Jurisdiction | Oceania |
---|---|
Membership | 20 member + 3 associate member federations |
Abbreviation | Oceania Athletics |
Founded | 1969 |
Affiliation | World Athletics |
Headquarters | Varsity Lakes, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia |
President | Robin Sapong-Eugenio |
Official website | |
athletics-oceania |
The Oceania Athletics Association (more commonly known as Oceania Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Oceania. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. Oceania Athletics has 23 members (including 3 associate members) and is headquartered in the Gold Coast.
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. Six out of the nine Member Federations attended (Australia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, New Hebrides, now called Vanuatu, and Western Samoa, now Samoa). Fiji and New Zealand sent letters of support, while the Cook Islands were not represented. Observers from American Samoa, Solomon Islands, French Polynesia, Guam and New Caledonia also attended. [1]
From this Congress a Committee of four members (non-elected) was formed to set up a draft of rules for the new Association, whose name today is Oceania Athletics Association. These members were: Arthur Hodsdon (Australia) as Chairman, Clive Lee (Australia), James Dunn (Papua New Guinea) and an unnamed New Zealander. From that year onwards the Association has been elected by Member Federations. The name was changed to Oceania Athletics Association (OAA) in February 2007. [2]
Oceania Athletics' governance is split between the main bodies: [3]
Oceania Athletics now has 20 members and 3 associate members. Each member gets one vote at the Congress. [3]
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, [2] [8] Niue followed in 2009. [2]
The current president of the association, Robin Sapong Eugenios (Northern Marianas) was firstly elected in December 2019 at the OAA Special Congress.
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 | 2007–2019 |
Robin Sapong-Eugenio | Northern Mariana Islands | 2019–present |
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.
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 members, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. It promotes the game in Oceania and allows the member nations to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.
Oceania Rugby, previously known as the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU), is the regional governing body for rugby union in Oceania. It was founded in 2000 to represent the interests of Oceania rugby within World Rugby, the international governing body. It presently encompasses fourteen full members and two associate members.
The Oceania Athletics Championships is an athletics event organized by the Oceania Athletics Association (OAA) for the World Athletics member associations of the Oceania region.
The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide to Oceania.
The Oceania Table Tennis Federation (OTTF) is a table tennis organization founded on 1 June 1977, recognized by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) as its continental federation in Oceania. Discussions began at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships held in Melbourne, 1975. Seven foundation members were New Zealand, Australia, Guam, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New Caledonia and Tahiti.
The Oceania Netball Federation is the regional body within the International Federation of Netball Associations that governs netball across Oceania. The current president is Wainikiti Bogidrau from Fiji. There are currently twenty four countries within the Oceania region. There are seven full members with New Zealand the only one with elite status. Realistically only thirteen nations, predominantly Commonwealth nations, play the game.
The 2011 Oceania Athletics Championships were held at the Apia Park in Apia, Samoa, between June 21–23, 2011.
The 2012 Oceania Athletics Championships were held at the Barlow Park in Cairns, Australia, between June 27–29, 2012.
The 2012 Oceania Junior Athletics Championships were held at the Barlow Park in Cairns, Australia, between June 27–29, 2012. They were held together with the 2012 Oceania Open Championships.
Athletics competitions at the 1969 South Pacific Games were held in Port Moresby, Papua and New Guinea, between August 14–20, 1969. Following the event, a "Congress of the delegates of Member Countries of the Australasian Area" was held on August 21, 1969, resulting in the foundation of the Oceania Athletics Association. A total of 34 events were contested, 22 by men and 12 by women.
Athletics competitions at the 1991 South Pacific Games were held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, between September 13–21, 1991.
Athletics competitions at the 2007 Pacific Games were held at the Apia Park in Apia, Samoa, between September 3–8, 2007. A total of 45 events were contested, 23 by men and 22 by women. This year 6 games records were set.
The 2013 Oceania Athletics Championships were held at the Stade Pater Te Hono Nui in Papeete, French Polynesia, between June 3–5, 2013. The event was held jointly with the 2013 Oceania Youth Athletics Championships, and there were also exhibition events for masters, athletes with a disability and children. Detailed reports on a day by day basis were given.
The American Samoa Track & Field Association (ASTFA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in American Samoa.
The Niue Athletics Association (NAA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Niue.
The 2014 Oceania Athletics Championships were held at the BCI Stadium in Avarua, Rarotonga, Cook Islands, between June 24–26, 2014. The event was held jointly with the 2014 Oceania Junior Athletics Championships, and there were also exhibition events for masters, and athletes with a disability (parasports). Detailed reports on a day by day basis were given.
The 2014 Oceania Junior Athletics Championships were held at the BCI Stadium in Avarua, Rarotonga, Cook Islands, between June 24–26, 2014. They were held together with the 2014 Oceania Senior Championships, and there were also exhibition events for masters, and athletes with a disability (parasports). Detailed reports on a day by day basis were given.
The 2015 Oceania Athletics Championships were held at Barlow Park in Cairns, Australia, between May 8–10, 2015. The event was held jointly with the 2015 Oceania Youth Athletics Championships and the 2015 Oceania Combined Events Championships. Moreover, there were also exhibition events for masters and athletes with a disability (parasports), as well as school events for age groups 5 to 15 years. Detailed reports on a day by day basis were given.
The 2015 Oceania Youth Athletics Championships were held at the Barlow Park in Cairns, Queensland, Australia, between May 8–10, 2015. They were held together with the 2015 Oceania Area Championships. Detailed reports on a day by day basis were given.
The 17th Oceania Athletics Championships were held from 1 to 7 June 2024 at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva, Fiji.