Little Athletics is a uniquely Australian modified athletics program for children from 5 to 17 years, although some State Associations may offer age groups outside this range.
As the name suggests, it is based upon the sport of athletics (track and field). There is a wide range of events from running, jumping, throwing and walking and events are modified to suit the age, developmental stage, and ability of the children.
Little Athletics promotes that it is important to “Be your Best” ®. The emphasis is on fun, participation, performance, technique, and getting involved with your family in physical and healthy activity. The motto of Little Athletics is ‘Family, Fun and Fitness”.
Across Australia, more than 100,000 girls and boys enjoy the activities of Little Athletics. Little Athletics is the “Foundation for all Sports”. All sports use the skills developed at Little Athletics.
In Victoria children between the ages of five (5) and seventeen (17) years can register, although these age groups may differ in some State Associations. Parents, grandparents, and friends can also be involved by helping with various events.
Little Athletics is primarily a summer activity, generally running from October through to late March. Some Centres also conduct cross-country during the winter months, taking place during April to the end of July. Please contact your local Little Athletics Centre or State Association to find out registration dates, season dates, and key event dates.
There are approximately 100 Little Athletics Centres across the Victoria (and on the NSW border). Each of these Centres conducts weekly activities at local venues. These Centres may compete at different times of the day/week. We recommend that you contact the Centre or your State Association to discuss specific details.
Little Athletes will generally do a range of athletic (track and field) events in any given weekly program. The number and combination of events will differ from centre to centre and usually work on a rotational basis throughout the season.
Some of the events include: Sprints, Hurdles, Middle Distance, Race Walking, Relays, Shot Put, Discus, Javelin, Long Jump, Triple Jump, and High Jump. Note that some events have age restrictions on them.
Safety and fun are of the utmost importance at Little Athletics; hence equipment is modified to suit the age and developmental stage of the athletes. For example, it may be lighter (e.g. discus), made from modified materials (e.g. foam javelins, or elastic high jump bar), or of a smaller height (e.g. hurdles), to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our Little Athletes.
Our emphasis is on Family, Fun & Fitness. Children can join with any level of skill or fitness. Children are given plenty of encouragement to achieve personal bests (PB’s). Little Athletics recognises that children vary widely in shape, size and athletic ability, and thus is one of few sports that successfully caters for all.
Little Athletics is very reasonably priced, and provides great value for money for children’s sporting activities. Please contact your local Little Athletics Centre or your State Association for information regarding fees, as they may differ between Centres. Refunds are not available once registration has been paid.
If your child would like to take part in Little Athletics, you need to register them with the local Centre. It is suggested that prior to registering online to contact your closest Little Athletics Centre to ensure that you have all the specific Centre information available to you. Some State Associations have online registrations – please view the relevant State Association website for details, or contact your State Association to register your child.
Age groups are determined by the year and month of birth. Please refer to the Age Group Calculator for details.
Because Little Athletics is a totally voluntary sport, Centres cannot operate without the assistance of parents and other adult volunteers each week in fulfilling the many and varied duties required. These include officiating at an event; managing an age group; recording results; working in the canteen; just to name a few. Most Centres have parent duty rosters in order to share the load. Additional assistance is always required on the Centre committees and all parents / guardians play a role to become involved. Little Athletics is one of the few sports where parents can become fully involved in their child’s sporting interests.
Some Centres may have a uniform for their weekly intra-Centre program, but others may not. Footwear must be worn in all events, by all competing members.
All competitive members will be provided by their Centre an Association Registration Patch (ARP). This patch is provided once registration has been paid & proof of age has been provided (new members), it must be worn on the front of the approved uniform on competition days. A National Membership Badge (NMB) is also provided and should be sewn onto the front of the approved uniform.
All registered athletes must wear an approved Centre uniform when competing in Little Athletics competitions against other Centres. Your local Centre representative will be able to tell you how much their uniforms cost and where it should be worn.
NOTE: Trial athletes do not need to wear a uniform, only when they become a registered member. Please ensure that when attending your trial, you bring a hat, drink bottle and wear appropriate clothes and footwear that is suitable for running, jumping, throwing and participating in any activities that might be included in the program.
Many Centres have qualified coaches or parents who offer training session/s during the week. Additionally, State Associations frequently hold coaching clinics for athletes – please check your State Association’s website for details of upcoming clinics.
If you wish to participate in a Cross-Country program, you must be a registered member of a Little Athletics Victoria affiliated Centre.
Some programs may also charge a small amount upon joining their Cross-Country program, or on a weekly basis. This information can be found on the Centre & Programs pages.
No.
Even if your Centre doesn’t actively participate in a Cross-Country program (or at their Centre), your Little Athletics Victoria membership allows you to compete at any Centre or program offering Cross-Country. We encourage you to contact the Centre to confirm their program and your ability to participate.
During the winter season members have access to view a summary of their nearest Cross-Country program this can be found on the Centres page.
The Winter Cross-Country program takes place between April and August where athletes participate in Cross-Country running on a weekly basis.
