Saturday 16 June 2018

Celebration Day

Today I spent the morning at the annual Triathlon Western Australia end of season breakfast and tonight I spent the evening at the Stadium Triathlon Club annual awards dinner. It has been a celebratory kind of day.

I am not usually a huge one for end of season events. They can be a bit tiresome sometimes, with speeches and endless award giving. However, they can also be a lot of fun, a chance to reflect back on the season that has been, the successes and the frustrations. Relive some of the achievements of the season and express your appreciation. Luckily the events today were more along those lines. 

I almost wasn't going to go along this morning. I often feel that way about the annual breakfast, it is at an awkward time (7:30am) which nearly always interferes with plans for exercise and on paper doesn't always promise that much enjoyment. However, every time I got to the event I am always glad that I did, with good company, a tasty breakfast and a generally fun time enjoyed by all. 

The other reason to go to this sort of event is a bit more subtle. One of the key themes that kept getting mentioned at the breakfast this morning was the importance of clubs and community in our sport. It came up time and again just how important a role the triathlon community plays in the success of the sport, whether it be through the organisation of events, the training of athletes, the cheering of spectators or the provision of volunteers, triathlon wouldn't work without the people, the community and the clubs. The events I went to both this morning and this evening were acknowledgement and celebration of this fact. 

That is really why I feel it is important to support events like this morning. Sometimes they are fun and sometimes they are less fun, but they are a celebration of the community and, therefore, I feel it is important that we support the events with our presence. Without the community turning up to events the events suffer and in turn organisations like Triathlon WA suffer and without those organising bodies there is no sport. The stronger the community in a sport, the stronger and more resilient to hardship the sport becomes. As the community gets bigger and stronger so does the sport, but for that to happen we have to keep turning up and we have to keep showing our support.

Besides, sometimes they are just a little bit fun. 

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