Welcome to the first Cairns Athletics Newsletter of 2006.

After a very successful Bendigo Bank Carnival this weekend we would like to thank everyone for their help, and the athletes for competing. A great weekend was had by all, and lots of athletes went home with medals and most importantly smiles on faces, as PB’s and records were smashed.

The lucky schools to win the $500 Nordic Australia Sporting Vouchers were 1-199 students Palmerston East, 200-499 students Yorkey’s Knob Primary and 500 & over students St Theresa’s Edmonton. Congratulations to those schools & the athletes competing for them.

The weekend also saw a very successful training course in Photo Finish, where four members of our club learnt how to use the technology correctly, which will come in handy for club as well as carnivals.

The next training course is THIS weekend 27^th & 28^th May, which is an officials course, so if you are interested in learning more about athletics, this is the course to do, it is not difficult, but most rewarding, and only a cost of $10 (which includes lunch each day). Call Jean 40546854a/h.

Also available, and we are looking for more people to be trained in this, is the MEET MANAGER course. Meet Manager is the program we use to run carnivals, and currently we have only one person within the club proficient in using it. The course is only $10, including lunch each day & is on the weekend of 3^rd & 4^th of June. Please call Jean on 40546854 a/h to secure your place.

With one carnival just over, we now immerse ourselves into another!

CORAL COAST TRACK & FIELD is only 5 weeks away. This is an ANQ sanctioned carnival hosted by Cairns Athletics, open to all registered athletes from 4 years to Veterans from national & international clubs. It includes the 300m dash for cash, which is a very exciting event to watch. Get your nominations from your year book, your calendar or at meets. As this is an ANQ event, children will compete in the age groups as at the 31/12/06, athletes born Oct, Nov Dec will be competing against children they would normally compete against at school.

THIS WEEKEND – CLUB IS ON SUNDAY 28^TH MAY (the calendar says Friday)

We are joining Marlin Coast at 9am, Smithfield High School, which is visible from the main highway traveling north past the Uni, on the right hand side.

Please come along, as we were unable to secure Barlow Park due to the soccer.

NEXT WEEKEND – CLUB IS ON SUNDAY 4^TH JUNE.

We are joining Mulgrave Club, at Johnson Park, Gordonvale at 12.30pm.

Relay for life is on, so we were again unable to secure Barlow Park.

The next time we are at Barlow Park will be Friday, 9^th of June, but we do hope that you can join us at these other venues, as both Marlin Coast & Mulgrave support our club, it makes for a fun day out.

Thank you for your patience and support and we look forward to seeing you all on Sunday.