6th Kawan Athletics Championship & Our First Awards Night
- Kawan Athletics
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
One Big Kawan Weekend
We still can't believe we have just completed our 6th Kawan Athletics Championship.
Being able to hold this meet every year is already a blessing. This year felt extra special. Our parents showed up with so much support, we had our international friends from Erovra Club, Singapore back after their last visit in 2023, and the next day was our first-ever Awards Night. It was a full weekend of racing, laughing, thanking and a little bit of crying.
Somehow 2025 flew by and suddenly we are left with about two weeks before 2026.
Not just timing, but it was friends and family.
A big shout-out to the schools and clubs that joined our championship. You brought the challenge, raised the bar and made every race more exciting. Like in Zootopia, everyone came from different places and somehow ended up as friends.
Our championship has never been only about trophies. The medals are nice (yes, they are, we made them look like a crystal), but it is the friendships, the laughter, and the little moments around the track that really stay with us. One of the rare and beautiful sights was seeing family members racing together on the track – for example, a father-in-law and his wife both taking part in the championship.
Support We Received This Year
This year's support really humbled us.
A total of RM3,050 was raised for cash incentives to event winners
Teoh Pek Wei Advocates & Solicitors and Zen-Works Engineering helped us cover the core event costs, from venue to prizes and safety.
Merak Consultancy and Services (M) Sdn. Bhd. sponsored the Runnoz Electronic Timing System, so result were fast and accurate.
Trackpro.my sponsored five RM50 gift vouchers to our lucky draw winners to use towards spike shoes!
OrGelato sponsored a RM150 gift voucher to our lucky draw winner on Awards Night!
Our anonymous parents quietly sponsored many of the behind-the-scenes essentials that kept everything running smoothly.
And after three years of applying, the long-awaited Milo truck finally came. Kids, parents, coaches, uncles, and aunties all lined up for that cold, nostalgic cup of Milo. It felt like a small festival beside the track.
We also had a strong team of officials and volunteers who worked quietly in the background to keep things safe and organised. Thanks for giving us your time and energy.
To remember this year’s championship, we also designed a limited-edition team shirt with all our sponsors’ logos on the front. You can grab one below:
Records and Achievements
Just when we thought last year's results were already amazing, the athletes decided to level up again.
21 meet records were broken this year, almost double last year's 11. Our athletes are getting stronger, faster, and braver.
Our L11 boys really made a statement. Six records out of seven events in their category were broken. Sheng Jie, Kai Chen, and Benjamin, you boys were on fire.
We also saw a happy increase in our Moms and U9 categories. To all the moms who took part, you did such a great job just stepping onto the track and giving it a go!
Let’s take a look at this year’s Best Sportsman and Best Sportswoman:
Little Highlights From The Day
Call room compliments. We received feedback that participants were more organised and on time this year. Even the parents' categories, many came early, bibs on, ready to go like pros. A big part of this smooth flow came from our volunteers, Zaim and Elly (from IPG Cheras), who made clear announcements throughout the day and led athletes to the start line.
Runnoz timing. The electronic timing system by Runnoz, gave us quick and reliable results so everyone could see their times almost immediately.
The 10-minutes downpour. The universe likes to give us a special "effect" every year. This time it was a sudden heavy rain for about 10 minutes. After that, the sky cleared and we still managed to finished all events with only about 20 minutes delay.
What We Can Improve
No meet is perfect and there are always lessons for the next edition.
Cleanliness. Some areas were left messy after event. Next year we will remind everyone more clearly to throw rubbish into the bins so that we can leave the stadium as clean as we found it.
Knowing your own event time. A number of participants still arrived at call room without knowing their event time or call time. Start lists and instruction were already shared, and every athlete had a tag with QR code to scan for their events. Going forward, we kindly ask all athletes and parents to check their events beforehand, because the call room team needs to focus on running the event and cannot attend to individual timetable questions during peak times.
Prize giving confusion. Some winners were not aware of their turns to go for prize giving, even though announcements and schedules were shared. From next year onwards we are thinking to try a new system:
- No big prize giving ceremony for every individual event.
- Athletes can collect their medals at the prize counter.
- Then they can gather with friends at the podium for photos.
How should we hold the prize-giving for individual events?
Podium Ceremony
Self-collection at counter
Biggest Highlights: Mix and Match Fun Relay
During our Cameron Highland training camp, there were many requests for a fun relay where parents, athletes, and even coaches could race together. This idea finally came to life as our Mix & Match Fun Relay.
So many people signed up that we had to change the plan – instead of teams of four, we formed teams of six. In the end we had eight mixed teams of athletes and parents, from 11 years old to 40 plus. Each team leader drew a "baton" for their group and that was where the real chaos started.
Tell us in the comments what “baton” we should add next year if we bring this event back. One parent has already suggested a flower pot! 🌼
It was beautiful chaos and full of laughter.
