A rising star on both track and football pitch, Little Athlete Milly Boughton is juggling a busy multi-sport lifestyle, representing New South Wales in athletics and soccer.
Currently in France with the U13 NSW Elite Football squad, Boughton will fly back to Sydney this weekend to compete at the LANSW Road Walks Championship.
The 13-year-old was a member of the 2019 NSW State Team that travelled to Hobart in April to compete at the Australian Little Athletics Championships.
Boughton blitzed her opponents in the U13 Girls Race Walk Final, comfortably winning gold with a time of 6:56.01.
“I knew that I had the fastest times, but I wasn’t sure what [my opponents] could do,” said Boughton.
“There was a girl from the older age group that I wasn’t too sure about, but I knew that she could pull it out of the bag if she wanted to.
“As soon as the gun went, I knew that I could do it because I didn’t start that fast, but I was still top four, and then I just went past them.”
Milly considered the Little Athletics camps a crucial component of the State Team’s preparation for ALAC, where New South Wales won the Trevor Billingham Trophy.
“I really enjoyed the camps, because the managers gave us a chance to bond as a team,” said Boughton.
“If we hadn’t have done that, we wouldn’t have been as strong a team and we might not have gone as well.”
Boughton and the U13 NSW Elite Football squad travelled to France this month to compete against four local sides and watch the Matildas compete at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The girls were lucky enough to meet the Australian footballers during a training session in Grenoble.
“It was pretty amazing because I’d been dreaming about it for a long time since I was really young,” said Boughton.
“I’ve always been watching them on TV and dream to one time become like them.”
Boughton will arrive back in Sydney on Sunday morning and travel straight to Chipping Norton for the LANSW Road Walks Championships.
Last year, Boughton place first in the U13 Women 2km Race Walk representing Randwick Botany and will be defending her title this Sunday at 12:40pm in the U14 event.
CLICK HERE for more information about the LANSW Road Walks Championships.
Nic Savage
Little Athletics NSW