Eastern Suburbs

Competition Team

Competition Team

State Relays – Weekend 1 – U8’s-U12’s  

Sunday 8 November 2026 at Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre Timetable/Results Link

• Click here to see the teams . Please advise Drew ASAP if you do not want to attend drewarichardson@gmail.com
• Sunday we will have a section In the main stand with our Eastern suburbs sign at bay 10 or Bay 11 and the upper part of the stand.  We will have a representative in the stand
• If you are late let the team manager know and the team should be at the Warm up track (200m mark) 70 mins before race time for warm up change practice.  Mal will be on the warm up track all day for warm up and change practice with assistance from Drew.
• Remember the call room time for track events is 20 min before the race time and allow time to get across from the warm up track
• The team sheet has the planned running order but this may be adjusted by the coaches
• We will provide green tape for 4 by 100m marks at Warm up
• Field teams have no organised warm up, sop please warm yourselves up and go to call room 30 minutes before your event
• Drew is the team manager on the day for protests and if you can please get footage as we can use that for a protest.  You only have 30 minutes for a protest and the cost is $50 (cash only).
• Drew is contactable on 0438 989 571 but please keep calls to a minimum.
• GOOD LUCK!!

General info

• One parent from each relay team needs to volunteer as Manager for the team to coordinate the team, ensure they attend on the day, and attend Training for 100m relays
• For 4 x100m Relay teams Training options are Wed 28/10 1800-1930, Mon 2/11 1800-1930 and Wed 4/11 1800-1930.
• Team Manager to ensure the team attends 2 training sessions.
• Results from ESLAC 2026 competitions (and where applicable NSWPSSA State results) have been used in selections and the decision of the Competition Management team is final.
• ESLAC will enter all teams. As a parent all you need to do is coordinate with your team, make sure your athlete has all the correct uniform and badges, get to training and arrive with plenty of energy for the event!
• Please arrive at SOPAC 75 minutes before call time to allow for warm-up
• At the event ESLAC will provide coaches for warm up
• Draft timetable for the event

NB U8-12 athletes selected for running events cannot do Throws or Jumps relays under the event rules.
ESLAC as a large club is not eligible for 4x100m mixed events

State Relays – Weekend 2 – U13’s-U17’s

14th – 15th November at Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre

• Click here to see the teams. Please advise urgently if the athlete named is not attending. Notification to drewarichardson@gmail.com
• Any reference to TBC means you need to confirm to Drew that you are able to attend, any gaps in teams will be filled by Friday.
• Draft Timetable here. Be sure to cross check your event/s and times. It is your responsibility to attend at the correct time. The team list has been created based on the timetable available at the time and may change.
• At the event ESLAC will provide coaches for warm up, please arrive 1 hour before scheduled race time.
• Warm-up is on the warm-up track.
• One parent from each relay needs to volunteer as Manager for the team to coordinate the team and training, please advise eslac1@gmail.com if you need to nominate.
• Where teams have a TBC for throws and jumps, and you would like to field a team, please put your hand up and organise the members asap, and let Drew know.
• Training for 4x100m Relay teams sessions are Mon 9 Nov 1800-1930 and Wed 11 Nov between 1800-1930.
• Results from ESLAC 2026 competitions have been used in selections and where applicable NSW PSSA State results from October 2026 and Sept 26 NSW All Schools. The decision of the Competition Management is final.

NB Athletes that compete for other clubs (not ESLAC) at State Relays will not be eligible for ESLAC State relay record vouchers or National (PSSA, ALAC, National Juniors) ESLAC vouchers.

Representing Eastern Suburbs

Friday nights are where it starts. For athletes who want to take it further, ESLAC puts a competition team into the Zone, Regional and State championships each season, and we have been one of the strongest centres in the area at State level.

