Meadowglen Sporting Club is hoping a late-season push will be enough to get some of its teams into the finals of the AV Shield.
The shield, which recommenced on January 12 after a month-long break over Christmas and new year, is Athletics Victoria’s interclub competition from October to February.
Meadowglen has been hit by a spate of injuries but president Allan Mathews remains confident it can still be represented in finals.
‘‘Our under-20 men’s team should make the finals,’’ he says. ‘‘We signed up a good crew before the season and I thought we were going to have a good chance of getting results but the shield team has had a few injuries.
‘‘I was going to change the under-20 team to open competition but with the injuries we’ve left it as is. Hopefully they’ll go through to finals and get close to the title.’’
To make the final at Albert Park, Meadowglen must finish in the top two of the age division. It is currently second behind Preston Athletic Club. Meadowglen has been well led by Jagmandip Gill this season.
In the last round of competition in December he won the long jump with 6.17 metres – he and teammate Harmanjot Singh (6.04m) got the quinella, well ahead of Preston’s Adam Jackson (5.17m) – and he finished second in the 100m sprint with a time of 12.2 seconds.
Mathews has been impressed with his results and hopes his influence can continue to bring more young athletes over from India.
‘‘He has some cousins in India, some from the Indian Olympic team, that would be very handy,’’ he says.
Meadowglen competes in the North-West section of the AV Shield, mixing teams like Preston and Coburg with Williamstown and South Melbourne.
As part of the committee of management of the Meadowglen International Athletics Stadium, Mathews, an athletics official for more than 40 years with Olympic experience, hopes a northern athletics region can be established within two years.
‘‘With the South Morang, Mernda area opening up in the last 10 years we need to have those people who want to do athletics doing it in the area,’’ he says.
‘‘Athletic competition is very limited in the northern area in that respect and we’re in the middle of that growth area.
The facilities at Meadowglen are very good.
‘‘What we need to do now is bring over clubs like Collingwood, Diamond Valley, Ivanhoe to come across as a northern region.
‘‘It’s up to Athletics Victoria to see if we are viable as a stadium and I think we are.’’
