Registration with the Centre will be open to children who are between the ages of 3 as at the 1st October and 16 years of age as at midnight 30th September in the year of registration.
Proof of age MUST be produced to be eligible for registration. If you are unable to produce your proof of age on the registration day you will be allowed to trial for 2 (two) weeks only.

Once registered the Registrar will issue:
• A registration number
• An age number
• A Centre Handbook (One per family)
• An Association sticker book (to record performance)
The registration number is to be fixed to the front of the Centre uniform.
The age number is be fixed on the left hand side of the Centre uniform.
The following charge will apply if either are lost and have to be re-issued:
• $5.00 Registration numbers.
• $2.00 Age Numbers
Official age groups for the current season are from Tiny Tots to Under 17’s.

Centre Uniforms
Centre Uniform is to be worn each Friday night with the Registration number and the IGA patch clearly displayed on the left hand side of the singlet, The Age patch must be displayed on the left hand side on the shorts or bike pants. Plain Maroon Shorts must be worn.
Plain MAROON Bike pants or Lycra tights is also permitted.Trackpants may be worn at the discretion of the Championship Officer(s). eg. Trackpants cannot be worn in the walk and at any Official Carnivals.

Centre Competitions
Full Centre Uniform is compulsory.
Footwear is compulsory in all Track and Field events.
Spiked shoes can only be worn by athletes from under 9 and above for Laned events, High Jump, Long Jump and Triple Jump.
Maximum Length of Spikes.
Synthetic Track 5/7mm
High/ Long/ Triple 9mm
On Grass 12mm.

Centre Championships
A child must have competed regularly at Centre Competition Nights from the time of their registration in selected events to qualify for Centre Championship Registration.
In the case of Centre to Centre transfers Championships Officer(s) will contact the other Centre for confirmation of results.
In the case of proven sickness which causes an athlete to miss competition, the Championship Officer(s) will decide on eligibility.
a) POINTSCORE
Points are awarded to athletes on Centre Championships day to determine the Centre Champion and Age Champions. These points are allocated by the Championships Officer(s).
b) NUMBER OF EVENTS PER AGE GROUPS
U6’s to U8’s 4 Events Junior
U9’s to U12’s 5 Events Intermediate
U13’s to U15’s 7 Events Senior
U16’s to U17’s 7 Events Senior
c) WHEN IS AN EVENT DEEMED TO BE COMPLETED
Championship Events will be as per Set Program for that year. Events will be held on a particular day or evening as programmed by the Championship Officer(s), and deemed completed at the end of that programmed event.

Selection for
a)RELAYS
The Championship Officer(s) and Coaches will invite athletes to trial ability/availability to enter Relays. Track and Field teams to be selected to best represent the Centre. All selected athletes are expected to attend Training / Coaching Sessions regularly.
b) ZONE
Athletes will be asked to nominate their best events in order of preference. The Championship Committee will then select the four athletes to best represent the Centre in each event. The Athlete should have competed in and have a recorded performance in any event they nominate for. The Athlete, if selected is expected to be available to compete at Region and State Championships.Optional Carnivals
a) GALA DAYS ETC
Parents may nominate their children and such nominations may be sent through the Championships officers. This includes Gala Days, Trans Tasman,Cross Country Event and Road Walks.
b) MULTI EVENTS
Multi Events nominations must go through the Championship Officer(s).

Rules of Competition at the Centre will be as set by the Little Athletics Association.

a) EVENTS
The events of competition will be set by the Championships Officer(s), adopting the Associations recommended events per age group. This program will follow a two week pattern, and may contain extra events, eg fun events, to provide an interesting program for all athletes.
b) DISCIPLINE
Any child misbehaving in their age group may be disciplined by their Age Manager. For the age groups Tiny Tots to Under 12’s two warnings with time out in the Committee Room. This may proceed to disqualification from competition for the night. For the Under 13’s to 17’s it will be one warning with time out in the Committee Room then disqualification from competition for the night. For major or uncontrollable misbehaviour, the child will receive one warning then disciplinary action will follow. Any disputes arising from the disciplining of children will be handled firstly by the Championship Officer(s), but may be referred by them to the full DLAC Committee if needed.

