ages One of the most amazing and wonderful parts of Ginninderra is that has gone from a club catering for kids from 6 to 12 years in 1978 to now a club for kids 2 years to 99 years. All athletes and family members are included, invited and encouraged to participate. Programs and supports for the Social athlete to the most elite are supported and encourage. All programs have been either developed from scratch for redeveloped by Steve to ensure inclusion, encouragement, and capacity building for all. Junior coaching Phenomenal and amazing program that has revolutionised the club, retained Athletes and provided leadership, mentoring and development opportunities for teens. Each team of teen and senior athletes, support, coach, mentor, and engage Athletes from tiny tots to under eights to help them learn, develop, smile, and shine. My Results My Results is an inspirational invention of Steve. The program contains individual performances for athletes across the season. Athletes can log into my results and access in real time how they are going. The focus is 100% on the efforts of the individual. Each week is the performances are in My Results. The Athletes anxiously wait to see just how much they have been improving Week In, Week Out. Which adds to the excitement and fun of doing Athletics. My Results is mobile friendly with some Age Marshals entering performances at the end of each event. It’s intuitive interface and two factor security make it ideal for accessing personal efforts on the go. As My Results is all about the individual and doesn’t rank your efforts against others. You can track your progress against your own efforts over the season and see how much you’ve improved. My Results is all about positive reinforcement at home. My Results also tracks the following; how many PBs you have achieved over the season, individual event progression by week, amount of improvement achieved, and feedback on which events the athlete is showing the most promise. The backend system contains results for championships, carnivals, and inter club events held at Charnwood Oval. Performances of athletes at ACT and national championships are also entered into My Results, making it the most comprehensive repository of performance data in Canberra. Parents, coaches and the committee can also access separate reports showing best performance against the top 10 rankings at the state championships and progression towards Club records. My training My training is the brain child of Steve Dodt and provides a development program tailored to the needs of athletes in the club. Age groups can access Athletics Australia accredited coaches who specialise in starts in sprinting, throwing, jumping, hurdles, walking, middle distance and fitness. Each week Athletes choose from what’s on offer on the My Training website, written and managed by Steve, guaranteeing their place in the small groups assigned to each specialist coach. Juniors Ginninderra’s juniors program has evolved and developed through the guidance and ideas of Steve. In turn, this has seen positive feedback, greater retention of Athletes and new ideas that have made a difference to Athletes, families and the club. Key differences include the implementation of Technical athletic coaches Providing Technical on the ground support of Athletes, coaching options, inclusion support, and changes to the timing of events to ensure a structured and timely program. Teens Steve has been a driving force in Ginninderra’s teen program. Traditionally there has been a large drop out rate of teens in Athletics, however, with Steve supportive, bubbly, and welcoming leadership, as well as some innovative design ideas, the number of teens staying in Sport has increased. Some of the teen initiatives Steve has incorporated are: a teen program focus very much fun and fitness, development pathways through the UC Athletics Academy to provide your unique and opportunities for everyone to grow and build in the sport. The ages club where teens are freely able to choose between competing at grass or red track. Athletics meats. Our teams have a pathway from Little Athletics to Athletics ACT. Seeded track events where Athletes can self select to run or walk with Athletes of a similar ability. Leadership programs, including Junior coaching and athletic assist programs. Work experience and internship pathways with CIT to the University of Canberra. Tiny Tots The tiny tots program is a unique to the ACT and the brainchild of Steve Dodt in 2012. This program was designed and implemented by Steve and is yet another example of Steve’s ability to work outside the box. In the ACT, this program was not supported by the Association, which for many clubs would have meant they would not go ahead with implementation. This did not stop Steve. Steve looked and found his own insurance to cover the program and made it a reality against opposition. Since inception Tiny Tots had over 800 children through the program, many with disabilities. Tiny tots caters for children 2 to 4 years old and focuses on fun and learning the how to’s, improvement, community responsiveness, and inclusiveness and less competitive, but individually developmental environment. Tiny Tots activities concentrate on developing running, throwing, and jumping skills as part of games based learning. ACT Playgroups affiliated with the program in September 2016. That partnership aims to enhance the experience with families and to connect them with other parents and services in the ACT. ACT Playgroups membership saves the club $1000 a year in insurance, paid to run the program. By virtue of this program, to learn through play, while experiencing the benefits of healthy living and an active lifestyle. For many they learn, for the first time, that parents and carers can