OUR STORY
Caloundra Branch Little Athletics Inc. was formed at the end of 1983/84 season after several families who were travelling to Maroochy Centre decided it was time to establish a club in Caloundra. A meeting was called and chaired by Neil Thorburn at Moffat Beach, followed by a General Meeting and the committee was elected with Neil Thorburn as Centre Manager.
The first season began in 1984/85 at the Caloundra State Primary School on Saturday mornings. The first year’s registrations totalled 249 children.
The second season, 1985/86, Caloundra hosted the Zone Intercentre Games at Caloundra High School oval.
In its third year of operation, the club relocated to Caloundra High School for Saturday morning competition days.
They remained there until 1994/95 where it was decided to relocate to Kawana Sports Complex on Friday night. That year the registrations again soared to 250 and the club hosted the Zone Intercentre Games.
In 1995/96, the club returned to Caloundra State High School for Saturday morning competitions.
In 1997/98, the club was forced to move to Saturday afternoon & numbers dropped to only 26 registered children.
In 1998/99, a committed and conscientious committee decided the club needed to change the venue and compete on Friday nights to increase the registration numbers. After much discussion and negotiation, Caloundra Branch Little Athletics moved to Caloundra Rugby League Grounds, Gregory Street, Golden Beach and competed on Friday nights. The plan was to compete temporarily on the undersized main field until the second oval could be developed into a 400m track. The move was successful and the registrations increased to 130 children
Registrations continued to rise, with over 240 children registered in the 2000/2001 season. It was obvious that we needed more room and a proper sized 400m athletic track. The committee formed a sub-committee to investigate options available to the club. Various alternatives were investigated and eventually the committee decided to relocate to the AFL grounds. The AFL grounds provided us with room to operate more field events and enough area for a surveyor certified 400m athletic track.
Gary Nalder’s first year as Centre Manager in 2005/06 was a huge one for our club as we hosted not only our annual Carnival and Pentathlon but also the Zone Relays and Zone Inter-centre Games. All three events were extremely successful and the feedback from other clubs was that, ‘they were amazed by the huge volunteer support base’, that we had at our club. Also, that year Queensland Little Athletics altered its sun safe policy and insisted all uniforms have collars and sleeves and so our unmistakable Fluoro Yellow and Blue uniform was born.
After years of Under 15’s being the final year for our athletes, Queensland Little Athletics decided that from 2007/08 they would include Under 16’s and our first U16 athletes were Cindy Traves and Maddy Tolhurst.
Around 08/09 season we saw the change from Zones to a new Sun Coast Region. This change increased the number of clubs within our competition area considerably.
2009/10 saw the end of our deep fried food days, hot chips and Garlic Chicken balls were no more. Chocolate bars, potato chips and lollies were replaced by smaller serving sizes and healthier choices such as Steak Burgers with optional multi-grain bread, Nachos and corn on the cob.
With a desire for independence we moved out of the AFL clubhouse to run Friday nights from our shed in 2011/12. This was a tactical benefit for the canteen as the waft of cooked sausages and onions across the field increased sales.
Over the last few years we’ve had a remarkable increase in the number of our athletes representing Caloundra at State Relays and Championships.
Our team managers and coaches have to be commended for encouraging our athletes to be confident and to compete at Regional competitions.
We have now been at Carter Park (AFL grounds in the Winter season) for 15 years and even with the advent of the University Club our numbers have still remained high at over 200 and in 2014/15 we were heading towards 300.
After being part of CLAC for 11 years Peter Haig, took on the reins of Centre Manager for the first time, this season.
Looking for a change we held our Presentation night at Unity College Hall, many thanks went to Alan Moore for arranging this venue, the evening was a huge success.
Our shed was freshened up on the outside with a coat of Blue paint and after a hard day’s work from the Clues, Reitsma‘s and other CLAC families, the termite destroyed trusses were replaced with safe new termite proof ones.
In 2015/16, Cam Cashin became centre manager and once again we took on the hosting duties running a very successful Regional Championships despite the rain and the overflowing nearby water tank which converted our Long Jump pit into a temporary swimming pool. The canteen volunteers headed by Kate Maoate kept everyone well fed and made a huge profit for our club.
Keith Heness, our Javelin and walks coach and official and the backbone of our club with over 50 years of support for athletics, 32 at Caloundra, was recognised at LAQ conference receiving the LAQ Distinguished Merit Award. Jess Haig ex-club captain and now a CLAC coach was honoured with the LAQ CAPS Award.
