Ka po, ka po, ka awatea
(Out of the darkness, out of the darkness, into the light)
We believe athletics is for everybody.
It's a way to build skills, confidence, healthy habits and fitness for life.Awatea Athletics is the newest and fastest growing club in New Zealand, base in the center of Wigram – Christchurch.
Awatea Athletics started in 2023, prompted by the population growth of Wigram/Halswell and surrounding areas. With no local clubs near Nga Puna Wai, the need for a new club was identified.
After a first season that was so popular that numbers had to be capped, Awatea has grown from strength to strength.
With community at the heart of our values, Awatea has developed a positive and pro-active environment for athletes and their families to have fun and grow in confidence and athletic skills.
At Awatea Athletics we believe that Athletics can be for everybody. It is a way to learn to move your body with skill and confidence, which should ultimately bring enjoyment and self-belief!
Athletics is a Foundation Sport: The skills you learn translate over to all other sports. Learning to run, jump and throw better, not only makes you a better ‘athlete’ but a better sports person over-all. The more confident we are, the more fun we can have participating in a range of sports for life.
Long-Term Approach: We align with World Athletics coaching philosophies of having a long-term approach. Focusing on long-term development creates healthier athletes that achieve higher for longer. Athletics is a late development sport, with most athletes peaking between 26-32 years of age, so what’s the rush? Play, learn and enjoy!
Balance is Better: A Sport New Zealand initiative reminds us to ask, ‘How much is too much youth sport?’ We agree that it’s important to balance specialization, playing multiple sports and training load. An overloaded athlete isn’t a happy healthy one. We want our athletes to stay in sport long-term, enjoy variety and excel.
Competition isn’t for everyone: We understand that competition isn’t for everyone all the time. Some athletes love it, and others don’t and that is ok. We want to support all athletes in their development whether they are competitive or not. We know there will always be plenty of opportunities to enjoy competing in the future when athletes feel ready.
Community is Key: We are a community with a purpose – To support our local community, young and old in developing their athletic skills, fitness and overall confidence while having fun and building strong relationships. Our community relies on volunteers to deliver its programs – We want everyone to be a contributing part of our community in some shape of form. As parents we set the example for our children.
Awatea means – Dawn of a new day. “Ka po, ka po, ka awatea” (Out of the darkness, out of the darkness, into the light). Our uniform has been designed to reflect the rising of the sun over the canterbury plains. With the logo a representation of a track being lit by the morning sun.
All competitive athletes are required to compete wearing the correct Awatea uniform, which includes our club singlet (Or crop top for senior women) and plain black shorts with no large logo’s or markings on them.
Uniforms are loaned out for the season for 7-14yrs. Seniors may be required to purchase uniforms (please enquire).
The Awatea Athletics team is led by local mum and World Masters Athletics Champion, Helena Dinnissen.
A keen athlete in her youth, this local mum of 3 returned to the sport in her 30’s. She’s since broken numerous NZ & Oceania age grade records and won a World Masters Title.
She is passionate about supporting the community to build confidence, skills, achieve their best and learn to love the sport for a lifetime.
She is Head Coach at Eternal Fitness Wigram and also works as a Personal Trainer and Strength & Speed coach.
Our club couldn’t run without the amazing hard work of the club committee, driving the growth and direction of our club.
Our club committee are a passionate group of athletics and sports enthusiast, drawn from our local community. Coming together in 2023, some of whom had never met before the start of our club, to create something really special!
Our Club Committee are:
Awatea Athletics draws from our local parent community, as well as the top-level senior athletes in Christchurch to provide quality coaching.
The coaching team led by Club President Helena Dinnissen, includes a number of skilled community parents, with extensive athletic knowledge and experience across a range of events, along with local senior athletes including but not limited to:
Max Atwell (National Decathlon Champion), Keeley O’Hagan (Commonwealth Games High Jumper), Angus Lyver (National Decathlon Champion), Jackson Rogers (Top National Sprinter) and Hannah Collins (National Triple Jump Champion).
Utilizing local athletes both supports their athletic endeavors and inspires the younger athletes to aspire to higher levels of performance.
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