An athlete competing at any of the events on this page is representing Eastern Suburbs, and the expectation is that they compete in full Eastern Suburbs uniform, with the correct age patch and registration number, exactly as set out on the uniform page. Most of these meets also require correct club uniform as a condition of entry. If something is missing or no longer fits, sort it out before entries close rather than on the morning of the event.

How the pathway works

Little Athletics NSW runs a progression, and each step is earned at the one before it. Athletes nominate through the centre for the Zone Championships, and results there decide who goes on to the Regional Championships. From Regionals, qualifying athletes progress to the State Championships at Sydney Olympic Park, and from there to the national championships. Relay teams are a separate selection made by the centre and compete at the State Relay Championships in November.

ESLAC competes in the Inner City Zone and in Region 8. The full progression is set out on the NSW Athletics pathway page.

2026/27 championship dates

Every event above links to its NSW Athletics page. Dates, venues and times do change, and this page will not always be updated the moment they do, so please check the NSW Athletics page before you make plans or book travel. Last checked 5 October 2026.

The Zone Championships are open to the 7s to 20s, and the Regional Championships to the 8s to 20s. Our 16s and older can also be named in a senior relay team, and they enter the NSW Junior Championships directly.

The national championships

The top of the pathway is the Australian Junior Athletics Championships, for Under 14 to Under 20. Since 2026 it has run alongside the Australian Little Athletics Championships at the same venue, with ALAC covering the teams-based competition for the younger ages and the Junior Championships covering individual events from the 13s up. It was held in Brisbane in mid-April 2026. The 2027 dates and venue have not been announced yet.

There are two ways in, and the second one is the reason the rest of this page matters.

• Place in the first three in your event at the NSW Junior Championships in March. No qualifying standard is needed. This route does not apply to events over 5,000m.
• Achieve the Australian entry standard for your age group. This can be done at any permitted meet during the qualifying period, which opens well over a year before the championships. A time or a throw recorded at a Treloar Shield round or a Specialist Series meet this summer can be the one that gets an athlete there, with no need to place at State. The standards and the exact qualifying dates are in the Australian Athletics entry standards.

Entries are submitted through NSW Athletics, not direct to Australian Athletics. Team, entry and levy information goes up on the NSW Athletics Australian Junior Championships page.

One thing worth clearing up: the Australian Athletics Championships at Sydney Olympic Park on 1 – 4 April 2027 is a different competition. It is the Open championships, and the only under-age events on its program are the Under 20 combined events. Our athletes do not compete there, but it is on our doorstep if families want to watch the best in the country.

Other competitions in NSW

Zone, Region and State are not the only competitions on offer. NSW Athletics runs a series of open meets through the summer that carry a state permit, and some carry a World Athletics and Australian Athletics permit as well. A permit means the result counts: it can be used to qualify for the Australian Junior Championships, and at the World Athletics permitted meets it can count towards international selection and rankings for 15s and above.

These meets matter most to our 13s, 14s and 15s. As well as the Zone and Region route, those age groups can qualify for the NSW Junior Championships as one of the “next best 8”, and results at any state or World Athletics permit meet held in NSW between 1 October 2026 and the last Region Championship count towards it. NSW Athletics expects an athlete using that route to have competed at several of these meets, not just one.

Most of these meets start at the 10s age group, which makes them useful to a lot of our athletes, not only the oldest. Entry is made directly with NSW Athletics and closes several days beforehand, not through the centre. Check the age groups and events on each event page before entering.

NSW Athletics keeps the full, current list on its qualification and permit competitions page. More meets are usually added for January and February, so check there as the season goes on.

Competing in Canberra

A number of our members travel to Canberra to compete, and Capital Athletics welcomes athletes registered with a Little Athletics club in another state. Everything runs at Woden Park. Their Summer Series is open from age 10 (the athlete must turn 10 by 31 December) and costs $25 for an interstate athlete, and the series carries an Australian Athletics Domestic Permit.

