A special meeting of the Hill City Athletics Club next month will vote on a proposal to amalgamate with the Otago University club.
Hill City president Kevin Murphy told the Otago Daily Times yesterday he was confident his club would support the move.
"We need to get 70% of financial members to support the move," he said. "I'm confident that we will get that."
The annual meeting of the Hill City Club in September gave approval for a sub-committee to explore the possibilities of amalgamation.
The annual meeting of the University club approved the amalgamation. The combined club could be in operation next year if Hill City members give it the stamp of approval on December 15.
The clubs have been discussing the possibility of amalgamation since the beginning of the harrier season and the committees of both recognise the advantages.
The University club has talented athletes but it does not not have enough members to administer the club.
"The amalgamation will help both clubs and also benefit athletics in Otago," Murphy said.
If Hill City approves the amalgamation, a steering committee of the two clubs will work on details of the new format that will be ratified at the first meeting of the combined club.
Hill City was formed in 1981 by an amalgamation of three clubs - Mornington, Anglican and Presbyterian.
Both the Hill City and University names are expected to be retained if the amalgamation goes ahead.
"The University club has organised the Lovelock Relay since 1937 and it is the intention to retain this iconic event and other major events that are organised by the two clubs," Murphy said.
Last season, Hill City had a registered membership of 275 and University 11. Hill City has the largest senior membership in the province with 92 athletes. It has 183 in its children's section.
Athletics Otago has 12 clubs on its books, with seven in Dunedin.
The others are Alexandra, North Otago, South Otago, a new Wanaka club and Queenstown, which has transferred to Athletics Otago from Southland.
The senior membership in other Dunedin cubs is: Ariki (61), Caversham (50), Civil Service (9), Leith (39) and Taieri (39).
