Aspiring athletes arrive in Invercargill

Aspiring athletes arrive in Invercargill

More than 800 Kiwi kids are taking their marks in Invercargill this weekend for New Zealand’s preeminent children’s athletics competition - the Colgate Games.

This year 53 clubs around the South Island have enrolled teams, with Invercargill’s St Pauls Harrier Athletics Club topping the list with 83 children signed up to compete.

Colgate Games South Island Chair Sue Wilson says shot put and high jump are the hot favourites for 2017.

“The Rio Olympics has really inspired the kids with more than half giving a new sport a try this year.

“The children are looking to the success of people like Eliza McCartney and realising it’s never too late – or too early to try something new,” Sue Wilson says.

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 Invercargill have also competed over the years. It’s a real Kiwi institution and rite of passage for emerging athletics talent,” John Garside says.

The 2017 South Island Colgate Games

Dates: 13 - 15 January 2017
Location: Surrey Park Athletic Track
Contact: Sarah Austen-Smith 0224256815

Media are welcome to attend

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