** Good luck to Doncaster athletes competing at State Cross Country  **

In the News at Doncaster

Cross Country Awards Presentation - Sunday 8 August 2010

Another successful cross country season is coming to an end.  This year the Cross Country Awards Presentation and Breakfast will be held on Sunday 8 August at Rieschiecks Reserve.  Click here to see details of the morning.  Please RSVP to Tim Sheils

IGA State Cross Country Championships

The IGA State Cross Country Championships for 2010 will be held this Sunday 1st August 2010 at Geelong Racecourse - Click here to see the event timetable.  Please be aware that this timetable is subject to change on the day, You can walk the track between only 9:15am and 10:15am and you must marshal 30 minutes prior to your event. (you cannot just turn up and run).  Good luck to all Doncaster athletes who are competing on the day.

Attached is the revised duty roster for the day.  Please be on time.

If for some reason you cannot attend, please let Julie Bassett know.

Eastern 7 Day: Sunday 18th July at Ruffey Lake Park

The Eastern 7 Day is a very special day put on by all the clubs in our Eastern 7 Group.  We encourage all Cross Country children to attend this day.  It is all about rewarding the athletes who compete within the Eastern 7 Group regularly.  Every athlete who has competed in at least 3 races in the Eastern 7 Group this season will receive a medal after their race.  Athletes are rewarded for coming to cross-country on a regular basis and for trying their best.

Athletes must have competed in at least 3 Eastern 7 Sunday runs this season to be eligible for a medal.

Duties are shared between the Group.  Doncaster's duty roster can be found here.

Local Newspapers

For those of you who don't receive the Manningham Leader, click on the picture to the right to read a recent article about region Cross Country which was held at Ruffey Lake Park recently.

Little Athletics Victoria latest E-News is available now.  Please click on the link below to access your copy.

E-News May 2010

State Cross Country Championships:  Sunday 1st August.  Geelong Racecourse

This year the State Cross Country Championships will be held at Geelong (details are given below).  There is only one way only to enter this event.  Individuals must enter and pay for themselves via Little Athletics Victoria (LAV) website  http://www.lavic.com.au/ .   Click on Competition/Upcoming events on the left of LAV's site and then Championship Events in the middle.  As all Cross Country fees for Doncaster athletes are paid by the Doncaster Centre, please print off or email a copy of your receipt to Julie Bassett  and Doncaster will reimburse you.  The timetable of events is not available yet, but it will be on the LAV website as soon as it has been confirmed.  Cross-country athletes do not have to meet a qualifying time/standard so anyone of any ability can enter.  Please note that there isn't an event for U6’s at the State champs.

As with Region, once your child has been entered, there are no refunds so please be sure your child is definitely available to run on this day before entering.  Doncaster will also be charged a Team entry fee for every 3 athletes entered in each age group and duties duties will be allocated to each centre based on the number of athletes entered.  So if you are thinking of entering your child for the State Champs you must be available for duty. 

Please let Julie Bassett know if you have entered your child for the State Championships so Julie can then organise Team entries.

Where:             Geelong Racecourse, 99 Breakwater Road, Breakwater (Melways 452 D11)

When:              First race will be held at 11am, the last race at approximately 3.30pm  (the timetable of events is not available yet)

Entry fees:        $5 per individual Championship Event (U9-15’s)

                        $2 per Individual Invitational Event (U7-8’s)

Closing date:    Monday 12th July (midnight) - no late entries will be accepted

 Team Entries:   The Doncaster Centre will enter & pay for teams separately (3 athletes per team) once we have a list of our Doncaster athletes who have entered.

Eastern 7 Day: Sunday 18th July at Ruffey Lake Park, Doncaster (Melway 33 F10)

 The Eastern 7 Day is a very special day put on by all the clubs in our Eastern 7 Group.  We encourage all Cross Country children to attend this day, as it is all about rewarding the athletes who compete within the Eastern 7 Group regularly.  Every athlete who has competed in at least 3 races in the Eastern 7 Group this season will receive a medal after their race.  Athletes are rewarded for coming to cross-country on a regular basis and for trying their best.  Please note if your child has not competed in 3 events prior to this date they are still welcome to run on this day but they will not receive a medal after their race.

