By Taylah Eastwell
The Dandenong Little Athletics Centre hope to see club members both past and present hop, skip and jump through their doors this Saturday as they celebrate the 50th anniversary of their little athletic competitions being held at Robert Booth Reserve.
Founded just four years after the Little Athletics movement was first ever initiated in Geelong, the Dandenong Little Athletics Centre held their foundational meeting on 18th December 1968. Now in its 52nd season, the centre began with a short stint of track and field competitions at Greaves Reserve before jumping over to their current Robert Booth Reserve location at the beginning of the 1970-71 season.
After suffering due to the poor state of the ground at Robert Booth in late 1973, the club was relieved when council and Little Athletics Victoria constructed a specifically-designed Little Athletics track at the rear northern end of the reserve in 1985.
The improvements which are still utlilised today included a new grass track, an eight lane 400m long circular running track, a 100 metre sprint track, four discus rings, four shotput rings, two high jump arenas, a javelin arena and six long and triple jump pits.
Greg Farley has worked with Dandenong Little Athletics for over 30 years and has witnessed both his children and grandchildren compete in the athletics competitions.
“The grass track is a lot easier on the younger kids that are just learning. It’s not as hard on the Achilles and calves. Our kids enjoy it,” he said.
The parents who devote their time to helping out at the track can now spend less time judging and more time watching their child, after the club received a grant for electronic finishing gates three years ago.
“They have been a big help in relieving parents from being timers at the end of the straights and we don’t need as many officials as we did years ago. We used to have to have timekeepers and judges but now we don’t need as many for results. Now it’s all done through electronic timing and uploaded straight away so parent’s can see their children’s results,” Mr Farley said.
“It’s a lot easier now than it used to be five years ago.”
The centre has grown up alongside some champions, with past little aths including AFL Footballers, Stawell Gift Winners, Australian High Jump Champions and school sport record holders. The centre can boast so much more than its various sporting greats however, having earned its place in the heart of Dandenong community life through community involvement and fundraising initiatives for the Dandenong Hospital, the Commonwealth Games Association and the Royal Children’s Hospital.
Champions or not, the centre provides a platform for kids to get active and involved while making life-long friends.
“The biggest benefit for the kids is that they can do any type of sport they like, from sprint racing to hurdles, and can focus specifically on that. We like them to try everything, but as they get older they tend to focus on a particular event,” Mr Farley explained.
“They have the chance here to compete in teams in relays or to just focus on beating their own personal best in running and field events.
“Its also about the friends that they make. Just last weekend at our relay event there were kids from Dandenong competing with kids from Narre Warren. Each Saturday they compete against each other but for the regional championships they teamed up together,” he added.
The centre is celebrating their 52nd season and 50th year at Robert Booth Reserve with a sausage sizzle and children’s entertainment this Saturday at Robert Booth Reserve from 9.00am until 12.00pm.
“I have been able to contact a lot of the life members and a few of them are a bit unwell but hope to be able to come down on Saturday which we are looking forward to,” Mr Farley said.
