Coles grant for Little Athletics Centre

COLES is helping Toowoomba Little Athletics Centre to jump a funding hurdle this season with a $3900 grant from the Coles Little Athletics Community Fund to buy new equipment.

The latest round of funding brings Coles’ allocation of sports equipment grants to more than $2 million in three years with this year’s grants funded from the sale of Coles’ reusable community bags designed by Aussie kids and the sale of bananas sold at Coles’ supermarkets on National Banana Day in May.

Fresh off the inspiring performances from Australia’s track and field stars at the Tokyo Olympics, the Little Athletics centre in Toowoomba is hoping new equipment from Coles will help budding athletes fulfil their sporting potential.

Centre manager Sarah Richardson said the funding would help the centre to survive and thrive through challenging times.

“The Coles grant will allow us to purchase new equipment which will benefit not just our own club members but also schools and coaching groups across the region who utilise our facilities and equipment,” she said.

“Having ample quantity of implements such as shot puts and modified athletics equipment ensures we can cater sufficiently to the number of registered athletes and run our centre competitions, carnivals and training days more efficiently.

“We run a strong Tiny Tots program and the new modified athletics kit will help us to continue running this program successfully for our youngest aspiring athletes.

“The new line marking machine will make line marking a more efficient process for our grounds maintenance angels who volunteer considerable time year-round to keep our home grounds in great condition for all the little athletes in our community to enjoy.”

Coles Little Athletics Australia President Andrew Pryor said the grants would help Little Athletics centres to develop the next generation of Olympians as the sport builds towards Brisbane 2032.

“We are entering a very exciting period for Little Athletics following the success of Tokyo 2020 and as we set our sights on Brisbane 2032,” he said.

“Around 75 per cent of the Australian track and field team who competed in the Tokyo Olympics and a further 23 per cent of para-athletes in the Paralympics, had their start in Little Athletics.

“That’s why support like this from Coles is so important,” Mr Pryor said.