What are the odds of seeing your mom sprinting with a broom and dustpan at full speed, or your dad running with a wheeled box like he is late to catch his flight at KLIA? Some even put cones over their hands and ended up looking like robots charging down the track. It was exactly the kind of silly fun we hoped for.
All event photos can be downloaded at the end of this page.
That wrapped up Day 1. Day 2 looked very different, no bibs, no spikes, just dresses, shirts and our first-ever Awards Night.
Day Two: Our First Ever Awards Night
The next day, everything shifted.
Yesterday was all timing gates, lane draws and sport mode.
Today was different. Everyone got dressed up. No spikes, no bib numbers, just dresses and suits and a lot of hair gel.
Our first Kawan Athletics Awards Night actually started from a casual conversation between coaches:
“What if we had something to celebrate character, not just medals?”
Somehow that small idea turned into a real event with a full house.
We had about 100 people in the room: school teachers from SJK (C) Salak South, SJK (C) Damansara, and Tzu Chi International School, plus parents, athletes and the Kawan Athletics Team which include coaches, admin, and crew. It felt more like a big family dinner than a formal award ceremony.
The purpose was simple: to celebrate courage, growth and character, and to say thank you.
Awards and Appreciation
The championship was about time and distances. Awards Night was about stories.
We went through our coaches' choice award categories one by one, from performance based awards to the "heart" awards that recognised attitude, resilience, leadership and consistency. Some names were expected. Some were complete surprises, in a good way.
Have a look at this year’s award winners:
The Speech from Lohshini That Got Us All Emotional
One of the most touching moments of the night came from Lohshini. Her message really reached the parents and coaches. As coaches we sometimes think the athletes just see us as the people who set the warm up and shout the timings. Through her speech we realised, "Whoah, we actually play a big part in their lives."
She reminded us that just being there, encouraging, nagging a bit, cheering from the side and not giving up on them can become something very big in their hearts. At one point she said something along the lines of:
“Coach, you might not know this, but it helps me a lot. To me you’re like my second parents, a parent figure we all look up to.”
Those words hit us hard (in a good way), and they hit Coach KL especially hard. Coach KL honestly wanted to reply on the spot but knew she might cry if she did. We really appreciate that, Lohshini. Thank you for being brave enough to tell us how much it means to you. If we have another Awards Night in the future, maybe Coach KL will give you a proper reply speech then.
Special Awards - The People Behind The Magic
We also had seven Special Awards this year. The first three went to our coaches who have been holding the fort in different ways:
Endurance Excellence Coach Award - Coach Elena
Talent Elevator Coach Award - Coach KL
Onboarding Excellence Coach Award - Coach Aqil
These coaches are the ones who guide walk-in athletes into full-time members, help them grow from non-runners into runners, and continue supporting their journey all the way to district champions and qualifiers.
Then we moved into four "spotlight" awards. For these we played a little Guess the Winner game. Everyone tried to figure out who it was from the hints on the screen before we revealed the name. Try playing along yourself and see how many you can get right.
Hidden Talents of Kawan Athletes
We also discovered that our athletes have many talents outside the track.
Jun Han performed both piano and violin.
Charmaine came with her guitar and camera.
Hew Claries danced like a pro.
Sarvendra took the mic and sang.
We even had a surprise singing performance by Coach KJ and Tai Jehan
Just when everyone thought the concert was over, the kids (Ajitessh, Alesha, Jun Han, Lohshini and Abigail) put together a live drama for all of us. Their group name is “Act of Nuisance” and the drama is based on the theme “Problematic Parents”.
They even recorded a video as one of their TikTok reels. In the story, this video is one of the reels that the “problematic mom” scrolls through and realises that she has been a problematic parent.
Here is the reel they prepared:
Thank you to every performer, whether you volunteered yourself or your coach or friends "volunteered" you. You did not have to do it, but you still went all out for us.
We did face some technical issues with sounds and slides which caused big hiccups for the performances. To all performers and the audience, we are truly sorry about that and we appreciate your patience and good humour. You carried on anyway, and that says a lot about you.
Photobooth Memories
We also had simple photobooth corner. Nothing too fancy, just a place to capture everyone including their friends and family!
Each printed photo went into our Kawan Album, and athletes, parents and coaches write little messages beside their pictures. Some were funny, some were very sweet, and some will probably make us emotional when we flip through the pages in a few years.
It is the kind of keepsake we can look back on and say, "Eh, remember this year? Look how small they were."
Closing
Thank you, Kawan family, for making this weekend more than just a track meet. It was a celebration of growth, support and journey. We are very grateful to spend the last month of 2025 with all of you, and even more grateful that we can host events that bring everyone together.
To our coaches, athletes, parents and crew: you are the best thing that has happened to Kawan Athletics. Thank you for trusting us, for showing up and for growing with us.
See you all in 2026, bigger and stronger.
PHOTO
Hoping next year’s relay is a laundry edition 😂 Fold clothes while running, button up shirts while running, hang clothes while still moving… I just want to watch the chaos.