A new season of the Cobar Little Athletics Club competition got underway on Monday with the club marking its 50th year since the sport was first adopted in 1976.
Little Athletics is about kids having fun, making friends, and getting families involved in healthy activities. The emphasis is placed on participation and personal improvement.
Children can take part in a wide range of track and field events including sprints, hurdles, long distance runs, shotput, discus, javelin, high jump and long jump.
Little Athletics began in Victoria in 1963 with the Victorian association formed in 1967 and the national body followed in 1972. Little A’s started in NSW in 1968 and LAANSW formed in 1970.
The Cobar’s Little A’s club was founded by Bruce and Pat Mitchell, together with Neil and Sharyn Lethlean, who held a public meeting to form a Little Athletics Club in Cobar.
Jackie Byrnes from Narromine, who later became the coach of triple Olympic sprinter Melinda Gainsford-Taylor, in her role then as a Development Officer of NSW Little Athletics, was in attendance.
The first competition was held on the high school oval and in subsequent years, the competition was transferred to Ward Oval.
Over the past 50 years, several thousand children have registered with the Cobar club with many athletes going on to represent the club at Zone, Regional and State level competitions.
The continued success of Cobar Little A’s is due entirely to support given by many parents and guardian volunteers and the community.
The club is run by volunteers who very generously give up their own time to provide this amazing experience for the children of Cobar.
Some of these adult volunteers were once themselves Little A’s athletes.
This year the Cobar club has 80 children registered, 21 of those are Tiny Tots, under 5s. The Under 6s and Under 7s age groups are also popular with 11 boys and girls registered in each group.—This article has been compiled with information provided by Cobar Little A’s.
