| The history of VOB - or "How the West was won" |
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| Thirty years old, and stronger than ever |
| VOB was founded in 1977. The somewhat misleading name has its origins in the fact that the founding members were all UCT graduates. The club is affiliated to Western Province Athletics which is in turn affiliated to Athletics South Africa (ASA) and its members participate in the three disciplines that make up Athletics, namely Cross Country, Track & Field and Road Running. |
| "A happy club" |
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Ironically, the event that led to a quantum leap in the size of the club, was a breakaway by many of the senior members of the club which took place in the early eighties.
This resulted in the club being fairly rudderless and necessitating the blooding of a whole new committee.
That committee took the attitude that it was more important to create a happy club, that catered to the average athlete, rather than actively trying to obtain prestige for the club by buying elite athletes, with no long term loyalty.
In short, the object was to create a club that people wanted to belong to.
This philosophy has paid handsome dividends and today VOB is the largest club in the Western Province and second largest in the country, with a membership in excess of 700. The other result is that, today, VOB has a large squad of elite athletes, who joined because they recognise the club as a well administered and a friendly base under whose banner they want to compete. |
| Oozing talent |
| VOB shares clubhouse facilities with False Bay Rugby Club in Constantia and this location has resulted in a large proportion of our members being residents of the more affluent areas of the Southern Suburbs. However with time, and to a degree success breeding success, the club has attracted many members who are from the more financially disadvantaged sections of the community. Many of these athletes are young, enthusiastic and talented and have been identified as being the nucleus that will make VOB an athletic force for many years to come. |
| Athletic Excellence |
| For the last ten or so years the club has had a Chairman's Fund, financed mainly by donation, the capital of which has been used to provide for the basic needs of our financially disadvantaged members. To survive an athletic club has to remain financially competitive and while many of our members could afford higher subscriptions than they pay at the moment, that would mean a degree of cross-subsidisation. The committee do not feel that this is in the best interests of the club as there would be the danger of losing members to another club with lower subs. Current pressure on the Chairman's Fund and the plans that the committee have for developing the athletic excellence of the club have resulted in their realisation that it is necessary to investigate options other than voluntary donation to create a subsidisation base. |
