A ‘Mini Athletics’ club is set to launch in Armagh in the coming weeks, to provide a range of activities for children up to the age of eight.
Sarah Loat, a primary school teacher from Banbridge, has already set up similar clubs in Newry and Gilford that have proven to be popular locally.
Faced with demand for a club in the Armagh area, Sarah will be launching her latest venture at Armagh Harps GFC on September 14, where she hopes she can build up a loyal following.
Despite balancing her busy teaching career, Sarah has taken the time to recruit a new coach for Armagh, which has allowed her to make the expansion.
Catering for children from walkers up to the age of eight, the aim of Mini Athletics is to help children develop their gross motor skills and learn to follow instructions through a range of imaginative themes.
The classes are high energy and full of imaginative play. They focus on athletic movement, running, throwing & jumping – fundamental sporting skills for all children to learn. During each class children will develop social, physical and cognitive skills.
Sarah took over the franchise of Mini Athletics Newry, Armagh and Banbridge just over a year ago and is now focused on growing the program.
“There’s a lot of work because I teach during the week and then do this at the weekend, but I love it,” she said. “I love seeing the kids every weekend and seeing the achievements and developments they’ve made.
“We’re in Gilford on Saturday, Newry on Sunday, and now we’ve got Armagh on Saturday which is great.”
The existing clubs in Gilford and Newry have been running for about a year and have been well supported by the locals.
“I have some people who have been with me a whole year now,” Sarah explained. “Generally there has been a good response and so I’m building back up again after having a baby.”
The new launch in Armagh will cater to four different age groups: Teeny Athletes, which is for walkers to two-year-olds; Didee Athletes, for two to three-and-a-half-year-olds; Little Athletes, for three-and-a-half-year-olds to five-year-olds; and Mini Athletes, for five to seven-year-olds.
Sarah explained: “They’ll be doing the classes with coach Lauren and I’ll just be there on the day to greet everybody.
“They’ll be doing games and different themes, so, for example, if it’s a Pirates theme one week, they’ll be doing all their games revolving around Pirates and things like that. The key thing we do is just really fun and imaginative games for the kids.”
Sarah hopes to eventually bring Mini Athletes into schools.
“I’m going down to four days a week this year because I’ve had quite a lot of schools approach me looking at the classes for after-school clubs and PE, but I couldn’t do it.
“Now we’re already booked up for the spring term for after-school clubs. We also do a sensory class for schools as well.”
Sarah continued: “I felt really bad because people from Armagh have been asking me to do this for quite a long time, but we just haven’t been in a position to do it. Now, with the coach we can expand to other places, which is really great.”
You can find out more about Mini Athletics by visiting their website or their Facebook page.
