By Gabriella Payne
There were plenty of smiling faces to be found amongst Pakenham’s Little Athletics team recently as many kids took to the track (and field) to compete in the Regional Athletics Championships, with many moving on to compete at next week’s state level competition.
The young sporting stars competed in a range of different events, facing off against the entire Gippsland region at the carnival, held at Berwick’s Edwin Flack Reserve on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 February, and with a number of Pakenham’s athletes taking out top prizes, they’ve proven themselves as rising athletic stars.
Debbie McNamara, a committee member for Pakenham Little Athletics and a proud Mum of an athlete said that while it was exciting and fantastic to see a number of kids move on to the State Championships, it was more about the experience and community spirit that saw all the kids having fun.
“The kids just had a ball, there were so many who hadn’t competed before,” Ms McNamara said.
“They were so proud of themselves. There were lots of PBs (personal bests), and that honestly meant more to some of them than trophies.
The support there was just phenomenal and it was a great day out,” she said.
Ms McNamara said there were plenty of activities on offer at the regional carnival, including sprints, long distance running and field events such as javelin, discus, shot put and long jump.
“My daughter did javelin and she got PBs each throw. She came fourth but she was just so proud,” Ms McNamara said.
Children could compete in up to four different events on the day and many took home bronze, silver and gold medallions, which will see them travel to Casey Fields for the State Championships on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 March.
Ms McNamara said that athletics events were a fun day out for both kids and parents and encouraged everyone to come down for a fun event the club were hosting at Toomuc Reserve on Saturday 20 March.
“We’re going to be holding a turkey run which is a fun event that Pakenham Osteopathy is sponsoring.
We will have two races, a 150m race and 300m which are not usual events that we run,” Ms McNamara said.
“The kids have to guess what time they think they’re going to run and whoever gets closest on the day to the millisecond wins gold, silver and bronze – so even if you come last but guess closest, you could win.”
If you’d like to learn more or get involved with the Pakenham Little Athletics Club, visit their website at www.pakenhamlittleathletics.com.au
