Parental Obligations
If you are after a sport on Saturday morning where you can drop the kids, go shopping and pick them up again at lunch time then little athletics is not for you.
The parental obligation cannot be over emphasised. It is not permitted to leave children at a competition, training or recreational occasion without them having a designated adult in attendance. Parents are requested to comply with this notice. Past instances have seen children left at meetings that have been rained out or injured children without a parent to comfort them.
Sun Smart Policy
Medical Information
St Johns First Aid attend our weekly and representative competitions.
Read more on our policies around medical care here.
Code of Conduct
Our Code of Conduct can be found here.
Parenting is Your Responsibility
We encourage parents to participate as helpers at competition meetings and training sessions. Being involved will assist you to develop a greater understanding of the rules, event techniques and code of conduct. Parents are required to assist with the running of the Centre and competiton. Without parental assistance competition will not be able to take place.
Child Protection
The Child Protection policy used is based on that provided by Little Athletics N.S.W.
Photography of Children
Taking photographs of children other than your own without the authorisation of the parents is forbidden. Unfortunately this is the world we live in today. Though it may seem extreme it is the law. Please do not be offended if approached by a committee member we are protecting both you and the children.
Guidelines for the Sports Parent/Guardian
The Manly Warringah Centre is widely recognised for providing a sporting environment where each young athlete is assisted to develop their full potential. In providing this environment, we recognise that every young athlete is different, as are reasons for competing on Saturday mornings. Some are highly competitive always wanting to improve their performance whilst others just want to have fun and enjoy sporting activities without competition. Little Athletics can meet the needs of these two widely different groups of athletes and anyone in between.
However to meet the need of the young athletes, their parents must play a supportive role. Unfortunately some parents misunderstand the role they should play and fail to recognise why their children want to participate in athletics. The most common problem we encounter is the parent who always wants their child to win which unfortunately places undue pressure on the child.
Parents / Guardians should read and adopt the following guidelines and remember that Little Athletics should always be fun, both for the athlete and the supportive parent.
Do's:
- Treat the child the same, irrespective of winning and losing.
- Look relaxed, calm and positive on the sidelines.
- Make friends with other parents at competitions.
- Be an understanding listener rather than a critic, judge or fixer.
- Let the child know your love is not related to sporting performance.
- Occasionally let your child compete without you being there – don’t hover.
Don'ts:
- Take the credit by saying things like “we’re competing today”.
- Become pushy or believe you are indispensable.
- Make enemies of your child’s opponents or family.
- Make them feel guilty by reminding them of your sacrifices.
- Compare their performance to those of other children.
- Badger, harass or use sarcasm to motivate.
Extracted from Being an Athlete Parent by Jeffrey Bond
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