Oceania Athletics Association

The Oceania Athletics Association (OAA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Oceania. The OAA head office is located in Varsity Lakes, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

Oceania Athletics Association
FormationAugust 21, 1969
TypeSports federation
HeadquartersVarsity Lakes, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Membership
20 member + 2 associate member federations
President
 Geoff Gardner
WebsiteAthletics-Oceania.com

History

The OAA was founded as Oceania Amateur Athletic Organization (OAAA) on August 21, 1969, during a "Congress of the delegates of Member Countries of the Australasian Area" held in Port Moresby, then Territory of Papua and New Guinea, at the time of the 3rd South Pacific Games. The name was changed to Oceania Athletics Organization (OAA) in February 2007.[1][2]

Presidents

The current president of the association, Geoff Gardner (Norfolk Island) was firstly elected at the OAA Council held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, in February 2007.[3] and re-elected on February 4, 2011 at the OAA Council held in Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia.

Name Country Presidency
Arthur Hodsdon  Australia 1969–1978
Lee Morrison  Australia 1978–1985
Clive Lee  Australia 1985–1991
Peter Anderson  Papua New Guinea 1991–1995
Viliame S Tunidau  Fiji 1995–1999
Anne Tierney  Cook Islands 1999–2007
Geoff Gardner Norfolk Island 2007–present

Competitions

The OAA holds the following championships:

Moreover, the following regional championships were organized:

In 2011, a new regional concept was introduced, and the three regional championships and the Oceania Championships were unified to the Oceania Regional (or Area) Championships, or simply again Oceania Championships. Two regions "East" and "West" were classified. Athletes from the two regions may compete together at the championships, but results will be separated for rankings purposes, and medals are awarded separately.

Member associations
Nation Association Link
Eastern Region
 American Samoa American Samoa Track & Field Association
 Cook Islands Athletics Cook Islands Inc.
 Fiji Athletics Fiji
 French Polynesia Fédération d'athlétisme de Polynésie française
 New Caledonia† Ligue de la Nouvelle-Calédonie d'athlétisme
 New Zealand Athletics New Zealand
 Niue† Niue Athletics Association
 Norfolk Island Athletics Norfolk Island
 Samoa Athletics Samoa
 Tonga Tonga Athletic Association
 Tuvalu Tuvalu Athletics Association
Western Region
 Australia Athletics Australia
 Guam Guam Track and Field Association
 Kiribati Kiribati Athletics Association
 Marshall Islands Marshall Islands Athletics
 Micronesia, Federated States of Federated States of Micronesia Athletic Association
 Nauru Athletics Nauru
 Northern Mariana Islands Northern Marianas Athletics
 Palau Palau Track and Field Association
 Papua New Guinea Athletics Papua New Guinea
 Solomon Islands Athletic Solomons
 Vanuatu Vanuatu Athletics Federation
† Associate member

Associate member associations

A modification of Article 4.2 of World Athletics constitution set new rules limiting its membership as follows: "The national governing body for Athletics in any Country or Territory shall be eligible for Membership. Members that represented Territories on 31 December 2005 shall continue to be Members. No new Territories shall be admitted to the Membership."[4]

As a consequence, the OAA made constitutional amendments[5] to its Article 2.5, introducing an associate membership to allow territories like New Caledonia, Niue, and Wallis and Futuna to participate officially "in OAA activities, including area and regional competitions".[6] This also applies for Tokelau, where the first athletics event ever took place recently.[7]

In 2008, New Caledonia became the first associate member,[1][8] Niue followed in 2009.[1]

References
  1. "General History of Oceania Athletics Association". OAA. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  2. "Oceania Athletics Association's Council - History". OAA. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  3. Eleventh OAA Council –2007 Gold Coast, Oceania Athletics Association, retrieved March 2, 2013
  4. International Association of Athletics Federations - Constitution - In force as from 1st November 2011, World Athletics, p. 12, retrieved February 11, 2014
  5. Oceania Athletics Association Inc Constitution - Adopted on 8 May 2009 - Commencement Date 8 May 2009 (PDF), Oceania Athletics Association, May 8, 2009, archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2014, retrieved February 11, 2014
  6. Modification de la constitution océanienne (in French), Fédération d'Athlétisme de Polynésie Française, August 26, 2007, archived from the original on February 23, 2014, retrieved February 11, 2014
  7. Athletics, Tokelau National Sports Federation, July 29, 2013, retrieved February 11, 2014
  8. Oceania Council Meeting Looks to the Future, Oceania Athletics Association, June 25, 2008, retrieved February 11, 2014
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