We are excited to announce that Wendy Beisiegel will be the sixth inductee into this year's Roll of Excellence in the Volunteers category.
Wendy Beisiegel first arrived on the Little Athletics scene in 1986 when her three children joined the Nuriootpa Little Athletics club. At the time, Nuriootpa was one of three clubs that made up the Barossa Valley Little Athletics Centre (BVLAC).
Just one year later, Wendy joined the Nuriootpa Club’s committee as a general committee member. A year later and Wendy became the club Secretary, a position she held for the next 9 years, until the 1996/97 season.
During that time, Wendy also held the role of Secretary of BVLAC from 1990/91 through till 1993/94.
In 1994, Wendy was elected to the Board of Directors of South Australian Little Athletics, stepping into the role of Deputy Chairperson for two seasons.
In 1996, Wendy became the Administration Director of SALAA, a position she held until 2009/10,making a total of 15 years as a member of the Board. As far as we can tell, Wendy is the longest serving member of the SALAA board.
While on the Board, Wendy also held the Assistant Secretary role at BVLAC from 1997 to 1999. Following that she has remained on the committee as a general representative up until the present day. 2016/17 will be Wendy’s 29thseason!
Wendy’s children are grown up, but her grand-children are now athletes in the Barossa Valley and she and husband Dieter are still regulars at BVLAC.
In addition to all the above, Wendy has also done the following for her Centre:
· Been the delegate at the Northern Zone Committee Meetings
· Be the chief timer at club competition nights
· Organize bottles of port and wine for every parent who races in the parent race at the BVLAC Cross Country event. In addition, the winner also gets a gold pained shoe (baby shoe size). It’s part of the BVLAC tradition now and they have quite a reputation around the state as the best centre with regard to the parent race!
· She helped plan and organize the BVLAC 30 year anniversary in 2008.
· She has been a great resource for the BVLAC committee and to help the club grow due to her connection with the SALAA office and her knowledge of current policies, practices, and procedures.
Wendy was awarded Life Membership of SA Little Athletics in 2000 and was also presented with Life Membership of BVLAC in the 2001/02 season.
If all that wasn’t enough, Wendy has served on the organising committee for three ALACs in 2002, 2009 and most recently in 2016. Wendy worked tirelessly at these events to bring together the opening and closing ceremonies, assist with the catering and the wrangling of athletes (and dignitaries) for the medal presentations.
Wendy has also spent many hours assisting in the SALAA office in both a voluntary capacity and at times as a paid staff member, filling in for staff on holidays or when they left to take up other opportunities.
After Pam Sard passed away in 2013, Wendy’s contribution to keeping the office running was invaluable. We would have been lost without her knowledge and experience. She was also the driving force behind rationalising 30 years of records and other items in the office.
Wendy still contributes to SALAA. She is the Secretary at SALAA Board meetings each month taking the minutes and typing them up for distribution. Wendy also regularly helps out at State events, looking after catering where necessary, officiating or being a backup for office staff when they are busy. Wendy is also regularly assists with the organisation and running of the annual SALAA conference.
This year's Roll of Excellence will be held at the National Arobretum in Canberra on 20th October 2018. For tickets or information about the event please contact the Coles Little Athletics Australia office at admin@littleathletics.com.au or 03 9682 1511.
Coles Little Athletics Australia acknowledges and pays respect to all traditional custodians of the lands of which we work, run, jump and throw throughout Australia. We pay respect to elders both past, present and emerging.
We are committed to a positive future for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and to honor their ongoing cultural and spiritual connections to this country and recognize the role and value of culture.
