SOUTH Australia’s oldest little athletics club, the Munno Para Little Athletics Centre (MPLAC), hosted Playford Muslim College’s sports day, and the club’s president, Russell Davies, says he is always looking for eager new members.
Mr Davies has taken a business-like approach since assuming control of the operation, and said with its 50th anniversary taking place next year, he hopes to keep moving in the right direction.
“I work in the corporate world, so we’ve put a five-year business plan in place,” he said.
“We’ve built a wonderful relationship with Playford Council, and Clint (Marsh) has been a major driver in that.
“This year we thought it would be a challenge because of COVID, but just three weeks into the season we’ve already got 105 members, compared to 128 for the whole season last year.”
MPLAC gets a healthy number of new members from the nine schools that have their sports days at the club, but that it isn’t just looking for athletes.
“We don’t see ourselves as a sporting club, it’s a community club,” he said.
“We work with all different parts of the community – we’ve got five members who have come to the club with autism so far, and we just want to make sure everyone feels like they have somewhere they belong.”
While the club is thriving, Mr Davies said a number of issues still need to be addressed as the residential population booms and more kids get involved.
“For us to grow, we’ll need a proper 400 metre running track – like the one they have at Salisbury,” he said.
“We’ve got a gravel one at the moment, which gets worn pretty easily, and the kids get hurt when they fall, so it’s not perfect.
“There’s also very little shade here at the moment, which does lead to fewer parents staying and watching and getting ingrained in the community of the club.”
Playford councillor Clint Marsh agreed with the notion that athletics are a bit neglected financially, and said nothing should be done with the available space next to the club until MPLAC can lay out its growth plan.
“This is a sport that probably gets overlooked on many funding rounds – at both the state and federal level,” he said.
“We’ve got open space right next door to (MPLAC), so before any decisions are made on what happens with that space, we need to strategically forecast growth and what has to happen with this facility.”
To find out more, visit (munnoparalac.org.au) or visit the Munno Para Little Athletics Centre Facebook page.