Overview: We’ve had a pretty good start to the season, with some Outside records already being set. Numbers last Sunday were as big as any meeting last season which is a great sign that our Centre is growing stronger. We welcome all our new athletes and families; it was wonderful to see so many smiling faces.
Thank you to those families who arrived ready to help set up and pack up. Due to several issues, primarily not being at our own grounds and borrowing equipment, with thanks to Hobart Districts, and the Domain being heavily booked for training on Sundays, set up / pack up has been fairly chaotic. Next week Hobart Districts will be holding a Meet directly after us, so pack-up will be easy, but we will have a few carloads of equipment to take back to Clarence after our meeting, so, volunteers will be required, please!
Our uniform stock has been selling quick. We’ve run out of some sizes already, so a re-order is underway. We’ll update you when this arrives. Also, when we are back at Clarence High we will have a full range of the old uniform too.
This Sunday: As our next Domain Sunday meeting will include sprint hurdles for all ages we require lots of parent help, placing hurdles in the right spots and changing them to the right height for age groups. We have been prewarned that quite a few of our regular volunteers will be unavailable due to several other sporting events. Therefore, we need you to help out, even if you haven’t done so before. It is easy and there will always be experienced people around more than happy to head you in the right direction.
Supervision/Safety: Remember a strict condition of our insurance is you cannot drop kids and leave; there must always be a guardian present when kids are at Little Athletics. Significant problems have arisen in some age groups already, particularly when there is nobody to assist in your child’s events or there is an injury.
If not competing, kids must remain outside the field arena, they are not allowed to play on high jump mats, climb on shelter frames near long jump pits, they cannot be climbing fences etc. We have already had one broken arm from this, and we do not want anymore, it is for your children’s and everyone else’s safety. It’s also important to make sure kids are inside the venue fences, a couple were fished out from the car park last week and the week before some boys were doing rolly-Polly’s down the hill behind the sheds where a significant head injury occurred.
Crossing the track – It is important for everyone to be alert when crossing the track. Quite like road safety, please stop, look left, look right before crossing. We understand it is quite congested competing at the Domain and we look forward to having more open space for siblings back at Clarence High. 400’s caused issues last week with older athletes taking off on blocks at considerable speed on the busy bend. Please take extra care to be considerate, we would hate to see a little one knocked over, or an athlete injured.
No Canteen or Uniform shop next week: Due to key volunteers being unavailable, there is no canteen or uniform shop this week. The next opportunity to buy uniform items will be Saturday the 14th back at Clarence High School. It will be a good idea to bring a lunch box and plenty to drink.
Uniforms: A reminder that our uniform is our club top (new or old version), and black shorts without logos (where possible). You must have our club top on to compete when you are a registered athlete. Those who are not registered, in the come/try phase, do not have to purchase a top to try out. Some athletes wore ¾/full leggings or yoga type pants last week, unfortunately, these are strictly not permitted when competing.
Registrations: As above, the athletes can compete in 2 Meets to come & try. However, ALL athletes must be registered by the 14th November 2020, so there is one Meet left for the come/try phase. We ask that all athletes intending to complete the season to be registered by Friday 13th of November!
Proof of Age (POA): As part of our affiliation requirements, new athletes must have their POA verified by their club, this can be done by uploading a scan or photo of an ID document through the resultsHQ portal (the registration portal) or you can bring a copy of the birth certificate/passport etc to be viewed. An email will be forwarded to those who have not yet had the POA verified and information about this will be given to Age Group Coordinators and a list at the front gate.
Name Badges: Names badges have started to arrive, these will be distributed via the Age Group Coordinators. Remember they take between 2-3 weeks after registration to arrive, last season this occasionally took 5 weeks! They are done by LTAS directly, so deliveries are only available when we get them, these are out of our control. Masking tape will be available at each Meet indefinitely.
Tiny Totts: The ever-exciting Tiny Tott program has commenced and the feedback has been good. A parent volunteer or two to help organise the Tiny Totts program would be great! It is not hard, just plenty of jumping and body movements – think about giving it a go! We are starting with basics and will develop through the season to do things more structured events, but clearly, we are not there yet.
Our Tiny Tots program is for 3 and 4-year-olds only., Those who are currently 2 are unable to participate until they have their 3rd birthday and must be born in 2017! Those turning 3 in 2021 cannot be in our program this season. There is, however, a Toddlers race for the little ones to shine in the spotlight – and don’t they just love it!
COVID Safety: Reminder to keep socially distanced at all times Household groups can sit close, but other household members should maintain at least the 1.5M gap. Hand sanitizer is available, and we ask that you regularly use it.
There are wipes and spray sanitizer available for cleaning equipment, this is being done pre and post groups using the gear and our athletes are sanitising hands before throws (little tip, sanitise early so hands are dry when throwing!)
Signing into our meetings is not necessary if the registered athlete lives with the guardian/parent who attends, all visitors, other club athletes, grandparents etc must sign in for our requirements to comply with COVID Safety. If we do have close contact during the season, we will need to contact anyone who attended our meetings in the previous 14 days, so we must have contact details of everyone who attends. Remember we have to stick to our COVID safety plan. Deliberate breaches could cost us the season.
Photos: Please do not post photos which include other children to social media unless you have expressed permission from the relevant family. It is possible some athletes have significant concerns about their protection. If in doubt, don’t post! As always, anyone who wishes to have a photo taken off our Facebook page or website, simply let us know.
Set Up next week: The following families are assigned Set-up and pack up this week. Brown, Budgeon, Butters & Carson,
Please let us know if you can’t assist so we can swap you for another family.
Reminder for Volunteers – Gear Transporters: We will need help taking our gear back to Clarence, so anyone with a wagon, ute, the trailer is asked to volunteer to return our stuff, we expect to clear about 3 pm next week and everyone volunteering will be clear by 3:30 going smoothly… Please do not rely on the committee to do all the heavy lifting (literally)!
I apologise for such a huge amount of information, but each of these points is vitally important. THANK YOU to those who choose to read this in full, maybe you can help your friends that may not have ??
See you on Sunday!
Chris Kennedy
President
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