The Coles Little Athletics Community Fund has passed $3 million in grants, as Little Athletics begins its first season under the Australian Athletics banner.
Two years ago, weighing up whether Athletics West were getting value from their Little Athletics Australia affiliation, we concluded that it came down to how much you value bananas.
It was a line that fit its moment: a national structure under existential strain, its value being questioned from within its own ranks.
That story has ended. Coles, the partner behind the bananas, is still there, and this week’s numbers show what its support looks like at grassroots.
The Coles Little Athletics Community Fund has now awarded more than $3 million to clubs and centres since 2018. In the latest round, 82 Little Athletics centres share $285,000 for new equipment as the 2026/27 season gets under way. That buys the hurdles, high jump mats and implements that volunteers would otherwise raise money for one sausage sizzle at a time.
The fund sits on top of Coles’ headline partnership with Little Athletics, estimated at around $750,000 a year, a relationship that has now carried across to Australian Athletics.
The community fund announcement coincides with the annual Little Athletics Banana A-Peel. From 7 to 20 October, five cents from every kilogram of Cavendish bananas sold at Coles goes to Little Athletics, up to $150,000, and funds the next round of grants.
So yes, we value bananas. Buy some.
From the centre to the podium
The timing suits the moment and the momentum of the sport. Australia topped the athletics medal table at Glasgow 2026, and former little athletes won 25 of the team’s 34 medals. The gold medallists among them were Isaac Beacroft (Quakers Hill, NSW), Rose Davies (Adamstown New Lambton, NSW), Kurtis Marschall (Reynella East & Districts, SA), Eleanor Patterson (Leongatha, Vic), Jemima Montag (Brighton, Vic), Abbey Caldwell (Doncaster, Vic), Mackenzie Little (Northern Suburbs, NSW) and Rhiannon Clarke (Joondalup, WA).
One Glasgow champion who didn’t come through the program is Coles ambassador Matt Denny, who defended his Commonwealth discus title at Scotstoun.
“I didn’t have the chance to do Little Athletics growing up, but thanks to partners like Coles there are now so many more opportunities for kids to join a program,” Denny said.
Turning that opportunity into consistent growth is the challenge that now looms large for Little Athletics under Australian Athletics’ leadership.
The first season under one banner
This is also the first season with Little Athletics under the Australian Athletics banner. The two national bodies completed their unification in May, ending more than six decades of structural separation.
When agreement was reached last December, we wrote that structures can merge quickly but cultures can’t, and that children had to stay at the centre of decision-making. A season-opening grant round reaching 82 centres, under the new national structure and with a long-standing partner carried through the transition, is an encouraging early sign of continuity. Australian Athletics, the Little Athletics team who held that relationship through to the transition, and Coles all deserve credit for it.
Coles General Manager External Communications & Community Engagement Jace Armstrong described the $3 million mark as a proud milestone.
“For nearly a decade, Coles has provided Little Athletics with fresh Australian-grown bananas, equipment and opportunities to help thousands of children build confidence, make friends and stay healthy and active.”
Coles
Consistency counts
The sport spent much of the past five years debating how it should be structured and governed There was a failed merger vote, states going their own way, a trademark dispute and PR battle, and, finally, a reset. Through all of it, the bananas kept arriving at centres every week, and Coles kept writing the cheques.
Now the governance debate is over, that consistency is worth noting.
The full list of successful centres is available at coles.com.au/littleathleticsfund