Centre Representatives
Children who are selected to represent the Centre at representative carnivals will receive notification as the event approaches.
• All competitors must compete in full Centre uniform. Singlets must be tucked in whilst competing.
• The Doonside Centre Number 140 must be worn on the back of the uniform at representative carnivals. These will be given out as required.
• Footwear must be worn in all track and field events. All spike shoes must be put on immediately before an event, and removed on the finish line. No spike shoes can be worn outside the track.
• On arrival to the ground all competitors must report to the Centre Manager for the carnival to have their name recorded.
• Each event is called only twice. When your event is called, please proceed to the designated marshalling area.
• After completing a track event, you must stay in your lane until place judging is completed. Failure to do so can lead to disqualification.

At field events athletes will be collected by the Clash Manager of the Carnival and then taken to their track event. Once the track event is completed they must proceed straight back to their field event, once they have left the recording area.

Point Score
This is a week by week comparison of each age group athletes ability and effort during the season. It is used for end of season awards. It is not used to select athletes for competition in representative carnivals.
a) Points are only awarded on events completed by each athlete on competition nights at DLAC.
b) Total points each week for athletes are added to previous points, so making regular attendance an important part of the pointscore system.
Grading
Grading is done by the Centre Championships Officer(s).
From the first competition night, each athletes performance (time and distances) is recorded on the Little Athletics Computer System. This is used for:
• The next competition night, where athletes are placed into heats according to their placings.
This allows athletes of the same ability to compete together.
• When selections are made for representative carnivals. The results are used as the selection criteria.
Athletes are given a sheet of tickets which indicates their performance from the previous week. These may be placed in the sticker books given out at registration.
Eligibility and conditions for Zone, Regional and State Championships
The West Metropolitan Zone Championships are to be held on Friday 6th February, Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th February 2009 at Blacktown Olympic Park. The Zone Championships is open to children in the Under 7 to Under 17 age groups.
Any children who wish to nominate for these Championships should complete the required form and return to the Championships Officer, Donna Dhu, on or before Friday November 27th 2007. The final team for the Championship will be announced before the Christmas break.
Children may only compete in up to 4 events and the club can only enter 4 children in each event. The exception is the U13-U17s where the club can enter any number of children per event.
Children who have the best time or distance for an event will be given preference in selecting the team for that event.
Remember: The child can nominate for as many events as they wish, but they can only be selected in a maximum of 4 events. Please don’t enter if you are NOT able to attend on the weekend mentioned above.
The under 7’s stop at the Zone level,where they receive medals for 1st, 2nd & 3rd place in the finals.
Children in the other age groups that gain a 1st to 4th place in a final then progress to Regional Championships to be held on Friday 20th February, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22th February 2009 at Blacktown Olympic Park..The under 8’s stop at the Regional level, they and all other competitors receive medals for 1st, 2nd & 3rd place in the finals.
Children in the other age groups that gain 1st to 4th place in a final then progress to State Track & Field Championships to be held on Friday 20th March, Saturday 21st March and Sunday 22nd March 2009 at Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush

Important: IF you believe your child is capable of progressing to the Regional and State levels please keep the WEEKENDS mentioned above FREE.
Awards

The Centre offers Awards as a form of encouragement to the athletes.
Any athlete winning a Major Award is generally not considered for a Minor Award. This is to allow other Athletes to receive Minor Awards. (with the exception of the Age Managers Award and 100% Attendance).
Below is a list of Centre Trophies that can be obtained by an Athlete of DLAC.
• Major Pointscore Champion
• Pointscore Age Champion
• Pointscore Age Champion Runner up
• Encouragement Award
• 100% Attendance
• Merit Award
• Most Improved Athlete
• Centre Age Champion
• Five Year Award
• David Paabo - 400m Best Athlete
• Ten Year Award
• U15’s Encouragement Trophy
• New Record Certificates
Details of requirements for these awards are found in the DLAC By-Laws.

Athletic Records

Two sets of records are kept by the Centre, these being:

1. Centre Records
These records may only be set, equalled or broken on Centre Championships Day.
New records will be recognised when:
•Track events:- at least two official watches are used to take the winning times. If the times differ, the slower of the times will be accepted as the official time.
•Field events: the winning distance or height has been sighted by the Referee and verified correct.
2. Best Ever Records
These may be set, equalled or broken at any ground, but only at the following carnivals:
•Centre Championships, where the performance is also a Centre Record
•Zone, Regional, Multi, State and National Championships, where a competitor has recorded a time or distance.
In each case the performance must be verified by the Centre Championships Officer(s).
Only published results will be used.
Trophies are awarded at the end of the season at our Presentation Day, for those athletes who have shown regular attendance (at least 60%) and for other achievements throughout the season.