Large squad of young athletes

A squad of 39 talented young athletes will be representing Wakatipu at the South Island Colgate Games this weekend - almost half of the Remarkable Runners junior athletics section.

Remarkable Runners junior section administrator Jo Tickner said many of the club's young athletes would have a good chance at the annual athletics event - which this year has also attracted 75 North Island competitors.

Mrs Tickner said the number reflected the popularity of athletics in the area - the club has about 90 junior participants and is the biggest athletics club in the Southland region.

"The main summer sports are cricket and swimming but athletics can just fit in."

Upon arriving at Surrey Park in Invercargill tomorrow, the children will compete in an "Olympic-type event", where knowing and following the rules of each discipline can be as important as finishing first or throwing the furthest on the day.

"There have been disappointments in the past, when people have walked the wrong way out of the circle," Mrs Tickner said.

"But that is part of it."

However, in the build-up to the games, the children have been practising not only the skills but also the correct procedures for each event.

"The parents will stay right out of it and they [the children] will get to [organise] it themselves," she said.

The young athletes - aged between 7 and 14 - are entered in a range of disciplines, including sprints and distance running up to 1500m, hurdles, shot put, discus, high jump and long jump.

The games will also be a chance for the young athletes to try out their new club strip - donated by the Bruce Grant Youth Trust, which has made "significant donations" in the past, supplying much of the club's equipment, Mrs Tickner said.