Orbost Little Athletics is
jumping into the new season with a $4900 grant from Coles to support aspiring athletes and community volunteers.
Orbost was one of 72 grassroots Little Athletics clubs and centres across Australia announced last week as a successful recipient of the 2025 Coles Little Athletics Community Fund who will share in $250,000 to purchase much needed sports, safety and volunteer equipment.
Orbost Little Athletics will use their grant to buy new hurdles, an electronic starting gun, cart and trolley, which centre president Sarah said will help volunteers to deliver a fun, safe and quality program for young athletes.
“This grant and new equipment will have a significant impact on our athletes and volunteers alike. For our athletes, especially those just starting out, having access to age-appropriate, reliable equipment helps build confidence and improves skills, and for our volunteers, the new hurdles cart and high jump mat trolley will reduce set up time and effort and thus allowing them to focus more on mentoring and supporting our young athletes,” she said.
The grant comes as Little Athletics Australia revealed a 16 per cent jump in participation over the past 12 months, with the biggest increase recorded in the Little Athletics Tiny Tots program for three to five-year-olds, which rose by 33 per cent.
In the past five seasons, Little Athletics has grown by more than 40 per cent to over 96,000 Aussie kids and a further 74,000 community volunteers, coaches and officials, making it one of the most participated junior sports programs in Australia.
A significant contributor to this surge in participation was Australia’s success at the Paris Olympics which represented the third-highest post-Olympics growth in the past 40 years (behind London 2012 and Sydney 2000).
And now, with a home Olympic Games on the horizon, Coles is backing Little Athletics for a further three years by renewing its partnership with the iconic Australian sporting program.
Little Athletics Australia chief executive officer Myles Foreman said Little Athletics is well positioned to maintain its growth with recent successes on and off the track and field.
“Grassroots Little Athletics Centres are the heartbeat of our sport. The sustained upward trend in participation over the past five years is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our 74,000 volunteers across the country, as well as the ongoing efforts of our State and Territory Member Associations who deliver quality programs to thousands of young athletes,” he said.
“Our partnership extension with Coles for a further three years will also help Little Athletics to continue this momentum with resources and opportunities for children of all ages, including
our youngest athletes through
the Coles Little Athletics Tiny
Tots program.”
Coles acting group corporate and indigenous affairs officer Jace Armstrong said Coles is extremely proud of its long-standing partnership with Little Athletics.
“Coles’ partnership with Little Athletics is built on mutual values and goals to help kids and local communities thrive and grow.
Since 2017, Coles has donated more than six million bananas and over $2.8 million in sports equipment grants to help kids stay fit and be active. We’re excited to play a role in fostering the next generation of Australian athletes for another three years,” he said.
