MITCHELL Park was a hive of activity on Tuesday with the new Hamilton Little Athletics Club launching its new season.

Nearly 150 kids, ranging from Under-6 to Under-17 attended the first week with shot put, discus, long jump and sprints among the activities on offer on the opening day.

Three-time Olympian, Lauren Hewitt, was on hand to officially launch the new season and said it was great to see such a strong turnout.

“It does definitely bring back memories, I grew up in Warracknabeal and we didn’t have little athletics but I was always involved during school,” she said.

“So seeing all these young kids being fit and healthy and enjoying being out in the sun is great.

“On the drive, I was thinking it looked so familiar, but it is a lot more hilly and maybe a bit greener here than the Wimmera.”

The new little aths club is aligned with the Hamilton Running Club, with many on the committee of both.

Hamilton Running Club Little Athletics vice-president, Jason Thomas said it was a positive start to the new venture with the fundraising and attendance exceeding all expectations.

“We raised about $40,000 and businesses and the community have been fantastic,” he said.

“A lot of the equipment we have got we didn’t think we’d have in the first year, so we are set up for the future.

“We could have had more kids, but we had to shut off registrations to organise everything, but there are plenty who want to get involved.”

The season will run for the entirety of Term 1 before it pauses for winter and resumes for Term 4.

Age groups start at Under-6 and go through to Under-17 with a variety of events giving them plenty of opportunities to learn new skills.

“We have a three-week program we rotate through, they will do a throw and jump and a couple of running events each week to give them a go at each event during the season,” Thomas said.

The club has also partnered up with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation as part of the Vic Kids Eat Well initiative and will help to offer healthy nutritional options for the kids each week.

Hewitt, who is Central healthy kids advisor for Victoria, along with the Southern Grampians healthy kids advisor, Monique Sobey, were on hand for the first week in a sign of the ongoing partnership which is hoped will benefit the young athletes.