Annual athletics event expands

THE callout for the region’s athletic elite will soon be answered with the return of the Ballarat Gift next weekend.

Running on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 February at City Oval, Ballarat Gift committee vice-president Daniel Martin said the event is being expanded with new additions.

“For the Ballarat Gift, there’s a lot of changes this year,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot more food and vans this year set up and we’ve got a market this year which is really new with about 15 to 20 stalls over both days.”

“We’ve got some major raffles running too so it’ll be great for people to get out and support it, and we’ve made it free entry this year. People can just walk in and enjoy the day.”

The athletics carnival will feature more than 20 running and sprinting events with more than $20,000 in prize money available to contestants.

Martin said the Ballarat Gift’s football and netball club component, introduced last year and open to members of the region’s sporting teams, is also being expanded.

“Last year we had a football relay but we really want to get the girls involved so for any men or women that play football or netball, we want to make this separate and grassroots,” he said.

“We trialled it last year with three or four teams. I can’t recall if there were any women then so the aim is to make this more inclusive and to highlight some of the skills out there.

“We’re hoping for 16 competitors so we could have two heaps of eight and then into a final. We’ve got about eight of each so far but we’ve only just started promoting.”

Entrants must be over 18 years old to compete in either the men’s or women’s 100 metre sprint with cash prizes including $1000 and $500 available for individual winners and their club respectively.

Many of the events closed to applicants on Friday last week but Martin said the Ballarat Football and Netball Gift will remain open for entrants until Thursday 8 February.

To enter, contact Mr Martin on 0428 892 716 or register at bit.ly/3u9u7gv.