Matt Hewson
Three Geelong little athletes take part in a national training camp on the Gold Coast this weekend thanks to their recent results in state and national events.
Heidi Connor, Kirsten Hood and Lucy Veenvliet will attend the 2024 Little Athletics National Camp held in Runaway Bay from Saturday, August 24 to Tuesday, August 27.
The four-day camp will gather together 78 of the country’s best young athletes, including multiclass athletes, born in 2010.
Featuring coaching from current and former Australian international athletes, the camp will provide learning opportunities in areas including on-track performance, preparation, recovery, psychology and overall understanding of the high-performance athletics pathway.
Heidi, who qualified for the camp through her results in javelin at the National Championships in April, said she was excited to hear from top-level athletes and coaches about how to become a professional athlete.
“It’s going to be so good, because they’re actually professional athletes; they’ve done it all, they know what it’s like,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to getting tips from them on how to throw and all of that, obviously, but also the mental side, like how much effort it actually takes to get there.
“It’s also really cool to meet all the people from different states. Even though everyone’s competing against each other, you make really good friends. If someone runs a PB and they beat you, even if it’s for a medal, you’re always like, that was amazing, good job.”