Funding welcomed for new Little Athletics centre

Warnervale Little Athletics has been given a jump start to their maiden season with a $3,100 grant from the Coles Little Athletics Community Fund.

The new Little Athletics centre based at Warnervale Oval will use the grant to purchase a range of equipment including shot puts, discuses, stopwatches, marquee and a PA system.

Warnervale was one of 43 grassroots clubs and centres which shared in $150,000 from the latest round of Coles grants, which has netted Little Athletics centres more than $2.5M since 2018.

Warnervale Little Athletics’ Grants Officer Chelsea Manca said the grant would help the centre to provide a quality program for its athletes and volunteers.

“We have passionate committee members who share the goal of ensuring all kids within our program are having fun and feel part of our athletics community,” she said.

“The Coles grant will ensure we have all the right equipment for our athletes and volunteers in our first season.

“The new equipment will help create an environment where everyone will want to be a part of our family friendly club and help the future growth of athletics in our area.”

Coles Little Athletics Australia CEO Myles Foreman said the Coles Little Athletics Community Fund had already helped more than 480 centres across Australia.

“Our Little Athletics centres, parents, volunteers and athletes have been extremely grateful with the grants distributed from the Coles Little Athletics Community Fund over the past six years,” he said.

“The funds have helped centres buy a range of new sports equipment such as high jump mats, hurdles and discuses for athletes, as well as equipment for volunteers such as trolleys, laptops and printers.

“All our centres are run by dedicated parent volunteers and grants like this help them immensely.”

In addition to supporting Little Athletics centres with equipment grants, Coles has also donated more than five million bananas to help fuel future Aussie athletes since 2017.