By Adrian Ceddia
KEILOR Little Athletics Centre will enter the 2006-07 summer season as one of the top-ranked clubs in the state.
While gearing up during the winter for another busy few months, Keilor was named centre of the year for last season, the second time it has won the award.
The buzz from the award, the promise of updated facilities and an already encouraging response from current members has the committee chuffed about maintaining the standard this season.
Members from the centre have undertaken an exhaustive campaign over the off-season, attending local primary schools and preaching the benefits of Little Athletics.
The centre will be hoping to keep its reputation as one of the clubs with the biggest membership in the state, and has already confirmed more than 200 previous members returning the new season.
“We did handouts at quite a number of schools. It helps the kids get involved in sport,” vice-president Warren Hosking said.
In an exciting move for the centre, this season will also see the introduction of the eagerly awaited clubhouse, a $750,000 development which is due to be completed before the end of November.
This follows other important developments to the centre’s facilities over the last few years, including new synthetic run-ups and electronic timing gates.
While the majority of the athletics season is completed in the summer, a group of 55 members represented Keilor at the Northern Metropolitan Region Cross Country Championships in July.
Keilor won nine gold medals and finished second overall in a competition it had won for the previous three years.
Keilor Little Athletics has been running for 35 years and caters for children aged from five to 14.
The centre will hold its registration day at Taylors Lakes Primary School on Sunday 1 October from 10am until 2pm.
The season officially begins a week later on Saturday 8 October.
