Portarlington Cricket Club backs new athletics event

THE Portarlington Cricket Club is trading bats for starting blocks as it prepares to host the town’s brand-new athletics event, the Portarlington Gift, in January.

The event is a fresh addition to the Victorian Athletics League calendar and will run at Portarlington Recreation Reserve, widely considered as one of the best grounds in the region.

Club president, Tom Dewey, said the carnival has been two years in the making and arrives at an ideal moment, with major facility upgrades recently completed.

“It seems like it’s all come together nicely this year now that we’ve had the time to plan it all and tap into a few local businesses to help out.

“It looks like it’s going to be a good goer for the town.”

Dewey said the carnival would be a great showcase for the club at a time when athletics is booming.

“The community can come down and see firstly, the facilities we have, and secondly, that we’re interested in contributing to the community,” he said.

“Athletics is flying at the moment with the popularity of people like Gout Gout and Jess Hull, so we figured we may as well try and get something going that can go for years to come.

“We have a weekend off cricket; we figured what better way to use that ground that’s probably the best in the league.”

With the event landing on the first weekend of 2026, Dewey said the Bellarine community would also benefit from the crowd it is expected to draw.

“Being around early January, the caravan park is full and bringing down 300 athletes plus support staff and people from out of town that would be interested, you figure you might bring people into the town that wouldn’t usually be there,” he said “It should be really good for the community.”

Dewey also thanked carnival co-ordinator Peter Emerson for his efforts in preparing the inaugural event.

“Everyone talks about the Stawell Gift and how great that is and then even the Ballarat Gift, which Peter’s heavily involved in,” Dewey said.

“Peter’s been the driving force behind it and the amount of work that he’s been putting into it… without his help and knowledge this probably wouldn’t have gotten off the ground.”

For more information on the event, head to val.org.au/portarlington