Waverley Little Athletics Centre Inc.

Waverley Little Athletics Centre Inc. was formed on the 12th November 1968. 

The Centre structure was originally made up of several affiliated Clubs, most attached to the local schools in the Waverley area. Athletes paid a small one off registration fee that was paid upfront upon registration, with an additional 10 cent fee paid per athlete per attendance. 

Clubs had their own Committees, made up of a President, Secretary, Treasurer, Registrar, Team Manager and Committee Members. It was up to individual Club Team Managers to organise their Clubs athletes and supply officials on a weekly basis. Failure to do so would result in penalty points or a levy/fee. Clubs used to marshal in groups around the hill closest to the South Football Oval. 

The original Waverley Centre uniform, that was worn at meets outside the Centre, was a blue t-shirt with the number 34 imprinted in white. 

Original Clubs that made up the Waverley Centre were:

• Essex Heights
• Glen Heights
• Glen Waverley
• Holy Family
• Mt. Waverley
• Panthers
• St. Christophers
• St. Leonards
• Syndal
• Syndal North
• Syndal South
• Waverley North

At the Formation Meeting, there was mention of approximately 16 Clubs that would make up the Centre, however those additional clubs were not formed. The Panthers Club was made up of several smaller schools that could not establish a Club of their own. 

During the 1972/73 season, Syndal South Club becomes the Syndal South/Bayview Club. The Club colours were as follows:

In 1975/76, the Syndal South/Bayview club becomes Notting Hill Club with a Blue and White Club uniform. 

In 1977/78, the St. Christophers Club becomes the first Club to fold. It is unknown which Club their athletes merged with.

In 1980/81, the Syndal North and Waverley North Clubs merge, becoming the Syndal/Waverley North Club.

In 1983/84, the Essex Heights Club folds and merges with the Mount Waverley Club.

In 1986/87, the Syndal Club folds and it is assumed that their athletes merge with the Syndal/Waverley North Club.

In 1988/89, the Club structure was abolished by the Centre Executive which only passed by one vote. Centre President Len Crossley led the revolutionary restructure, which was a significant change at the time. The change was recognised by the LAVic Board and eventually adopted by other Centres. The Centre then comprised of 4 teams, based on the local areas within Waverley, in which athletes could choose to be part of. The teams were:

• Glen Waverley
• Mt. Waverley
• Panthers
• Syndal/Notting Hill

When Doug Kerr took over as Centre President at an Extraordinary General Meeting in 1993, he restructured the Centre Committee and made some significant changes to the out-dated Centre, to ensure the survival of Waverley. One of these changes was restructuring the Centre teams, giving them a fresh new look. The team names were based on the names on popular animals/colours rather than local areas. Southern Stars was also introduced for athletes in the U13-U15 age groups.

They became:

The 2008/09 Committee abolished the Team structure, based on a paper presented by Lindsay Harrison, due to an uneven balance between the teams and the extra administrative workload involved. Since then, the Centre has been run without any associated team structure, with all athletes participating in the Red, White and Black Waverley uniform. 

Only a small number of Clubs associated with the Waverley Centre survived from 1968 until 1988. Some folded, some merged, but the larger and stronger Clubs remained viable throughout the 20 years of their existence. Panthers was the only original Club name that remained a Team name until Teams were abolished in 2008/09.

Below is a list of Club Presidents (from 1968/88) and a list of Team Managers (from 1988/08), which is a work in progress.

If you have any information, please contact Dylan Cooper - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Club Presidents

Team Managers (1988/1993)

Team Managers (1993/2007)

Administration Managers (2007/08)

*Deceased

Last Updated: 30/12/2020 15:06:33