Newsletter Highlights
Welcome to the November AUS newsletter – sorry it’s actually December! There has been a lot happening on one wheel around Australia in the last month, some of which will be detailed here. If you have anything you would like included in the December / January issue, please contact me. I am particularly looking for updates on what is happening in your state / territory, and any articles / pictures you’d like distributed.
State / Territory Updates:
ACT:
Members of ACTURS have all breathed a big sigh of relief and kicked back into a slower pace of life since UniNats. They have been involved in a suburban street parade, and Tom Lambert has been rehearsing for a Christmas pantomime that features a unicycle segment.
Qld:
In Queensland, Wayne Van Wijk has busily been planning for the team attending the Woodford Folk Festival. A team of 20 riders from Queensland, New South Wales and New Zealand will be demonstrating Muni, Trials and other riding skills. I look forward to hearing how the festival turns out!
Victoria:
It was recently discovered that VICTURS had become quite inactive, and efforts are being made to revive this society. Many thanks go to Hakan Yaman for facilitating this, all the way from Africa. VICTURS had a mailing list of approximately 50 people, who appear to have been left in the dark over unicycling matters for a fair while. Here’s hoping they get back on deck…
NT:
Lots has been happening in the NT! UniANT are going through the process of incorporation, which will enable us to affiliate with AUS and obtain grants and other funding. We have also begun group rides, which happen every week. Every 4th ride is a muni, and we are looking at introducing a fortnightly team sport / jam session at a fantastic recreation park that is nearing completion.
We have discovered two full teams of unicycle hockey players in Katherine, 300km south of Darwin. These riders have been operating in the wilderness for some time, and are very grateful to now have contact with the wider unicycling community. We look forward to meeting up for a game after Christmas.
Arts Katherine have applied for funding to make a film, and UniANT are working collaboratively with them to plan a unicycling DVD / video. Watch this space! More news in coming editions…
Debbie Hyder, of Kidz Fun Biz, is beginning adult unicycling classes in January, offering discounts to UniANT members. We are at the tail end of a big publicity campaign that has seen us getting coverage on NT radio, newspapers and TV. We have managed to reach a very wide audience, and hope to see a big boom in unicycling in the NT as a result.
UniNats ’03
Photos of UniNats ’03 by TRIK Photography are now available online and are for sale. I would encourage you to check them out.
We are hoping to create a series of photos pages on the AUS website, so if you have some great shots that you would like included, please contact the AUS Webmaster.
UniNats ’05:
Planning for UniNats ’05 is steadily coming along. I attended two volunteers’ workshops recently on developing funds and resources, and marketing. As a result of these fantastic workshops, we now have a comprehensive plan for obtaining the required funds and resources for UniNats ’05, and a skeletal plan for marketing. We have also developed a draft program for UniNats ’05, which is available at www.unicycling.org.au . I would love to hear your comments and suggestions. We have changed the dates to 1-4 July, to take advantage of a public holiday on July 1. We hope to make this a spectacular spectator event.
IUF Matters
Andrew Carter, Simon Wells and myself have been participating in the IUF Rulebook Committee discussions. This rule review process should be finalised before Christmas, so if you’d like to check it out, please do. Some proposals have already been passed, and others are at the voting or discussion stages.
The ones that would probably most interest our members are:
- a new category of wheel (700c), which is being introduced in two events at Unicon XII, and there are hopes it will become a new standard wheel at future Unicons; and
- discussions about the size of the freestyle boundary.
If you would like further information on these, please visit the IUF Committee Web Site
AUS Admin Matters:
After the recent rash of national publicity following UniNats ’03 and Samuel Johnson’s ride from Sydney to Melbourne, we have had 6 public enquiries from SA, WA and ACT. This is very encouraging! I am hoping to increase our profile in SA and WA especially, as we are short on riders and contact people from these states.
I have taken over the running of the AUS website. Many thanks go to Chris Vevers for all of his hard work on the site over the last few years, and to Debbie Hyder for teaching me the ropes. I am very keen to make this site an exciting, evolving resource for unicyclists nationwide. I will be attending a web design course in first semester next year, with the hopes of creating a secure site, where members can register for UniNats ’05 by credit card, with links through to sponsors sites for services such as airfares, car hire and accommodation. I hope to have this organised by July ’04, so when we go to Tokyo we can present a package to the international unicycling community. This will involve a lot of planning for UniNats ’05 in the next 6 months. If you have any ideas or requests, please let me know!
Unicon XII:
If you are planning or hoping to go to Unicon XII, please let me know. This will assist me in my lobbying beforehand. I am lobbying to have my airfare covered in return for promoting Darwin (and am confident of success, as the NT has recently allocated big $$$ for promotion of the Top End internationally). I would like to be able to show the strength of unicycling in Australia, and possibly obtain more benefits for the AUS team. Keep me posted, and I’ll keep you posted!
The AUS is here as a service to our members, so if there is anything else you would like to see, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I would love to hear about individual and group achievements for inclusion in the newsletter.
Keep having fun!
Cheers,
Karen Martin-Stone
Secretary, Australian Unicycle Society (AUS)
President, Unicycling Association of the NT (UniANT)