Oceania Athletics Association

Oceania Athletics Association
Formation	August 21, 1969
Type	Sports federation
Headquarters	Varsity Lakes, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Membership	20 member + 3 associate member federations
President	Robin Sapong-Eugenio
Website	Athletics-Oceania.com

The Oceania Athletics Association (OAA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Oceania. The OAA head office is located in Varsity Lakes, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

History

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. The name was changed to Oceania Athletics Organization (OAA) in February 2007.^[1]^[2]

Presidents

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

Competitions

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.

Member associations

Nation	Association	Link
Eastern Region
American Samoa	American Samoa Track & Field Association	[1]
Cook Islands	Athletics Cook Islands Inc.	[2]
Fiji	Athletics Fiji	[3]
French Polynesia	Fédération d'athlétisme de Polynésie française [fr]	[4]
New Caledonia^†	Ligue de la Nouvelle-Calédonie d'athlétisme [fr]	[5]
New Zealand	Athletics New Zealand	[6]
Niue^†	Niue Athletics Association
Norfolk Island	Athletics Norfolk Island
Samoa	Athletics Samoa
Tonga	Tonga Athletic Association
Tuvalu	Tuvalu Athletics Association
Wallis and Futuna^†	Comité territorial d'athlétisme de Wallis et Futuna
Western Region
Australia	Athletics Australia	[7]
Guam	Guam Track and Field Association
Kiribati	Kiribati Athletics Association
Marshall Islands	Marshall Islands Athletics
Micronesia	Federated States of Micronesia Athletic Association
Nauru	Athletics Nauru
Northern Mariana Islands	Northern Marianas Athletics
Palau	Palau Track and Field Association	[8]
Papua New Guinea	Athletics Papua New Guinea
Solomon Islands	Athletic Solomons	[9]
Vanuatu	Vanuatu Athletics Federation
^† Associate member

Associate member associations

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."^[3]

As a consequence, the OAA made constitutional amendments^[4] 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".^[5] This also applies for Tokelau, where the first athletics event ever took place recently.^[6]

In 2008, New Caledonia became the first associate member,^[1]^[7] Niue followed in 2009.^[1]

References

^ a b c "General History of Oceania Athletics Association". OAA. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
^ "Oceania Athletics Association's Council - History". OAA. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
^ International Association of Athletics Federations - Constitution - In force as from 1st November 2011, World Athletics, p. 12, retrieved February 11, 2014
^ Oceania Athletics Association Inc Constitution - Adopted on 8 May 2009 - Commencement Date 8 May 2009 (PDF), Oceania Athletics Association, May 8, 2009, archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2014, retrieved February 11, 2014
^ Modification de la constitution océanienne (in French), Fédération d'Athlétisme de Polynésie Française, August 26, 2007, archived from the original on February 23, 2014, retrieved February 11, 2014
^ Athletics, Tokelau National Sports Federation, July 29, 2013, retrieved February 11, 2014
^ Oceania Council Meeting Looks to the Future, Oceania Athletics Association, June 25, 2008, retrieved February 11, 2014

External links

OAA official website

[oaa_01-1] "General History of Oceania Athletics Association". OAA. Retrieved 3 March 2013.

[oaa_02-2] "Oceania Athletics Association's Council - History". OAA. Retrieved 3 March 2013.

[iaaf_2-3] International Association of Athletics Federations - Constitution - In force as from 1st November 2011, World Athletics, p. 12, retrieved February 11, 2014

[oaa_05-4] Oceania Athletics Association Inc Constitution - Adopted on 8 May 2009 - Commencement Date 8 May 2009 (PDF), Oceania Athletics Association, May 8, 2009, archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2014, retrieved February 11, 2014

[fapf_01-5] Modification de la constitution océanienne (in French), Fédération d'Athlétisme de Polynésie Française, August 26, 2007, archived from the original on February 23, 2014, retrieved February 11, 2014

[tnsf_01-6] Athletics, Tokelau National Sports Federation, July 29, 2013, retrieved February 11, 2014

[oaa_04-7] Oceania Council Meeting Looks to the Future, Oceania Athletics Association, June 25, 2008, retrieved February 11, 2014