By JAMIE STRUDLEY
ARE you interested in participating in athletics?
Are you between five and 105.
Yarra Ranges Athletics is affiliated with Athletics Victoria Little Athletics Victoria.
The club holds weekly competitions throughout the summer from October to March for the Little Athletics members, with many progressing to region or state championships.
The senior athletes 14 years and up compete in the White Zone of the Athletics Victoria (AV) Shield.
The AV Shield is a social, graded interclub competition held at various venues throughout the Eastern suburbs, predominantly at Ringwood, Nunawading and this year the Yarra Ranges (Mount Evelyn) venue.
There are 10 rounds of the competition running from mid-October to the end of January 2016.
Each round has a pre-determined range of events with all events offered over a 2 round schedule.
Some events in each round and the Shield calendar for 2015-’16 include:
Program 1 events:
Included are 200m, 800m, 3000m or 5000m, 200m hurdles or 300m hurdles or 400m hurdles, 1500m walk or 3000m walk, 4x200m relay or 4x400m relay; high jump, triple jump, shot put, hammer throw
Program 2 events:
Included are 100m, 400m, 1500m, 2000m steeple or 3000m steeple, 90m hurdles or 100m hurdles or 110m hurdles, 2000m walk or 3000m walk or 5000m walk, 4x100m relay; pole vault, long jump, discus, javelin.
The great thing about AV Shield is the events are all graded based on ability.
This means each athlete competes against athletes of similar ability in whichever event they chose to compete in.
There is no limit to the number of events an athlete can compete in, nor a minimum (if you want to compete in just one or compete in all the events, it’s up to each athlete.
The other great thing is the competition is also a team competition.
Each event an athlete competes in generates points for the team based on the performance of the athlete in their grade.
Yarra Ranges Athletics enters men’s and women’s teams in all grades, which are Under 14s, 16s, 18s, 20s, Open and 40+.
The age group is based on your age as at 31 December 2015.
Email av@yarrarangesathletics.org.au if you have any questions or would like help registering.
