Hamersley Little Athletics Centre is affiliated with Athletics West, who are the peak body for athletics in WA.Every Year Athletics West recognise the achievements of athletes and volunteers in a range of categories. Read more about athlete and volunteer awards.
Athletics West also hold an annual function to recognise the outstanding achievements of athletes, clubs, volunteers, officials and coaches from Little Athletics through to seniors. Read more.
The Doug Hancy Award is open to Little Athletics members in the under 15, 16 and 17 age groups who have been nominated by their Centre, and is the top level award in WA in this category. The Athlete is not necessarily a champion, but one who shows sportsmanship and courage, who maintains an effort, who is honest, friendly and shows a willingness to help at club training with the younger athletes and also on competition days. Each athlete is assessed against the examples provided for each of the five values: Fraternity, Integrity, Perseverance, Challenge & Courage (please refer to the nomination form for more detail on the selection criteria).
Hamersley athlete wins 2023 Doug Hancy Award
Congratulations to Imogen Boss (U16G) who was announced as the winner of the Doug Hancy Award at the Athletics West awards breakfast on 21st May 2023. ‘Iggy” is an exceptionally deserving winner of this award. She is a disciplined A grade student and national swimmer but her real love has always been athletics. It is difficult to quantify exact examples of her behaviour as the spirit of athletics is always present in her but included below are just a few quotes from her nomination:
“It is part of her nature to help where others would not, strive for excellence when others give up and to keep going when others would stop. This has been clear to the committee at Hamersley who see this in her every single week for many years now. She willingly volunteers on sites for other athletes or for busy parents who may need help. And not for community service hours or for cash, but because she genuinely would rather be out on the oval helping other kids engage in the sport that she loves so much.”
“Iggy maintains the highest level of sportsmanship. She continually strives to do her best and clearly wants to win and do well, but she is always very gracious if she wins, or loses. She has competed in every zone and state competition available to her since she was U7, and she is very respectful to all volunteers and officials at all times.”
“Iggy is excited every single week. At the beginning of the 2022/23 season, she could be found running around telling everyone how happy she was that athletics had started up again. She does every single event that she is eligible to do. She never sits an event out because she ‘doesn’t like it’ or finds it too hard for her. She sees her commitment to participating as even more important than the results themselves. She is always just trying to be a little better than she was last week which is always demonstrated in her PB count which is usually one of the highest in the club/centre.”
“In general, Iggy understands that greatness isn’t always about being number 1. Greatness is about trying your best, being persistent and giving it your all. She understands that the experience of little athletics is best when you contribute and spend time with athletes and parents outside of your age group. This is why she is always seen helping set up or pack down, or helping collate results, or helping out on Saturdays. Her passion for the spirit of the sport has never wavered.”
