Little Athletics finale Friday night in Parow
Pics courtesy of Rashied Isaacs
WPA hosts its final Little Athletics event on Friday the 1st December 2017, at the Parow Athletics Stadium.
The event, dubbed, Friday Night Lights, starts at 7pm and promises to be the culmination of an exciting series where WPA identified certain athletes throughout the series who received personal invites to compete in the series finale.
The event is once again an open event in which all athletes born between 2004 and 2009 can participate and for track, the top 8 performances per event will compete together as the “main race”.
The nature of Little Athletics encourages parents to be involved in the sport. Since its inception, it has grown in popularity amongst clubs and communities and has become a constant growing initiative.
WPA Head of Development, Michael Schouw said: “As the Minister in the Presidency Responsible for Women, Susan Shabangu, said at the launch of 16 days of activism on the 25 November 2017, this year we have witnessed the worst and most shocking incidents of violence against women and children.
“We, as the custodians of athletics in the region, are going to all communities, encouraging parents to support their children, while we seek to identify even more talented athletes at a young age, so that we can nurture and guide youngsters.”
WPA Little athletics is an initiative which introduces children between the ages of 8 and 13 to track and field activities. Athletes are able to develop the skills of running, jumping, and throwing to facilitate their transition to the next level.
“Schools, which are meant to be safe havens for children, are now high-risk areas for them to be abused by teachers and caretakers. This development programme is not a competition which is results driven, it’s merely an idea to enhance exposure and give an opportunity for kids that don’t get enough opportunities outside of little athletics, to participate in athletics with the full support of their parents,” added Schouw.
The ultimate aim of the programme is to contribute towards the development and transformation of Society, through the Development of Athletics from Grassroots to the highest levels of Excellence and that all children, from all areas, feel welcome to actively participate.
“We have taken Street Athletics to all communities in the City of Cape Town, now with Little Athletics, we are demonstrating how committed we are to finding and nurturing young talent in the Western Cape.”
For more information contact WPA Development Officer, Ricardo Jaftha at youth@wpathletics.co.za
