Doncaster Little Athletics Centre

The emphasis at Little Athletics is on participation and skills development.  It's an ideal first sport for children.  The running, jumping and throwing activities help develop balance, flexibility and strength.

With the emphasis on participation and development, athletes are encouraged to compete against their own "personal best" time or distance.  In this way, athletes do not have to focus on winning but on improving their own performances.  All athletes are fostered and are given the opportunity to compete at Regional carnivals (both relays and individual) and many progress through to state level against the best athletes in the state.

The Doncaster Little Athletics Centre (DLAC) meet at Rieschiecks Reserve, George Street, East Doncaster (Melway Map 33, J11) and boasts an all weather track with excellent facilities for athletes and spectators alike.

There are six clubs that make up the DLAC:  Bulleen Templestowe, Doncaster Heights, Doncaster Lions, Doncaster Saints, East Doncaster and Templestowe All Saints.

The athletics program is divided into two groups - Athletes Under 6 to Under 8 participate in the On Track program and athletes Under 9 to Under 15 compete in the Interclub program.  The majority of meetings are on Saturday mornings with four or five twilight meetings held on a Friday night.

• Doncaster LAC Registration  - This includes Clubs at the centre, Schools in the area, Age Groups, Program, Calendar, Cost and Contacts

• Dual Registration - Dual registration provides the opportunity for U12, U13, U14 and U15 athletes to be registered, train and compete with an Athletics Victoria (AV) Club.  Doncaster Little Athletic Centre (DLAC) athletes usually dual register with the Doncaster Athletic Club, (also known as DAC or Seniors).

Officials, timekeepers, recorders, marshals etc are drawn from athletes' parents.  All parents are rostered to perform some kind of duty, approximately once every third week.  You don't need special expertise to be a helper.  Events are managed by one or two Key Officials, familiar with the conduct of the event and they will supervise parent helpers with appropriate tasks.  Little Athletics cannot operate without the volunteer assistance of parents and other family members. The more trained helpers we have determines the success of our programs for our athletes.  It is a condition of registration that parents perform their duty. 

The Victorian Little Athletics Association (VLAA), our state governing body has produced excellent reference booklets to help parents participate.  Please read how you can help.

• Parent Handbook - This handbook is produced by VLAA and provides brief history and overview of the structure of VLAA including Codes of Conduct.
• Level One - How to Help - Officials Program - The basics of helping at each event is described in this booklet.
• Level Two - Officials Program - This booklet describes in detail the rules of each event.

Little Athletics emphasises personal improvement and athletes are rewarded with ribbons throughout the season as they reach set numbers of "personal bests" or PBs across a range of events.  Medals and trophies are also presented at the conclusion of the season at each club's Annual General Meeting.

At the conclusion of each event, athletes are given a performance ticket recording their time or distance.  The athletes will need to take these tickets back to the appropriate Club Recording Table so each Club can record events completed and performances achieved.  Each Club's end of season recognition trophies are based on the events completed and personal best performances.  If the records are not complete, the end of season awards will not properly reflect the athletes' performances.

At the time of registration each athlete receives an Achievement Book into which they can paste their performance tickets.  This book is an excellent record of achievements over the season.

The Doncaster Centre conducts a number of Special Events during the season.  These special events provide variety to the program and are always warmly received by the athletes.

• The RCH Challange - a fun way to raise much needed funds for the Royal Children's Hospital
• DLAC Open Day - see below
• Handicap Event - athletes are handicapped according to their best performance during the season
• Centre Championships - determines the age Champions in each event

Little Athletics can be as little or as much as you want it to be!  For many it's participating with our Clubs at Doncaster, being with friends, learning new skills and improving  Personal Bests (PBs).  For the keener Athletes (and Parents) there are many opportunities to to meet new friends while representing Doncaster at other Competitions.  These competitions include:

• Relay Competition

  This is a highlight of the calendar and a great way to get to know boys and girls in your age group, and families from other clubs at Doncaster.  Teams are formed to run 4 x100m, 4 x 200m, Mixed Aged Medley, Medley and Mixed Sex Medley Races.  This year these events include: Invitational Relays - Box Hill - Sunday 26th October 2008 Regional Eliminations - Ringwood - Sunday 16th November 2008 State Finals - Olympic Park - Sunday 14th December 2008 For more information see DLAC Relay Pack If you would like to join a team, please contact our Centre Team Manager Peter O'Brien on 0418 288666.

