State March some 30+ years ago!
Way back in 1964, in the Victorian town of Geelong, the first club for children's athletics was formed, and in 1967 the Victorian Little Athletics Association was established.
Meanwhile in Sydney, a group of local Eastern Suburbs and Botany residents saw the same value in track and field for children. Their vision paid off on a fine, sunny Saturday morning in December 1968, when hundreds of young athletes turned out at the Pagewood athletics field, marking the birth of the first Little Athletics club in NSW.
Named after the existing senior club, "Randwick-Botany," the club took its official name, the Randwick Botany Little Athletics Centre, when the NSW State Association formed in 1970. That Association brought together clubs including Eastern Suburbs, Sutherland, Hornsby, Blacktown and Manly in the city, along with Deniliquin and Murrumbidgee in the country.
As the first club in NSW, Randwick Botany was given the honour of wearing centre number one on its competition uniform, a distinction it still holds today.
The driving force behind the club's formation was Mr C.D. "Chic" Hensley, in whose honour the athletics field was named the C.D. Hensley Athletics Field. In 1972, Chic was awarded Life Membership of the NSW Little Athletics Association, an honour since shared by three other prominent Randwick Botany committee members: Dick Corish, Jack Freeman and Jack McCarthy.
The club has also been recognised with the LAA Merit Award, Little Athletics' second-highest honour, presented to Carmen Jones, and Judy and Tony Vecellio.
Pictured: Tony Vecellio (dressed as an eagle) and Judy Vecellio at the State March, over 30 years ago.
On average, 300 to 500 children register each season, our lowest was around 280, our highest 778.
Today, Tony's son Anthony leads the club as President. Randwick Botany continues to perform strongly at state and national level, while staying true to our roots: participation for every little athlete. We celebrate every personal best, no matter the distance, height or time, because that's how kids learn to love the sport of athletics.