also enjoy play in the outdoors. This affiliation is new and creative and unifies the special offerings of both groups for the benefit of families and the wider community. For parents and carers, involvement at this early stage, often nurses desire, in them, to continue an active involvement in pursuing the physical and health directed needs that supports and outdoor activities make available to the children. From the Club perspective, it is important that, as a identified at page 17 of the one Sport for the future course and independent review of Athletics in Australia 2015, that “like many sports in Australia officials become brand ambassadors at the community level and play a critical role in the Sport being seen as an inclusive and attractive proposition”. Inclusion Focus Steve Dodt has developed a club with an atmosphere of inclusion and support. This is inclusion across all areas. Cultural inclusion, disability, inclusion, gender, inclusion, and all ages inclusion. Steve is the driving force and encouraging efforts to support. All and works tirelessly to ensure all people are treated with kindness, respect, value, and welcomed in the club. Steve has a heart for Athletics and shares his desire and love with the sport. His goal is pure and real with the primary objective is to increase participation opportunities and Sport and Recreation for all in the community. Ginninderra provides mixed running races that will allow hearing Athletes compete seamlessly with body runners. genera has invested in Athletes with disability, throwing equipment, including grip, throwing balls, throwing clubs, precision grid mats, and throwing frames. This is just the start of Steve’s great plans and ideas to provide an inclusive, welcoming and supportive environment for children and adults of all abilities. Masters Steve is the brainchild and influencer of the masters program. Steve introduced this program to offer opportunities for all people the opportunity to participate in Age specific exercise and fitness training. As participants benefit from the recreational and social focus at the masters program delivers, they are also provided opportunities to learn, participate and try all track and field events. For many masters, this program is a social event with long-term benefits. Master provides a pathway for parents to become active and become role models for their children. For many, the children are already participating, but for all young athletes, seeing older people enjoy, the pure delight of physical activity is something that helps them to participate without their being limited by the fear of failure. Variety Every Chance to Play Equity Program Half of Australia’s disadvantage. Kids do not play any sport, missing out on many positive outcomes of sport, including the development of teamwork and resilience, improved, mental and physical health, building, new friendships, and social skills, and higher self-esteem. Steve arranged for Ginninderra to be one of the very first few clubs to connect with and be a part of Variety’s every chance to play grants. In the 2018 season Ginninderra became a referrer and had the highest number of referrals, supporting more than 25 Athletes to be part of the Ginninderra season. Women and girls program Teenage girls drop out of Sports twice as often as boys. Under the direction of Steve, Ginninderra Athletics club prioritise the development of pathways and programs to my Athletics, inviting and inclusive girls and women. The club fosters a strong, female community, which provided opportunities for connection and engagement of girls and women, modifies environment, where appropriate, and brings in a variety of fun events, and days to encourage teamwork, fun and fitness. In addition, the club facilitated significant mentoring and modelling for younger women and girls to encourage their continued participation. This includes elite female athletes, including para athletes, visiting the club to offer guidance and encouragement. Further, the club developed junior coaching mentor program that link senior athletes, in particular women, with younger girls. Finally, younger women and girls are provided with strong modelling through programs than encourage the participation across the lifespan. Ginninderra Athletics also strongly recognise women in leadership and promote and facilitate female members into appropriate roles and parcel. Women make up 50% of the committee and the coaching staff for the club, including UC students, ideas in innovations are cultivated and explored with strong consideration towards impact of alum girls. West Belconnen Equity Scholarship Program Steve is an active worker who continually looks to build relationships and partnerships to support individual athletes, families and the community. Steve developed a pilot partnership with community service organisations to assist students who display athletic Talent to provide a sponsorship, including Athletics coaching, shoes, uniform and registration fees. Good Sport Award In 2016 season Steve built a partnership with Subway Charnwood to provide one good sport award for the most deserving boy and girl in each age group every week. The Good Sport award is presented to the athlete who goes out and beyond in compassion, kindness, inclusion, support, encouragement, determination, and exemplifies, the ideals of family fun and fitness at Ginninderra Athletics. Athletes who receive this award will have shown to be welcoming, supportive of others, show compassion, and kindness, give things a go and help others. Subway Charnwood will provide in exchange for the award certificate a Subway 6 inch sub of the Athlete’s choice. Athletes appear in the Good Sport Hall of Fame displayed at the Canteen each week. Sprint Coach AwardsCommunityNews