Little Athletics

Little Athletics
Little Athletics logo
Date	October to March
Location	Australia
Event type	Junior athletics
Established	1964
Official site	Little Athletics Australia

Little Athletics is an Australian activity program that involves modified athletics events for children aged 5 to 15 (or 16 in ACT, NSW, Qld and SA, U17 in WA). More than 100,000 young Australians competed in the sport in the 2013/14 season.

The competitions were founded by Trevor Billingham, a young Australian athletics enthusiast from Geelong, Victoria, in 1964. By 1967, there were more than 35 Little Athletics clubs in Victoria, and the decision was made to start the Victorian Little Athletics Association (VLAA).

Soon after the formation of the VLAA, other states expressed interest in Little Athletics. In February 1968, a year after the formation of the VLAA, Western Australia held its first Little Athletics meet at Perry Lakes Stadium. In 1972, the states of Victoria, New South Wales, Northern Territory and Western Australia became the founding members of The Australian Little Athletics Union (ALAU), which was formed in Perth. By 1974, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Queensland had all joined the ALAU.

Available Little Athletics events vary between age groups and from state to state. The following represents the range of events available.

Under the independent governing body Little Athletics Australia (LAA), each mainland state and territory has its own association, responsible for running Little Athletics in that state. Each state body controls the relevant centres and events in their state or territory. Clubs are the lowest level of the Little Athletics structure. Clubs are sections of centres, often have separate training sections and inform athletes of upcoming events.

In October 1963, three young boys turned up at a senior athletics meet in Geelong, Victoria. They approached official Trevor Billingham, but Billingham turned them away citing their youth as a reason for them not to be allowed to compete. A few months later, Billingham held a coaching camp for secondary school students. His camp had a lot of primary school students in attendance.