Athletics North Queensland Affiliated clubs assembled in Mackay, in person or online, on the 3 October 2020 for the Associations Annual General Meeting.
Five Board positions were up for election – President, Director of Officials, Vice President of Southern, Vice President Far Northern and Director of Competitions.
Voted in to fulfill these roles were Shane Watson (President), Andrew Ford (Director of Officials), Jos Grech (Vice President of Southern), Rebecca Austin (Vice President of Far Northern) and Barry Mullins (Directors of Competition).
Shane Watson retold the story of first meeting Yvonne at an opening ceremony for the Primary School State Championships at the very beginning of his athletics administration pathway back in 2007. It was at that dinner Yvonne posed the question to the newly appointed treasurer of Cairns Athletics whether he was planning to stick around in the sport.
“For many of us within athletics, particularly throughout North Queensland, it would be difficult to imagine our sport being where it is today without the guidance and advocacy that Yvonne has provided since the inception of Athletics North Queensland. It is an impossible task to fill Yvonne’s shoes, so my hope is that together with the ANQ Board, staff and our members we can build on the strong foundation that Yvonne has created to continue to take our sport forward”
Shane Watson
All clubs present offered a strong vote of thanks to Yvonne Mullins and Heather Vaughan, who decided step down from the roles of President and Director of Officials, along with Andrew Ford who stepped down from Vice President of Far Northern to stand for the role of Director of Officials
This is only the third time that a person has taken on the role of President of the Association, with Yvonne holding that position for 23 years.
“It was about the journey and the friends. In 1996 when we started the journey, we never knew that we would be here today, with a vibrant organisation that is well respected within Australia and the World Athletics community. That is a testament through types of events that we have held in North Queensland- going beyond what is expected from any regional athletics body in the nation – A huge testament to the team put together to grow athletics in North Queensland”
Yvonne Mullins thanked her fellow foundation members, mentors, family and noted the great friendships developed through the sport, such as John Gaviglio, Brian Smith and Jim Minehane, along with the multiple of people that have been part of the journey and still to this day are friends.
“The people that made the difference. Thank you to the mentors, the friendships and the future”
A separate function will be held in 2021 celebrate Yvonne achievements in North Queensland.
List of 2020-2021 Board Members
- President Shane Watson
- Vice President – Western Neil Rogers
- Vice President – Southern Jos Grech
- Vice President – Northern Ross Jorgensen
- Vice President – Far Northern Rebecca Austin
- Director of Administration James Grech
- Director of Competitions Barry Mullins
- Director of Officials Andrew Ford
- Director of Recreational Running Derrick Evans
- Director of Development Gerry Maguire