Sunbury Cross Country Open Day - Sunday 11 July

Sunbury will be holding its open day on Sunday 11th July.  Entry is your own responsibility and an entry form can be found here. Please note that this day does clash with Eastern 7's day at Nunawading.

Knox Cross Country Open Day - Saturday 3 July

The Knox Centre is holding its open day on Saturday 3rd July.  As the Eastern 7 Group doesn't meet over the school holidays, you may like to join in the action at Knox.  Entry is your own responsibility and an entry form can be found here.  Entries close 28th June.

Region Cross Country Championships - Sunday 20th June

Entries have now closed for the region event this Sunday at Ruffey Lake Park.  I'm sorry but we cannot accept any late entries.  Click here to see Doncaster athletes who have entered.  There is a link above to the "order of events".  The first event will start at 10:00am and events will be marshalled about 15 to 20 minutes prior to each event so please give yourselves enough time.  Other important information regarding uniforms etc can be found here.

All centres of the region are required to help with duty.  Doncaster families will be contacted about duty.  Thank you for your help

Cross Country Photos

It was a very cold, foggy morning when the Eastern 7 group of athletes took to the hills of Ruffey Lake Park recently.  You can see photos of the day here.  Thanks to Dean Sharples for these photos.

As there is no cross country for the "Eastern 7 Centres" on the Queens Birthday Long Weekend, you may like to take a drive to Mooney Valley or Benalla.  These days are optional for Doncaster athletes so if you would like to participate, entry is your own responsibility.

Northern Metro Division One Open Day - Sunday 12th June - Entry Form

Benalla LAC Open Day- Sunday 13th June  - Location - Reef Hills Reserve- Off Mansfield Road, Benalla - for more information see attached flyer

Calling all Coaches

The Australian Track and Field Coaches Association are running a series of workshops on Saturday 5th June on Horizontal Jumps, Hammer Plus, Sprint Relays and Endurance Events - The Sprint Relays session would be great for our relay coaches - See attached flyer for more information.

SMR Cross Country Challenge

The Southern Metropolitan Region are holding a Cross Country Challenge on Saturday 26th June 2010.  This is open to all little athletes across Victoria.  See the attached flyer for details.  As this is not within the Eastern 7 Cross Country Calendar, and if you are interested in participating, please enter yourself.

The Australian Little Athletics Championships were held in Brisbane recently and Doncaster is very proud of Samantha Galagher of Templestowe All Saints who was selected in the Victorian Team.

The ALAC Championships is a team event which is held each year in April in a different state for U13 athletes.   The final team selection takes place after the State Championships and is made up of only 11 Boys and 11 Girls. 2 Boys and 2 Girls will compete in each of the following events to earn points for their state so the athletes need to be at the top of more than 1 event to be selected -100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 1500m walk, 80m hurdle, Long Jump, Triple Jump, High Jump, Shot Put, Discus, Javelin and the 4 x 100 relay.

Congratulations to Samantha for a wonderful achievement - 100m 2nd, 200m 5th and 400m 12th.  These fantastic results helped Victoria win the championships.

Click here to see previous members of the Victorian State Team.

Little Athletics Victoria latest E-News is available now.  Please click on the link below to access your copy.

E-News May 2010

New Logo for Little Athletics Victoria

Little Athletics Victoria is proud to to display a new brand, which was officially launched at the opening ceremony of the Australian Little Athletics Championships in Brisbane recently. In a spirit of cooperation and unification Little Athletics Victoria have adopted their logo in conjunction with Little Athletics Australia.

The new identity represents a love for Little Athletics and celebrates our passion for having a go. Our new colours take inspiration from the very environment Little Athletics takes place in. Blue represents the sky above our heads and green, the grass under our feet.

Thank you to our 2009/2010 Sponsors

Doncaster Little Athletics Centre has a number of new sponsors this season.  Welcome to  - Sports.lab, Doncaster BMW, Camp Australia, Bendigo Bank, GHR and EL & C Baillieu Stockbrokers, and a welcome back to our returning sponsors - Beasley's Nursery & Teahouse, Medal and Trophy Industries Pty Ltd, Electrical Design & Construct, Khusboo Indian Restaurant, Aussie Vac, Palace Cinema Balwyn and Action Printing.  We would like to sincerely thank all of our sponsors for their generous support during season 2009 / 2010 - Don't forget to mention DLAC when you use them.