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Hopes high for 2017 Colgate Games
Hopes high for 2017 Colgate Games
More than a thousand Kiwi kids are taking their marks in Hastings this weekend for New Zealand’s preeminent children’s athletics competition - the Colgate Games.
This year 90 clubs around the North Island have enrolled teams with high jump and long jump the hot favourites for 2017.
Colgate Games North Island Chair Sharee Jones says off the back of the Rio Olympics many children have been inspired to try new sports.
“Pole vaulting isn’t an option for children in this age group, but what we are seeing is a surge in interest for other sports like high jump and long jump.
“The Hastings Athletics Club is sending close to a hundred kids to the event.
“The energy and enthusiasm off the back of the Rio Olympics means that more children are giving athletics a go – that’s great to see,” Sharee Jones says.
The Colgate Games are being held at the Hawke’s Bay Regional Sports Park – the grounds where New Zealand Shot Put Champion Jacko Gill broke the world age group shot put distance four times.
Colgate General Manager John Garside says the event is New Zealand’s longest running children’s athletics competition with a proud history of putting future Olympians on their course.
“This year the children competing have had a huge amount of encouragement from senior athletes like Eliza McCartney, Tom Walsh and Nick Willis. The children have been training hard all summer, likely hoping to have a chance at winning one of the four Nick Willis Scholarships up for grabs this weekend.
“A lot of the parents and grandparents here in Hastings have also competed over the years. It’s a real Kiwi institution and rite of passage for emerging athletics talent,” John Garside says.
The games will continue in Invercargill from 13 – 15 January with 792 participants from 53 clubs in attendance.
The 2017 North Island Colgate Games
Dates: 6 – 8 January 2017
Location:
William Nelson Athletic Track at the Regional Sports Park,
Hastings
Contact: Tessa Donovan, 021 174 8115
The 2017 South Island Colgate Games
Dates: 13 - 15 January 2017
Location:
Surrey Park Athletic Track
Contact: Sarah Austen-Smith,
022 425 6815
Media are welcome to attend
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