Supporting Little Athletics Queensland centres to become more inclusive

Building inclusive sport for children through local leadership and real change.

Introduction

Sport4All is focused on creating inclusive sporting environments where everyone can participate and feel welcome, including children with disability. In June 2025, Sport4All was invited to deliver a key workshop at the Little Athletics Queensland State Conference, marking a significant opportunity to support centres across the state with practical tools, inclusive strategies, and on-the-ground guidance to strengthen inclusive sport for children across the state.

Background

Little Athletics Queensland had not hosted a dedicated session on disability inclusion since 2018. More recently, feedback from families of children with disability highlighted a gap in knowledge and resources across some local centres. Parents expressed a desire to see their children welcomed into Little Athletics environments with the right support, understanding, and accessible approaches. In response, Little Athletics Queensland sought to strengthen its inclusion practices across its network. This aligned closely with Sport4All’s mission – creating a shared opportunity to collaborate and offer community-led guidance on building more inclusive sport for children at the grassroots level.

What We did

Sport4All delivered a workshop titled “How to be a Welcoming Centre for Athletes of All Abilities” at the 2025 State Conference on the Gold Coast. The session was led by Kim Abbott, Sport4All’s State Sport Inclusion Coach, and supported by Matthias Graepel, Inclusion Coach – Cairns.

The workshop focused on practical, real-world strategies that Little Athletics volunteers and administrators could immediately apply to create more welcoming environments. Topics covered included:

Understanding disability beyond stereotypes
Creating accessible environments with limited resources
Communicating effectively with families and athletes
Leveraging local partnerships for support

Attendees were also provided with easy-to-use resources, real examples from other sports, and space for open discussion and questions.

Results

The session drew around 40 attendees representing Little Athletics centres from across Queensland – a strong turnout that reflected genuine interest in inclusion at the grassroots level.

Participants responded positively to the session’s practical approach, with many highlighting how the examples and tools shared were directly relevant to their club environments. Several centres expressed interest in ongoing support from Sport4All, including tailored sessions or additional resources for their local communities.

As a direct outcome of this workshop, Inclusion Coach Jamilla McCoy, based at Noosa Council, has already delivered a follow-up session to the Noosa Little Athletics Centre and continues to provide support through the Sport4All program. Sport4All Inclusion Coaches are actively looking to connect with other interested centres across Queensland to continue this momentum and expand the reach of inclusive sport for children in both metro and regional areas.

“As a sport focused on providing opportunities for ALL children to be their best, we want to ensure our volunteers have the knowledge and support to run an amazing club. The Sport4All resources give our volunteers easy-to-use guides to make simple changes, which lead to huge improvements — not only for disability inclusion but also in creating a more welcoming environment at Little Athletics clubs across the state.”

Christopher Davis, CEO, Little Athletics Queensland

Discussion

Key factors contributing to the success of this activation included:

Timely response to community feedback, demonstrating Little Athletics Queensland’s commitment to listening to families.
Peer-led delivery, with Inclusion Coaches bringing lived and local experience to the conversation.
Practical framing, tailored to the needs of volunteer-run clubs.

Challenges remain, particularly in sustaining momentum and supporting consistent implementation at the centre level. However, this workshop provided a strong foundation, and signalled that there is genuine demand for inclusive sport support and training across the network.

Conclusion

This impact story highlights how listening to community voices – paired with practical, real-world guidance – can drive meaningful progress.

Sport4All’s workshop at the Little Athletics Queensland State Conference demonstrated that inclusion is not just a goal, but a shared responsibility. By working together, we can build a future where inclusive sport for children is the norm – not the exception.

A big thank you to Christopher and the entire Little Athletics Queensland team for helping bring this session to life – and for continuing to champion inclusion in sport across the state.