If the Q&A below doesn’t answer your question, please email us at: info@stgeorgelac.org.au
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It’s important you read these FAQs before you Register with the Centre.
1. How old does a child need to be to register for Athletics?
We can accept children from 4 to 16 years.
For the 2024/25 season:
We offer a “Tiny Tots” (5’s) age group for children turning 4 in 2024 (born in 2020).
The following Table explains the Age Group into which an athlete is placed according to the Age the child turns during the commencing year of the season, ie. their age as at 31 Dec 2024 (for the 2024/25 season): Age Groups
2. When does St George LAC meet to compete?
Our club meets (‘competitions’) are conducted on Friday evenings, at Olds Park (Penshurst) on the dates set out on our Calendar page. Commencement & finish times vary by Age groups. We utilise staggered start times to enable a larger number of athletes to be accommodated and to move more quickly through the program, and to ensure younger age groups do not finish too late. Start and (approximate) Finish times are as follows:
| Age Groups | Arrive by | Start Events | Finish (Approx) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tiny Tots | 4:45pm | 5:00pm | 5:45pm |
| 6's - 7's | 5:15pm | 5:30pm | 6:30 - 6:45pm |
| 8's | 5:15pm | 5:30pm | 7:00 - 7:45pm |
| 9's | 5:15pm | 5:30pm | 7:30 - 8:15pm |
| 10's | 5:45pm | 6:00pm | 8:00 ~ 8:30pm |
| 11's - 17's | 5:45pm | 6:00pm | 8:15 ~ 9:00pm |
Please note that finish times are approximate and will vary according to the number of athletes present on a given night. For more information on the events conducted each Friday, see: Program Overview
3. Do parents need to attend each Friday night?
A parent/guardian must remain in attendance at Olds Park whenever your child is present.
4. What is expected of parents?
Parent Duty
In common with all Little Athletics Centres, we require all families to fill a variety of roles on a regular basis, to assist in the conduct of our program. Each competition ‘meet’ requires well over 100 persons to assist & supervise the running of the program.
Consequently, it is required that an adult from your family (eg. parent, grand-parent, older sibling, etc) undertake a duty regularly on behalf of your family. You should anticipate carrying out a duty about every second week of the season (eg. 10 times if the season provides 20 weekly meets) – we’ll advise the minimum number required per family at the start of the season.
We will set out the duties available & required to be filled for each Meet via our “SignUp” website – which you can access via the “SignUp” button on our website. It is important than you sign up for a duty before attending at Olds Park on Friday. Duties include tasks such as assisting at a track or field event, helping set up the track/field equipment, assisting in the canteen, helping with hurdles placement, etc. There’s more information about this on our Parent Helpers and Parent Helper Resources pages. The latter includes many short videos which explain (some of) the roles needed at each event.
Child Protection
We require all adults assisting in any way at Little Athletics to fill out a simple online “Working with Children” declaration (the link is provided on the “How to Join” page and also on the Forms page). WWC Numbers are generally not required.
All participants at Little Athletics, including parents, are expected to support and abide by these Behavioural Guidelines and Codes of Conduct.
5. When can I register?
Registration usually opens from early August. Follow all the steps on the How To Join page to register.
Most of the process (including payment of registration fees) is conducted on-line. You’ll subsequently need to pick up your registration pack in person on our “Pick-up” Days at the Olds Park clubhouse. Please familiarise yourself with these FAQs and other information on the website before registering.
6. Are late registrations taken?
Yes, however we may close registrations for some or all age groups if we judge we are ‘at capacity’. (This has happened in each of the last 2 years.) If registering late, you can collect your Registration Pack from the clubhouse at Olds Park on competition nights prior to competition starting, subject to registration being completed prior to 6pm Thursday. If you miss this deadline, you have the option of Trialling (see below).
7. How much will it cost to register my children?
Registration Fees comprise a component set by the State body to fund its overall administration of the sport and a component set by the Centre to fund the provision of facilities, equipment and services by the Centre.
Fees for 2024-25 are as follows:
$165 – for athletes in the 6’s and above
$110 – for Tiny Tots (must turn 4 in 2024).
plus an online payment transaction charge of approximately $5.50 to $6.50 (per registered athlete).
