During the working week Macedon Ranges local Tony Davis heads down to the Kyneton Showgrounds to mark the lines for little athletics.
While his role within the club has changed during his time there, this journey is one he’s been making for 52 years since he helped the club form in 1970.
This year, Tony is being celebrated for his five decades of volunteering with the Macedon Ranges Citizen of the Year Award, one which he says is very pleasing to receive.
“I received the award but there’s a lot of others that helped [me] get into that category [to be] nominated, and then be lucky enough to score that gold medal as the saying goes,” Tony said.
Before retirement, Tony was a secondary school teacher and it’s this role he said that pushed him towards little athletics and his voluntary work.
“[My time volunteering] has given me great pleasure,” he said. “It has its moments where you have your ups and downs, but 99 per cent of the time, it’s always been up.”
Tony’s own journey with the little athletics started in Oakleigh when he was running with the senior club, and he then went on to help establish the Oakleigh Little Athletics Centre.
Upon moving to Kyneton, Tony and a number of others worked to set up a little athletics club which then included the surrounding districts.
“By the end of the 1970s, quite a number of other people started to become involved in it,” he said.
“We then decided to see how many little shoes we could get on the ground and we got a good response. After that it was decided to register Kyneton with Little Athletics Victoria.
“When we started we had kids from around the district… We had kids from Romsey, Lancefield, Woodend, Drummond.
“Then other centres fired up, Lancefield got its own, Woodend got its own, and that’s when the district part was dropped.”
Tony said it’s been good to see the growth of the sport and kids get involved from around the Macedon Ranges as the population has grown.
His work within the club and the sport was also recognised in 2007 when he was made a life member of Kyneton and District Little Athletics Centre.
