Cash boost for Little Athletics clubs

Above: Highjumper Brandon Starc with Tony Tots on new equipment from the Coles Little Athletics Community Fund.

Little Athletics centres in Dayboro and Deception Bay are racing into the new season with more than $9000 in grants.

The centres were among 72 grassroots clubs across Australia sharing $250,000 from the 2025 Coles Little Athletics Community Fund.

Dayboro - Moreton Bay’s newest Little As Centre - will use a $4500 grant to launch its maiden season.

Deception Bay, entering its 39th season, will use $4800 to buy new discuses, hurdles and high jump measuring poles.

“Following the success of an eight-week FAST program in late 2024 where we had 100 athletes participate, we’re excited to provide Little Athletics to the community again in 2025,” Dayboro Little Athletics President Megan Winkel said.

“The Dayboro Little Athletics program ran years ago however stopped due to lack of committee and a new group has taken on the roles to help launch our first official Little Athletics season.

“This grant from Coles will enable us to purchase much needed equipment to ensure a smooth start to the season.”

Deception Bay LA Centre Manager Leanne Hilton said the Coles grant will “enable us to replace our older wooden hurdles with more modern lightweight hurdles”.

“These are less likely to cause injury to athletes and easier for volunteers to set up and move. The new discuses will enable our younger athletes have up to date and accurately weighted discuses for throws.”

The grants come as Little Athletics Australia revealed a 16 per cent jump in participation over the past 12 months.

A significant contributor was Australia’s success at the Paris Olympics which was the third-highest post-Olympics growth in the past 40 years (behind London 2012 and Sydney 2000).

Now, with a home Olympic Games on the horizon, Coles is backing Little Athletics for a further three years by renewing its partnership with the iconic Australian sporting program.