MLAC Little Athletics Season Launch
Welcome Back to Mornington Little Aths
Welcome to Season 2023-24! We are eagerly looking forward to seeing everyone on the track at Civic Reserve on Saturday 7th October for a kick-off at 9:00am. We are looking forward to hosting our MLAC families and all our new season trial athletes. We are excited to welcome a large number of new families to our weekly events and ask for your understanding and extra patience during this time as we settle into the new season.
Please read below for some important changes and information on how MLAC will operate the Season.
Week 1 Program - Season Launch
We will kick off every Saturday at 9:00am with a short warm-up. Each week the program will rotate to make sure that children experience and practice different events. For the first 2 weeks of the season there will be 4 events for each age group, after this time it will move to 5 events each week which usually consist on one throwing event (shot put or discus), one jumping (long jump or high jump) and two to three running events. The weekly program is available for download below.
The full season program including a schedule of open days and twilight meets for MLAC is available on our MLAC Website.
On Track Program for U6-U7 Athletes
Our Under 6 and Under 7 athletes will complete the On Track program for the first 4 weeks. The program consists of a range of fundamental activities for children to learn some of the basics in athletics technique development. This is a fun opportunity for children to be immersed into the various events.
Parent assistance is vital to ensure the running of this program. It's a great way to share in the enjoyment of your children being involved. Also, please note that we usually conduct the On Track program in the Soccer fields adjacent to the Civic Reserve Track. We will confirm the location on Saturday morning so appreciate your patience.
Uniforms
All registered members are expected to wear a MLAC uniform - Orange T-shirt, Singlet or Crop-top (with Coles patch) and black shorts/leggings each week. Beat the rush on Saturday morning and pre-order your MLAC Uniform Online.
Please note that we won't be able to sell Uniforms after 9:00am on Saturday morning but you are welcome to pre-order and click and collect before or at the end of the Saturday session. Donations of pre-loved Uniforms and/or athletics runners in good condition are always welcome.
Season Program
This season we have modified our approach and created a rolling 4-week program that will repeat through the season. We intend to monitor the program and ensure age groups events are spread evenly through the year. We also want to achieve a jump, throw and run event each week for all age groups. Based on feedback from last year, we also modified some (U/6 and U/7) age group distances to suit the Little Aths Victoria rules.
The weekly program will be posted on our website page each week. The full season program including a schedule of open days and twilight meets for MLAC is now available on our MLAC Website. Please note that MLAC reserves the right to modify and adjust the program due to track and weather conditions.
Safety on the track
The safety and well-being of our little athletes, families and officials is always our top priority for MLAC. With large numbers of families and new athletes, it is important to follow the advice and direction from Age Group Managers and MLAC officials. Please take extra care when crossing the track with your children - there are often multiple races going on at the same time so ensure you check the track, by looking both ways, before you cross. Please ensure you supervise younger children and toddlers whilst crossing the track.
Each age group has a volunteer Age Group Manager who will support taking children from event to event. It is a requirement that all parents remain at the track for the duration of your child's competition and to supervise your child for the duration of the morning.
Training Update
This season, we are looking forward to introducing weekly training sessions for our registered Little Aths. Our training sessions will be run by fully qualified coaches each Wednesday evening from 5:00 to 6:00pm.
The first training session will be held on Wed 12th October at 5:00pm. Bookings will be required as we are restricted to maximum group sizes. We encourage parents to book for each training session on our TeamApp once it is available.
Senior Aths Training
This season, our Athletes have the opportunity to participate in Mornington Peninsula Athletics training with the Senior Team. This is a fantastic opportunity to train with fully qualified coaches and build up your athletics skills and performance.
This training is available for registered Mornington Little Athletes in Under 13 and above age groups. For more training days, times and more information please visit the MPAC Website or contact MPAC Coaches via email.
Safety on the Track
The safety and well-being of our Little athletes, families and officials is always a priority for MLAC. With large numbers of families and new athletes, it is important to follow the advice and direction from Age Group Managers and MLAC officials.
Please take extra care when crossing the track with your children - there are often multiple races going on at the same time so ensure you check the track before you cross.
Each age group has a volunteer Age Group Manager who will support taking children from event to event. It is a requirement that all parents remain at the track for the duration of your child's competition and to supervise your child for the duration of the morning.
Stack TeamApp and Parent Duties
This year we are going to roll out Stack TeamApp to assist with communication and age group co-ordination. Based on feedback from parents in other sports, we’ve decided to go with the Stack team app. Please search Stack TeamApp on your mobile phone app store and download. You will then be added to your respective age groups.
In addition, we’re going to trial using the app to manage the “weekly roster”. As you can appreciate a great deal of effort goes into putting on the weekly events and to assist with getting the sessions to run on time and finish per schedule, we’re going to start “pushing” out requests to parents via the app.
Each parent will be required to assist with a variety of tasks over the course of the season. Tasks will be to co-ordinate across
Track Set Up: 7:30 - 08:30
BBQ Duties: 9:00 - 12:00pm
Timekeeping: 9:00– 12:00pm
Track Pack Up: 11:30 - 12:00pm
As well as the duty roster, over the course of the morning your Age Group Manager will require help with recording scores, measuring throws or jumps.
Age Group Managers
Thank you to those families that have volunteered to be an Age Group Manager for this season. We are still looking for Age Group Managers for a number of Age Groups which we will hopefully resolve this Saturday. If you can assist with AGM duties or would like further information about what is involved, please contact us at mornington@lavic.com.au
New Families FAQs
We are delighted to welcome our Trial Athletes families to Mornington Little Aths. We have a lot of useful information on our website including a list of FAQs and what to expect on the day. All our parents are encouraged to assist and support our kids as they complete their events. Please ensure you have your child’s name on Water bottles, Hats, Hoodies and any other items of clothing that you bring each week. If you have any questions about our Program or Centre, please get in contact with us or any Committee Member (wearing Black/Orange Polo tops) on the track.
Pavilion Update
Unfortunately, we have some disappointing news regarding our new Pavilion. As you’ve probably seen in the press, it is a very difficult environment for builders to navigate and the builder of the pavilion has been impacted. We are waiting on an update from Mornington Peninsula Council regarding next steps, but at this stage, it’s highly unlikely the pavilion will be up and running this season. Whilst we’re very disappointed we appreciate your support as we will continue to operate our season with our existing equipment containers. Please take extra care with parking and walking around the track given construction works are still in place for the foreseeable future.
We have also secured a new coffee van for the season, so fear not parents.... you can still get your morning caffeine fix at the track.
Contact Us
Please contact us if you have any more questions. We encourage you to follow our Mornington Little Aths Facebook page where we will regularly post updates. We are looking forward to welcoming our MLAC Families and kids back for another exciting and fun season of little athletics.
MLAC Committee