  Click on photo to see 2006 Region Relay slide show      (Be patient as the file will take a few minutes to load)

• Open Days

  Do you love the competition and can't get enough athletics? Open Days may be for you.  Open Days are just as the name implies - Athletic Centres send an open invitation to all VLAA athletes to compete at their centre.  Often Open Days are the first opportunity for athletes to compete against athletes from other centres.  With medals on offer, these are lots of fun and a great preparation for major events.  There are entry forms for each Open Day, a closing date for entries and a cost to enter each event. This is the athlete's responsibility if they wish to compete.  Doncaster is holding an open day on Saturday 6 December 2008.  (There is no cost to Doncaster Athletes for Doncaster's Open Day) In the past we've had over 400 athletes enter their favourite Track & Field events with approximately 140 of these coming from as far away as Sale, Leongatha, Bacchus Marsh, Melton, Geelong, Romsey and Kilmore to compete in a fantastic competition. Doncaster's program is a "day/nighter" with events starting at 2:00pm and concluding at about 9:00pm.  At this time the lights go out and the fireworks finale takes over.  These fireworks are as good as you'll see anywhere and a highlight of the calendar. Entry form for Doncaster Athletes only Entry form for other VLAA Athletes Open Days for other Centres are regularly being added to our calendar.

• Region / State Track & Field Championships - U9 to U15 Athletes

  The Eastern Metropolitan Region's qualifying round for the State Championships will be held at Nunawading Track over the weekend of 14th and 15th February 2009.  This is a wonderful opportunity for athletes to test their skills against athletes from all over the eastern region and hopefully the state. Winners of events automatically qualify for the State Championships and all other athletes may progress through to State level based on their times or distances.  You must qualify at region to compete at state. The State Track & Field Championships will be held at Olympic Park, over the weekend of 14th and 15th March 2009. Closing Date for entries TBA - See your club Team Manager for more information.

• State Multi Event Championships - U9 to U15 Athletes

  The Multi Event Championships is the little athletics equivalent of the pentathlon or decathlon.  Athletes compete in 5 events in a day and score points based on their performance in each event.  Events contested are 100m, Hurdles, 800m, Long Jump and Discus. This event is always held in regional Victoria and will be held over the weekend of 31st January and 1st February March 2008 at Warrnambool. The following age groups split is only a guide and may be changed for this season. Saturday  - U9 to U11 Boys & Girls + U12 Boys Sunday - U12 Girls + U13 to U15 Boys & Girls There is no regional qualification round, hence all athletes can enter this event.  Closing Date for entries TBA - See your club Team Manager for more information.

• Cross Country

  The Cross Country Season runs from Mid April 2009 to the end of July 2009 on Sunday mornings at various venues within the Eastern Region.  Cross Country is a great way to keep fit during the winter months, prepare for school cross country events, and have fun with other athletes from Doncaster. For more information see our Cross Country page.

• Victorian All School T&F Championships - Friday 7th, Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th November 2008 - Olympic Park (there are no qualifying standards for this event)

This event is run by Athletics Victoria for school athletes in age groups U12, U13, U 14, U15 and U16.

Entry Form - Closing date for entries is 23rd October 2008

• Pacific School Games - (incorporating Australian All School T&F Championships) - This year the Victorian All Schools will not be the compulsory selection trial for the Australian All School Championships. Selection for this event will be held on the 12th and 13th September at Olympic Park.  There are qualifying standards and entries close Monday 1st September.
• As these are AV events individuals need to look after their own entries.
• See Athletics Victoria Website for other Competitions for "Dual Registered" athletes.

 

Athletes wear the Doncaster Centre Uniform for these events. (except All Schools and AV Events)

For more information on any of these please speak to your club Team Manager.

Meet the 2008/2009 Doncaster Centre Council. We thank them sincerely for their time, effort and commitment to ensure all of our children have a great time at Little Aths.  If you have any ideas or would like to become involved please contact one of the committee.

Redesigned and  maintained for Doncaster LAC by Jenny Watson  2007  - Copyright 2004-2009