16/17, we saw the very successful introduction of Age Managers for each group! A new Skills development program was introduced with a few teething problems and finally we secured a $7500 Grant to purchase new and safer collapsible Hurdles.
Numbers were a little down at 226 in the 17/18 season. It was a particularly wet season, several nights and our Pentathlon were cancelled.
We still had some amazing achievements, thanks in part, to our focus on athlete training, many thanks to Chris Brearley and to our Age Manager coaching development focus through LAQ's ITC program.
The Under 11 Boys won and set the 4 x 100m LAQ State record. Amelita Case had a fantastic year with a State record and selection in the LAQ State Team to represent Queensland at the National Championships. Not letting Caloundra Little A's down she came back from the meet with a second in the 80m and 200m Hurdles both PB's and was part of the 4 x 100m winning relay team.
We said goodbye to several of our long term committee families, including the Clues and the Moores but next season we will see 6 new committee faces excited to take on the challenge and be a part of CLAC committee.
18/19 season numbers were consistent at 230. Presentation was held at the Caloundra RSL.
Amelita Case had another brilliant year being selected for the ALA AIS Camp our first athlete to receive this honour.
What an off season!!
Training started in early August. Shane Tofful; Kathy Stroud; Marc Niehus and several other committee worked hard to; bring Tartan Run Ups for our LJ/TJ; a renovated canteen/club house; new Hurdles; improved LJ/TJ field lighting and more...
We could not have predicted our 19/20 season.
When the council decommissioned our field lighting in October, Caloundra family’s response was simply overwhelming. Everyone worked together and with the new 4.30pm start we were able to complete competition by nightfall.
Our new LJ/TJ pits were officially opened by Life Member Keith Heness and will be lengthened slightly to accommodate the older/open athletes in the future.
Thanks to the efforts of Shane Tofful & Kathy Stroud our perpetual trophies and other historical items were finally displayed with pride in our new clubhouse.
Long term committee members, Chris Case and Jenny Haig were presented with Life Membership.
Our equipment shed was named the ' Keith Heness Pavilion' in honour of a man who has given so much to CLAC club. Keith was further recognised this season for his contribution to our Suncoast region with a Suncoast Legends Award.
Commonwealth games athlete, Matthew Denny, inspired us with his talk of Olympics preparation and athletes & parents enjoyed the impromptu Shot Put coaching session.
Disappointingly, rain in the early months of 2020 postponed Regional relays an unprecedented two times and when we finally had a regional team, COVID-19 caused the cancellation of LAQ State Championships.
The first season began in 1984/85 at the Caloundra State Primary School on Saturday mornings. The first year’s registrations totalled 249 children.
The second season, 1985/86, Caloundra hosted the Zone Intercentre Games at Caloundra High School oval.
In its third year of operation, the club relocated to Caloundra High School for Saturday morning competition days.
They remained there until 1994/95 where it was decided to relocate to Kawana Sports Complex on Friday night. That year the registrations again soared to 250 and the club hosted the Zone Intercentre Games.
In 1995/96, the club returned to Caloundra State High School for Saturday morning competitions.
In 1997/98, the club was forced to move to Saturday afternoon & numbers dropped to only 26 registered children.
In 1998/99, a committed and conscientious committee decided the club needed to change the venue and compete on Friday nights to increase the registration numbers. After much discussion and negotiation, Caloundra Branch Little Athletics moved to Caloundra Rugby League Grounds, Gregory Street, Golden Beach and competed on Friday nights. The plan was to compete temporarily on the undersized main field until the second oval could be developed into a 400m track. The move was successful and the registrations increased to 130 children
Registrations continued to rise, with over 240 children registered in the 2000/2001 season. It was obvious that we needed more room and a proper sized 400m athletic track. The committee formed a sub-committee to investigate options available to the club. Various alternatives were investigated and eventually the committee decided to relocate to the AFL grounds. The AFL grounds provided us with room to operate more field events and enough area for a surveyor certified 400m athletic track.
Gary Nalder’s first year as Centre Manager in 2005/06 was a huge one for our club as we hosted not only our annual Carnival and Pentathlon but also the Zone Relays and Zone Inter-centre Games. All three events were extremely successful and the feedback from other clubs was that, ‘they were amazed by the huge volunteer support base’, that we had at our club. Also, that year Queensland Little Athletics altered its sun safe policy and insisted all uniforms have collars and sleeves and so our unmistakable Fluoro Yellow and Blue uniform was born.
After years of Under 15’s being the final year for our athletes, Queensland Little Athletics decided that from 2007/08 they would include Under 16’s and our first U16 athletes were Cindy Traves and Maddy Tolhurst.
