MESSAGE FROM THE CEO - JULY 2019

As we move into the second half of the year there is plenty happening in the Australian karting world.

We are in school holidays in Queensland and New South Wales – that brings with them State Championship events in both states. Good luck to all competitors who are heading north to the beautiful Whitsundays for Round 1 of the Queensland Kart Championship and to those competitors heading to Sydney’s Eastern Creek International Karting facility for the NSW Kart Championship.

Entry numbers for both the Queensland and New South Wales events are on par with the corresponding events in 2018 – an encouraging statistic. In view of the circumstances in New South Wales, that is an outstanding result.

Thanks to both North Shore Kart Club and Whitsunday Motorsports Club for all their work in the preparations for their respective Championship events.

Last month, members of the Karting Australia Board and all State Presidents met over two days to work on the next version of Karting’s Strategic Plan that will take us through to the end of 2022. Also, on the agenda was the development of a modern constitution that is intended to take us through at least the next ten years of operation. A significant amount of work has been done over the past year or so on this project and we are now approaching the final stages of its development. I would like to thank SportAus (formerly known as the Australian Sports Commission – an arm of the Federal Government) for allowing us to use their best practice template constitution as the basis for our review.

There is still a way to go with that before it comes back for a formal vote by the member states for its ratification later in the year..

ULTIMATE CLUB RACER
Planning continues for our inaugural ULTIMATE CLUB RACER event that is to be held at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia on November 1-3.

Ultimate Club Racer invitations to compete are linked to how often and how well you compete at your local Club.

The SP Tools Club Driver Rankings results are the primary consideration in being driver’s eligible to compete in what shapes up to be Australia’s biggest assembly of club racers at Australia’s newest kart race track in November. The more often you race at your Club, the more points you score the better the chance of an invitation and of course toping the SP Tools Club Driver Rankings at the end of the years and getting a share of more than $50,000 worth of prizes.

BEHAVIOUR
I want to talk to about a serious subject for a moment – behavioural standards. Firstly, let me say that I know that most drivers, teams, parents and support crew who participate in our sport conduct themselves in an exemplary fashion almost all of the time.

We have all seen it. We have all heard it and sometimes we have been part of it – on either the giving or receiving end. Behaviour that crosses the line, that offends, that upsets people and that is out of all perspective.

Sometimes it’s called the ugly parent syndrome – but it’s not always parents. Drivers, parents and supporters who abuse officials and volunteers, scream and yell at other drivers, perhaps even scream at and belittle their own children and who criticise performance rather than celebrating effort on the track. Then there is the societal problem of public denigration and outrage on social media.

Its easiest to turn a blind eye to it sometimes but that only makes things worse in the long run.

As a sport we have decided that it is time to draw a line in the sand on poor behaviour. Our Member State leaders and Karting Australia are united on this and we will be calling upon all Clubs and members to get on board for the good of the sport.

The impact that bad behaviour has on our sport cannot be understated. People stop racing, Officials stop officiating, tensions between individuals and teams rise, people make bad decisions, and a toxic environment begins to form in your club.

At the upcoming Building Better Kart Clubs Conference, we will be launching our new RESPECT KARTING program. It will define what all member state associations and Karting Australia believe is the acceptable standard of behaviour for all participants in karting and create a more rewarding, safe and respectful environment for everyone in our sport or considering joining our sport.

We are adopting a united approach with Member States and Clubs to stamp out bad behaviour within the Australian Karting Community. The bar that we are looking to set is achievable by all – keep the sport in perspective and treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.

BUILDING BETTER KART CLUBS CONFERENCE
August 17 and 18 are the dates for Building better Kart clubs Conference II.

We are developing an amazing conference program under the theme “BUILDING KARTING COMMUNITIES THAT WORK AND PLAY TOGETHER”.

We have some great topics and sessions lined up that are designed to assist and inspire our Clubs to continually get better at what they do in making our sport tick. Its targeted at and open to Club Presidents, Secretaries, Vice Presidents, Treasurers and Committee members.

It is a weekend devoted to karting and it will be really worthwhile. Clubs will be receiving program details and travel subsidy details shortly. It’s an important event and if you can encourage members of your Club’s committee to attend I am sure that they will find it very worthwhile.

Cheers
Kelvin