The ACT Combined Event Championships in December is the combined events option down there. It runs for the 12s to 17s under World Athletics rules, with a separate 15s event under Little Athletics rules. Entries open on 2 November. More Summer Series meets are usually added for the new year.

Competing interstate

Athletes are welcome to compete outside NSW, but there are two things to know. First, an athlete has to be registered and has to compete under the rules, specifications and conditions of the association running that competition – those are not always the same as ours, particularly for implement weights and hurdle heights. Second, a result achieved interstate is not picked up automatically by NSW Athletics. If an athlete wants an interstate performance counted towards NSW qualification, they have to apply to NSW Athletics using the form on their website, and the meet has to carry a state or World Athletics permit. Do that at the time, not after the qualifying window closes.

Getting involved

Any registered ESLAC athlete can nominate for Zone. Nominations open during the season and are announced through the centre, so keep an eye on the website and ask at the ground on a Friday night. Athletes who want to prepare for championship season can also train outside Friday nights – see the Coaching page for what is on offer.

If you are not sure whether your athlete is ready, ask. The team is not only for the fastest – championship season is where a lot of our athletes find out what they can do.

Grants and financial assistance

Getting to a national championship costs money, and there is help available. It has to be applied for in a set window, so it is worth knowing how it works before you need it.

Local Sporting Champions – Australian Sports Commission

This is the main one. It gives competitors, coaches and officials financial assistance towards the cost of attending championships. Grants start at $500, with $100 added for travel of 800km to 1,999km, $200 for travel over 2,000km or overseas, and $50 for athletes living in a rural electorate, up to a maximum of $750.

For our families this is a nationals grant. The program will only fund a state championship if the athlete lives more than 500km from the venue and travels more than 1,000km return. Every NSW championship is well inside that radius from the Eastern Suburbs, so Zone, Region and the NSW championships are not funded. National and international championships have no minimum distance, which is why the Australian Junior Championships is the one worth applying for. A championship interstate can qualify on distance, but check the entry conditions of the association running it before counting on it.

Age is the other gate:

• Turning 14 to 18 – national championships
• Turning 15 to 18 – national or international championships
• Turning 13 to 18 – a state championship more than 500km away

An international competition only counts if the athlete is there as a member of an official Australian team.

Apply once your selection has been confirmed, through the Local Sporting Champions page on the Australian Sports Commission website.

Applying in the right round matters. Each round only covers competitions held inside a set window, and the ASC will not accept an application submitted after a round closes. Round 2 is open now and closes on 31 October 2026, but it only covers competitions held up to 28 February 2027, so it does not cover the Australian Junior Championships in April. For nationals you need the following round, which the ASC usually opens from November. Check the Local Sporting Champions page for the current round and the competitions it covers before you apply.

An athlete can only receive one grant per allocation year, which runs from 1 July 2026 to 30 April 2027. An unsuccessful application does not use up that one grant. The program is oversubscribed, so a grant is never guaranteed.

Other options

• Local Para Champions – the equivalent Australian Sports Commission program for athletes, coaches and officials aged 12 to 24 with a disability.
• Sports Excellence Scholarship Fund – for emerging athletes competing at a national championship whose families are experiencing financial hardship.
• NSW Athletics grants and scholarships page – the fuller list, which NSW Athletics updates through the season.

Most applications ask you to confirm your selection. NSW Athletics will provide a letter of support if you request one through their contact form, and they ask for at least two working days.

Latest Alerts

• 15/10/26: Series 2, last Zone sign up date and Coaching this Friday October 6th
• 08/10/26: Sprint Hurdles, Race Walks and Javelin this Friday October 9th
• 24/09/26: Week 2, Event Series 3 and Championship Points this Friday 25th of September
• 15/09/26: The 2026/27 season starts this Friday, 18 September
• 11/09/26: Extra Registration Session on Saturday the 12th of September
• 06/09/26: 1st Registration Night Monday 7th of September

View full alerts »

Contact Information

Eastern Suburbs LAC