You may be able to reduce fees by $50 by using an Active Kids voucher (generally available to children who have reached at least 4 years and 6 months of age at the time of applying for the voucher). You must apply for your voucher before registering with us. In cases of financial hardship, financial assistance is available (administered by Little Athletics NSW) in accordance with the Athlete Assistance Program 2024.
Note: In most cases, registration fees are Non-Refundable.
8. What are the Uniform Requirements?
Uniforms are mandatory for all age groups and correct uniform, including the various patches we will supply to you, must be worn at each of our weekly meets and at any carnival or gala day where the athlete represents STGLAC.
Ours is a 2-piece uniform. You may not substitute alternatives for the STGLAC shorts / bike pants / briefs. We updated the uniform design for the 2022-23 season and uniforms purchased prior to that season are no longer permitted. For more information, see: Uniforms
9. When does the season operate?
Our summer club season usually runs from about mid-September through till mid-March. See the Calendar page for specific dates. We do take a break around Christmas time, and on those Fridays that clash with certain inter-club Carnival events. Athlete membership continues to run during the subsequent winter season (roughly April to August) and a range of carnival opportunities are available during this period (generally not for TTs and U6) organised by the State athletics body.
10. Does the club offer Awards for Athletes?
We offer an extensive Awards Program which is set out here. Note that all awards are subject to criteria, which are objective as far as possible. Not all athletes will receive an award. Most awards have as a pre-requisite that the athlete has participated sufficiently in the program, and that the athlete’s family has met the parent duty requirement (see point 4. above).
11. What events are conducted?
The specific events that an athlete will perform depends on the athlete’s age as set out in Events by Age Group. For each age group, most events are conducted once per 2 weeks during the Friday program. Tiny Tots will generally perform: 2 x Runs, 1 x Throw and 1 x Jump and 1 x Game each week. Note that St George does not currently conduct the “Walks” events.
12. How is competition conducted?
Children move through a pre-set sequence of events each night, guided by their Age Manager. Each event is “officiated” by the Age Manager(s) and supported by additional parent helpers. See our Parent Helpers and Parent Helper Resources pages for more information.
13. How important is winning
While superior performance is encouraged and recognised, our primary focus is to encourage all athletes to participate, to do all their events, to do their best and to pursue personal improvement.
14. Are athlete’s results available?
Individual results are collected for all events (U6 and above) and made available via our online “ResultsHQ Family Portal”. There is a link to the Family Portal on most pages of our website.
15. Is coaching available for athletes?
Coaching/Training (which is optional) is available during most of the club summer season. See the Coaching information under the “Our Program” menu on the website for more details. We advertise what coaching is available each week via the “SignUp” system. There are also coaches working privately who conduct programs at Olds Park and other locations.
16. What to do in case of wet weather?
We do not compete if it is raining, judged likely to rain or if weather conditions prevent field preparation or make the ground unsafe. If we need to cancel, we’ll issue information via Team App. If we’ve issued no cancellation advice, you should assume we are still “on”.
17. Is it possible to do a “Trial” before deciding whether to join or not?
Note: Due to the large number of registered members in season 2024/25, we are unable to accept Trialists at this time.
Pre/early season Trials are only possible if we are still accepting registrations in the relevant age group. Caution: If registrations are buoyant – and this has been the case for each of the last few years – it can happen that Age Groups will cease accepting new members even before the season starts.
A child may participate as a “Trialist” for up to 2 consecutive weeks at our Friday evening ‘meets’. To arrange a Trial, arrive at Olds Park on one of our competition days at least 15 mins prior to the start time for the relevant age group(s) – see point 2 above. Locate a committee member in the vicinity of the Athletics shed. Trialists join the relevant Age Group and participate in the events scheduled for that group on that day. Each week of trialling costs $10 per athlete (payable in CASH). If you subsequently register (in the same season), trial fees paid are returned to you when you collect your registration pack. Please note that we do not allow Trials until the 2nd week of Centre Competition (the date is indicated in the Calendar) and we may not measure participation or collect results for athletes who are trialling. If your interest in Athletics arises late into our season, we may be able to offer a trial at that time, with a view to you joining (confident your children will like the sport) at the start of the next season.
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