The group will receive a slice of $250,000 worth of funding from the Coles Little Athletics Community fund, allocated to 72 groups across the country.
A new PA system and tractor mower will be purchased with the grant, which Cohuna Little Athletics president Jodie Webb said would help volunteers deliver a fun, safe and quality program to the young athletes.
“As a smaller regional centre, we face some unique challenges, such as accessing up-to-date equipment, facility upgrades and athlete development,” she said.
“With this grant, we’ll be able to purchase equipment, which will be truly transformational for our centre.”
The upgrades will make set-ups and pack-downs more manageable and help to ensure grounds are well maintained, benefiting all involved at the centre.
With Little Athletics Australia reporting a 16 per cent jump in participation over the past year, the grant comes at a busy time.
The biggest increase was recorded in the Tiny Tots program, for three- to five-year-olds, which rose by 33 per cent.
Over the past five years, Little Athletics has grown by over 40 per cent to more than 96,000 kids, and a further 74,000 community volunteers, coaches and officials.
A significant contributor to the surge was Australia’s success at the Paris Olympics, representing the third-highest post-Olympics growth in the past 40 years.
With the Brisbane Olympics on the horizon, Coles has committed to a further three-year partnership with Little Athletics to deliver funding annually.
The supermarket is also raising funds for the sports organisation until October 21, through its annual Banana A-Peel, seeing five cents donated to Little Athletics from every kilo of Cavendish bananas purchased.
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