Sport
12 November, 2024
Exciting opportunity for Little Athlete Mia Schodde as she earns selection to Colgate Games
After a pair of sixth-placed finishes on Australia’s biggest stage, Dunolly high-jumper Mia Schodde is hoping to take her exploits to the next level, earning her way with a select group to New Zealand to kickstart her 2025 season.
Schodde has earned selection to the Colgate Games through the Little Athletics Victoria develop-ment team, which will see 38 athletes sent over to compete in one of New Zealand’s biggest athletics events on their calendar.
The Colgate Games are tradi-tionally made up of two events, with one held on their north island, which in 2025, will be held in Hawke’s Bay, and another event held on the south island, which will be held in Christchurch.
Schodde’s selection to the squad will see her travel to the north island in Hawke’s Bay.
Her selection was the culmination of an enormous 2024 in her high jump exploits, earning selection to the Athletics Australia national championships in Adelaide, before quickly following that up with the Little Athletics national champion-ships, also held in the same city.
In both championships, Schodde upheld her status as Victoria’s best high jumper for her age group in the under 14s, finishing in sixth position in the Athletics Australia champion-ship, jumping 1.5 metres.
Not long afterwards, Schodde backed up her result with another sixth-placed finish at the Little Athletics final, again proving to be the best from Victoria, jumping 1.52 metres — not far from her personal best of 1.54 metres.
The Maryborough Little Athletics Club are currently setting up a fundraiser through treasurer Hayley Henderson, which has raised $1280 so far, but is still short of its target of $3765.
“This experience is not only valuable for Mia’s athletic journey but also comes with some large costs,” the fundraiser reads.
“Mia has been a dedicated member of Maryborough Little Athletics and athletics has provided her with some very exciting experiences, from competing at a state level on numerous occasions and even travelling to Adelaide to compete at a national level representing Victoria.
“We would love to continue to encourage Mia with her athletics journey.”
Mia’s mother, Mel, spoke about the excitement at hand when discussing her daughter’s selection to the development squad.
“It’s very exciting. It’s a great opportunity Little Athletics put together — it’s not just for ones who are good at something, they reward the ones who are dedicated for so long, and that was their criteria. They aren’t necessarily sending the best of the best,” she said.
“She was super excited. You put in for it and they go through a selection process, so I said there would be plenty of kids who want to do this, so if you don’t get chosen, that’s okay. We put in an application, saw how it went and it was successful. It will be her first trip on a plane and everything, so she’s super keen.
“Mia won’t just be doing high jump, she’ll do long jump, 200, 100 and the relays as well. They take them over to do a few events, which is nice as well.”
Mel revealed that there have been businesses in Dunolly who have also helped out with the fundraising efforts on top of the Little Athletics club’s fundraising drive.
“A lot of the local groups have donated as well, the neighbourhood centre, the Rural Transmission Centre, the bakery have set up a donation tin for her as well,” she said.
“Dunolly’s been great as well, it’s hard to get something from the same people in a small community, but they’ve always backed her, and people always come up in the street and ask how she’s going.”
Mel was also proud of the Little Athletics club for their efforts in helping Mia.
“They’ve been a fantastic support ever since we started — she started when she was six and she’s 13 now, they’ve been an awesome support, always encouraging and always putting their hand in to help where they can. It’s a great committee they have there,” she said.
“You never know what this year will bring. It’s a cool thing when you put it into perspective. We’re very proud and she puts in the hard work as well, which is good. She trains a few days a week. Friday nights are in Maryborough, Saturday is in Ballarat. It’s a lot of travel, but she is dedicated to it, which is great.”
Mel was simply proud of Mia’s achievements, saying she deserved to be rewarded for her dedication.
“The experience is great in that it is put down to her dedication to her Little Aths, how many years you’ve put into it and what you’ve done, so it’s good for her to know that you don’t have to be amazing or the best to experience these sorts of things, you just have to show your dedication, time and effort,” she said.
Anyone who wishes to donate towards Mia’s trip to New Zealand can do so by visiting https://www.gofundme.com/f/mias-little-athletics-journey-to-new-zealand?utm_campaign=man_ss_icons&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&fbclid=IwY2xjawGeCfJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHe__NvEgNhuFGV920_F5TU19SsT_0MuSLdnWlTAe0c460k0kIxeEIm4ybg_aem_eaK_li2XFIjdo5HELg4G4w