The Centre of the Year Award recognises Little Athletics Centres who have been a leader and innovator in delivering upon Little Athletics core values of Family, Fun and
Fitness with a focus on being able to demonstrate excellence in at least three of the following categories (1) Diversity & Inclusion, (2) Innovation, (3) Community, (4) Governance and (5) National.
LAA Board Regulation - Centre of the Year Criteria & Process
Member Associations to nominate to the Special Awards Committee of Coles Little Athletics Australia one Centre from each of the Categories:
Category One:
Major City Little Athletics Centre of the Year
A Little Athletics Centre located in Major Cities of Australia.
Category Two:
Inner Regional Little Athletics Centre of the Year
A Little Athletics Centre located in Inner Regional Australia.
Category Three
Outer Regional & Remote Little Athletics Centre of the Year
A Little Athletics Centre located in Outer Regional, Remote and Very Remote Australia.
Category One:
Major City Little Athletics Centre of the Year
Category Two:
Inner Regional Little Athletics Centre of the Year
Category Three
Outer Regional & Remote Little Athletics Centre of the Year
The Nominated Centres must demonstrate for the previous season how that Centre has been a leader and innovator in delivering upon Little Athletics core values of Family, Fun and Fitness across at least three of criteria One – Four and criteria Five.
Diversity & Inclusion
The Centre to demonstrate how it is nurturing an inclusive culture and delivering an inclusive and safe environment for athletes and diverse participants to connect, inspire and achieve together.
Innovation
The Centre to demonstrate innovation when delivering the Little Athletics experience and programs to build depth and the longevity of the Centre and Little Athletics as a community sport of choice.
Community
The Centre to demonstrate how it has connected with and made a positive impact in the local community through direct engagement activity, the use of social media and other activities.
Governance
The Centre to demonstrate how it’s values and support systems are structured via the Centres Governance structures, policies and procedures which exemplifies the highest standards in ethical behaviours and integrity.
National
The Centre to demonstrate how it has participated in and excelled in national activities and campaigns to include at least the Coles Community Round.
The outstanding achievements that have been made in and out of competition in the previous Season -Summer or Winter or both.
Nominations for each of the categories can only be submitted by the Member Association to which the Centre is affiliated.
The winning Centres will be invited to record an acceptance speech to be played at the annual Hall of Fame Ceremony.
2022 Coles Centre of the Year Awards Winners:
Bribie Districts Little Athletics Centre (BDLAC) was formed in 2017 and is one of Queensland’s newest Centres. Located 79km from Brisbane BDLAC constantly encourage the moto of Family, Fun, Fitness for all Little Athletes regardless of their ability.
For the past two seasons BDLAC have asked members for feedback on what they do well and opportunities to do better and are committed to ongoing improvement. Their recent Tiny Tot restructure was a direct result of parent feedback. Other innovations have included the launch of a personal best (“PBs”) bell which they encourage athletes to ring when they achieve a PB throughout our Centre meets so everyone can celebrate with them.
The 3 year BDLAC Strategic & Operational plan won the 2021/2022 LAQ Innovation Award - this has kept their Centre focused and on task despite impact of flooding and vandalism of their facilities.
BDLAC have a very close relationship with their local council, their local councilor & the sports and recreational team to drive the facilities master plan. This includes providing financial support through funding grants to be able to fast track work. They have strong relationships with local schools where they support them to conduct their sports carnivals at their schools. BDLAC have participated in all Coles community Rounds, as we have for the last 3 seasons, this year they gave away grocery hampers containing only Coles branded items as part of the celebrations, promoted their members to get dressed up and conducted a few novelty races. This was published on their social media. They promoted "Banana day" on their social media to further support and acknowledge the Coles sponsorship.
Yarrawonga Mulwala Little Athletics Centre ('YMLAC') is located 268km north of Melbourne on the banks of the Murray River.
YMLAC empowers little athletes by respecting and appreciating what makes them different, in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, education, and national origin.
They focus on personal bests ('PBs') and recognise this by awarding gold silver and bronze medals throughout the season for individual PB performance, growth and development.
YMLAC encourages active participation from senior athletes to inspire participation and develop younger athletes. Young athletes absolutely idolise the older athletes! The older athletes are tasked with kicking off all meetings by leading the athletes through warm up exercises and stretches. This instils leadership qualities, collaboration and responsibilities within its senior athlete ranks.
As proof of YMLAC's success and high profile within the border community, in the season following a severely pandemic-impacted period, YMLAC registered a record number of members!
Broome Little Athletics Centre (BLAC) is located 2,046km from Perth.
To avoid the Wet Season the BLAC season normally runs from May – September. School Athletics Carnivals & Interschool are normally around September and the BLAC season ends just in time for Northwest Athletics Championships.
BLAC has very successfully hosted the WA North West Athletics Championships at the Broome Recreation and Aquatic Centre. The North West Athletics Championships offered opportunities from 5 to 100 years of age with several Open Age Championship events, including the 100m, 400m, 800, Long Jump and Shot Put.
BLAC has also hosted the Kimberley Gift which was open to everyone aged 14 years and above on the day of the event. The Kimberley Gift is part of the Spirit of Sprinting program, aimed at creating a platform for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians to showcase and pursue their talents and passions.
BLAC received funds from Coles Community Round and is a strong supported of Coles.
Coles Little Athletics Australia acknowledges and pays respect to all traditional custodians of the lands of which we work, run, jump and throw throughout Australia. We pay respect to elders both past, present and emerging.
We are committed to a positive future for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and to honor their ongoing cultural and spiritual connections to this country and recognize the role and value of culture.
