ARARAT - This year's Ararat Gift carnival has been cancelled following a disagreement between the Ararat Highland Sports Society and the Victorian Athletic League.
Originally scheduled for February 11, the VAL decided after its annual board meeting in October to offer two alternative dates for the Ararat event, because of a potential clash with the Ballarat Gift on the same weekend.
Ararat Highland Sports Society president, Joe Perry said the VAL had originally assured gift organisers that the Ararat meeting would run in February, before informing them of the changes a month later.
"(The changes) left us in limbo, we either got a date in November which we had no time to organise for, or one in March which is too close to the Stawell Gift to work," he said.
"All the runners are setting themselves for Stawell and most take a few weeks off before that gift because they don't want to run too well and be further handicapped. It just does not work.
"So we decided not to run the Gift at all in 2012, and we will hopefully get a more appropriate date in February next year."
Mr Perry said the Ararat Highland Sports Society was devastated to find out Ballarat had taken its original date, making it impossible to run a successful gift with the alternatives that had been offered.
It is not the first time the Ararat Highland Sports Society and the VAL have failed to see eye to eye.
In 2010 the VAL approached the Ararat organisers and asked them to hold a midweek gift which would form part of a 'Goldfields Extravaganza' along with the Ballarat and Stawell carnivals.
The Ararat Highland Sports Society refused to run the Gift under those circumstances, which resulted in the VAL board taking control of the event for the first time since 1946.
The Society re-gained control the following year, with Mr Perry believing the 'Goldfields Extravaganza' wasn't a successful venture.
"To start off there was no highland dancing or little athletics like previous years, and none of the races that were held had their official titles, like the memorial races and the main Tom McDonald Memorial Gift," he said.
Mark Howard, CEO of the Victorian Athletic League said the governing body didn't need the stress of running another event like it did in 2010, with the amount of gifts across the state growing each year.
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"There are over 30 carnivals now and we've got 800 registered athletes and those athletes pick and choose which events to enter," he said.
"It is not like three or four years ago when there was 20 events or less in a season and all the athletes competed at each one. The clubs have got to work for the athletes to be successful."
Mr Howard said with all the double headers that are currently on the VAL calendar there is not much they can do about Ararat's situation.
He denied larger Gifts such as Ballarat had first say on when their event is scheduled.
"It's not first in, first served at all," he said.
"We are trying to make sure all carnivals are run as smoothly as possible and we want the traditional events like Ararat to be on the calendar."
Mr Howard said the Victorian Athletic League would fully support the Ararat Gift's bid to come out of recess in 2013.
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