Rising junior athletic stars congregated at the Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre last Saturday for the Little Athletics NSW State Championships where four talented athletes were announced as McDonald’s scholarship winners and presented with $500.

The four athletes were selected from throughout numerous entrants in NSW to receive the prestigious scholarship which is awarded to rising young athletes under 16 years of age.

McDonald’s is proud to support our Association and they help promote our sport  to increase the number of children participating in Little Athletics across the state. Through the support of McDonald’s, we can ensure that our sport remains accessible to children who wish to get involved and have fun.

A total of four scholarships are distributed each year, each worth $500:

• One for an athlete from within Regions 1 & 2 (northern half of the state)
• One for an athlete from Regions 3 & 4 (western & southern half of the state)
• Two for athletes from within the Sydney metropolitan area

To be eligible for the scholarship program athletes must be of a State Championship standard and be in the U13 age group or above – Zone Co-ordinators from each of the 23 Zones are asked to nominate one candidate to LANSW.

Kerry O’Keefe, LANSW Chief Executive Officer, is very pleased at the level of talent that exists throughout NSW but admitted that it made her job of choosing a winner a very difficult task.

“Athletics is a great sport for young kids to be involved in and it is great to see that Ashlyn Blackstock, Zachary Rothwell, Lily Tilt and Rashid Kabba have developed into, some fine young talents. McDonald’s is dedicated to developing athletics at a grassroots level and hopes that these scholarships will encourage more kids to get involved,” said O’Keefe.

“We had a huge response from the zones with nominations to reward their athletes with scholarships. The response shows how the number of promising athletic stars is growing across the state. It is wonderful to have McDonald’s on board to encourage and reward these fantastic athletes.”

The 2019 finalists were:

• Zachary Rothwell (Katoomba District LAC)
• Lily Tilt (North Rocks Carlingford LAC)
• Rashid Kabba (Holroyd LAC)
• Ashlyn Blackstock (Eastlakes LAC)
• Liam Coles (Toukley LAC)
• Sami Wilkie (Tamworth LAC)
• Nathan Zawadzki (Coffs Coast LAC)
• Ebony Newton (Raymond Terrace LAC)
• Jaycob Clarke (Deniliquin LAC)
• Jack Gould (Tumut & District LAC)
• Chelsea Ezeoke (Albion Park LAC)
• Kurt Rutter (Coonabarabran LAC)
• Andrew Goschnik (Port Hacking LAC)

The recipients of the 2019 McDonald’s Scholarships, each worth $500, were:

Ashlyn Blackstock (Eastlakes LAC)

Zachary Rothwell (Katoomba District LAC)

Lily Tilt (North Rocks Carlingford LAC)

Rashid Kabba (Holroyd LAC)