THE Portland Little Athletics Club has been recognised as among the best Little Athletics centres in Australia, with the club being recognised with the outer regional Centre of the Year Award at a presentation in Adelaide on Friday.
The award was judged based on a number of different criteria including governance, diversity and others, came as a result of the club being nominated by Little Athletics Victoria’s CEO.
“I got a call from the CEO in February who wanted to nominate our centre for the outer regional award, then I got a call from Little Athletics Australia saying we’d won the award and asking if we’d like to head to Adelaide to accept it,” club secretary Claire Ward said.
“This particular award is not actually for our most recent season (2023-24) but rather the 2022-23 season, when there were a number of significant events for the club over that span.
“We were able to get a second long jump pit installed at the centre which was a project which was in the works for a long period of time, it was a really huge accomplishment ticked off.
“It was helped by a Shark pitch from the club back in 2022 which helped us to raise the $25,000 necessary for that to happen.
“We also sadly saw the passing of Meggsy Harvey who had been a part of Little Athletics in Portland for 47 years in 2022, and I think we really had to bond together as a club because of that.”
Ward said she felt the club benefits from being within a relatively small community which allows it to remain close and tight-knit.
“When you come along to Little Aths, it’s the whole family that can get involved,” she said.
“Any kid from ages 5-16 can compete, and you have the even younger kids who can run around and have fun even if they’re not competing like the older ones.
“Then on top of that you have the parents and families who are helping out as well.
“We recently topped 150 members which was our highest participation rate since 2013, and we want that trend to continue.
‘It’s an inclusive and family-friendly sport where kids are just trying to beat their personal best every time, they go out there.”