Any Little Athletics Victoria registration (insurance) paid since 1 August 2023 will cover you until 31st August 2024. Additional fees ‘may’ apply with your Centre or Cross-Country group to accommodate the winter program. Please contact your Centre for more information.
Athletes still represent their registered Centre they were with in during the Summer Track & Field program, however, unlike the summer program, and in some cases nearby Centres can participate together sometimes in different locations, if numbers permit the Centre may run their own Cross-Country program.
On any given Cross-Country day, athletes will participate in one event only. The distance of the event the athlete participates in is the same in any Cross-Country program across Victoria.
A Cross-Country day is shorter in duration due to fewer athletes participating and only one event per athlete. A Cross-Country day also only involves a single event being run at any one time. These programs are determined by the Cross-Country group your Centre is involved with.
All Centres will offer up to two (2) trials for your child, these are conducted on a competition day. The Trial Athlete offer is available in Victoria. Athletes interested in trying Little Athletics for the first time will be required to submit an entry online so that they can attend a trial at their chosen Centre. A trial is recommended prior to paying, refunds are not available once registration has been paid.
To submit a trial for the Summer (Track and Field season) please visit our Trial Athlete Offer portal.
No – Spikes, Football boots, runners with hard cleats are NOT permitted for Cross-Country.
Voucher codes must be added to the membership form – this is completed during the registration process. If you have already submitted an application without payment and need to update your form with your voucher code, please login to your profile, click on the option ‘update your details’ and add the code towards the bottom of the form, make sure you click save before completing Step 4 – Redeem your voucher.
If you need to reset your password for your GameDay admin access, click here and click ‘Forgot?’ next to the password field. If you need to reset your password for a registration form, click ‘Forgot?’ next to the password field on the relevant registration form.
Yes, you will just need to ensure you have been granted access to the relevant organisation as an administrator using the same email as your GameDay account (and vice versa). If you have admin access already, you will need to go into the registration form and create an account using the same email address. If you have an account for the registration form already, you will need to contact someone from your club who can grant you admin access to GameDay.
Our payment gateway may verify a new credit card by processing a $1 authorisation and then automatically voiding it. For most processors, transactions are initially tried with a $0 authorisation. If $0 authorisations are not supported, a $1 authorisation will be performed automatically. In any instance where a $1.00 authorisation returns a successful result, we immediately follow up with an automatic void request to ensure that the transaction does not settle and that it disappears from the cardholder’s statement as soon as possible.
Note: Some banks don’t recognise void requests immediately. It’s possible that after the void is issued, your customer will still see the pending charge. If this happens, have your customer call their bank; the bank should be able to see the void request and update your customer’s bank statement accordingly.
If a registrant selects a product and reaches the payment processing screen of your registration form (including Membership, Event and Team forms), but does not complete their payment, an unpaid Order will be created in your GameDay database, and the registrant will receive two reminder notification by email – one 1 hour after the order was created, and another 72 hours after the order was created – prompting them to complete payment for the unpaid order they added to their cart.
With GameDay’s registration platform, registrants can choose to register multiple members in one registration and group each member within their own GameDay account, which can be accessed again for subsequent registrations or season renewals.
To view the how to guide and video resource visit – How do I register multiple people? | GameDay Help (mygameday.app)
Step 1: Open the Registration Form and Sign Up
Open the link to the registration form you received from your Centre or Club. On the front page of the form, click SIGN UP.
Step 2: Enter your account information
Complete all the relevant information, including your name, email address and secure password, then click SIGN UP.
Step 3: Verify your account
You will then see a screen that asks you to check your email account for a confirmation email to verify your account.
Note: Please ensure you verify your account before continuing through the registration form, otherwise your account will not be created. Email verification links expire within 24 hours.
You will then receive an email to confirm your account. Please be sure to check your spam/junk folders as emails can appear there. Once your account has been confirmed, a confirmation screen will appear.
Your account has now been created, and you can log in and register yourself and your children through the registration form.
To view the video resource visit – How do I create a GameDay account? | GameDay Help (mygameday.app)
Step 1: Open the Centre or Club’s registration form and create a GameDay account
Open the Centre’s or Clubs registration form. Use the SIGN UP button to create an account.
Step 2: Login to the Registration Form
Once you have created an account, you will be able to login and access the registration form. On the first page, select the NEW PARTICIPANT option, then click NEXT.
Step 3: Enter your Basic Information
Complete the questions on the Basic Info page. This may include your name, date of birth, gender and/or member type.
Step 4: Select at least one Product
Select the Product(s) you would like to purchase. These are fees applicable to your registration as defined by LAVic and your Centre to whom you are registering.
The Centre / Club may have also made Add-on Products available for you to purchase on the next page.
Step 5: Fill in any other questions
Complete any custom questions on the Questions page.
Step 6: Complete your Payment
Confirm that your information is correct, then select a payment method and click PROCEED TO PAYMENT. Confirm your payment method, enter your payment details, then click PAY NOW. You will then receive a confirmation email and payment receipt once registration is successful.
To view the video resource visit – How do I register myself to an organisation? | GameDay Help (mygameday.app)
Based on your Centre selection in the trial application. Please use the link below to find your Centre in our alphabetical list, click on the Centre for the details to display.