Around 08/09 season we saw the change from Zones to a new Sun Coast Region. This change increased the number of clubs within our competition area considerably.
2009/10 saw the end of our deep fried food days, hot chips and Garlic Chicken balls were no more. Chocolate bars, potato chips and lollies were replaced by smaller serving sizes and healthier choices such as Steak Burgers with optional multi-grain bread, Nachos and corn on the cob.
With a desire for independence we moved out of the AFL clubhouse to run Friday nights from our shed in 2011/12. This was a tactical benefit for the canteen as the waft of cooked sausages and onions across the field increased sales.
Over the last few years we’ve had a remarkable increase in the number of our athletes representing Caloundra at State Relays and Championships.
Our team managers and coaches have to be commended for encouraging our athletes to be confident and to compete at Regional competitions.
We have now been at Carter Park (AFL grounds in the Winter season) for 15 years and even with the advent of the University Club our numbers have still remained high at over 200 and in 2014/15 we were heading towards 300.
After being part of CLAC for 11 years Peter Haig, took on the reins of Centre Manager for the first time, this season.
Looking for a change we held our Presentation night at Unity College Hall, many thanks went to Alan Moore for arranging this venue, the evening was a huge success.
Our shed was freshened up on the outside with a coat of Blue paint and after a hard day’s work from the Clues, Reitsma‘s and other CLAC families, the termite destroyed trusses were replaced with safe new termite proof ones.
In 2015/16, Cam Cashin became centre manager and once again we took on the hosting duties running a very successful Regional Championships despite the rain and the overflowing nearby water tank which converted our Long Jump pit into a temporary swimming pool. The canteen volunteers headed by Kate Maoate kept everyone well fed and made a huge profit for our club.
Keith Heness, our Javelin and walks coach and official and the backbone of our club with over 50 years of support for athletics, 32 at Caloundra, was recognised at LAQ conference receiving the LAQ Distinguished Merit Award. Jess Haig ex-club captain and now a CLAC coach was honoured with the LAQ CAPS Award.
16/17, we saw the very successful introduction of Age Managers for each group! A new Skills development program was introduced with a few teething problems and finally we secured a $7500 Grant to purchase new and safer collapsible Hurdles.
Numbers were a little down at 226 in the 17/18 season. It was a particularly wet season, several nights and our Pentathlon were cancelled.
We still had some amazing achievements, thanks in part, to our focus on athlete training, many thanks to Chris Brearley and to our Age Manager coaching development focus through LAQ's ITC program.
The Under 11 Boys won and set the 4 x 100m LAQ State record. Amelita Case had a fantastic year with a State record and selection in the LAQ State Team to represent Queensland at the National Championships. Not letting Caloundra Little A's down she came back from the meet with a second in the 80m and 200m Hurdles both PB's and was part of the 4 x 100m winning relay team.
We said goodbye to several of our long term committee families, including the Clues and the Moores but next season we will see 6 new committee faces excited to take on the challenge and be a part of CLAC committee.
18/19 season numbers were consistent at 230. Presentation was held at the Caloundra RSL.
Amelita Case had another brilliant year being selected for the ALA AIS Camp our first athlete to receive this honour.
What an off season!!
Training started in early August. Shane Tofful; Kathy Stroud; Marc Niehus and several other committee worked hard to; bring Tartan Run Ups for our LJ/TJ; a renovated canteen/club house; new Hurdles; improved LJ/TJ field lighting and more...
We could not have predicted our 19/20 season.
When the council decommissioned our field lighting in October, Caloundra family’s response was simply overwhelming. Everyone worked together and with the new 4.30pm start we were able to complete competition by nightfall.
Our new LJ/TJ pits were officially opened by Life Member Keith Heness and will be lengthened slightly to accommodate the older/open athletes in the future.
Thanks to the efforts of Shane Tofful & Kathy Stroud our perpetual trophies and other historical items were finally displayed with pride in our new clubhouse.
Long term committee members, Chris Case and Jenny Haig were presented with Life Membership.
Our equipment shed was named the ' Keith Heness Pavilion' in honour of a man who has given so much to CLAC club. Keith was further recognised this season for his contribution to our Suncoast region with a Suncoast Legends Award.
Commonwealth games athlete, Matthew Denny, inspired us with his talk of Olympics preparation and athletes & parents enjoyed the impromptu Shot Put coaching session.
Disappointingly, rain in the early months of 2020 postponed Regional relays an unprecedented two times and when we finally had a regional team, COVID-19 caused the cancellation of LAQ State Championships.