Class Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in Mini Athletics! To ensure our classes are in line with health and safety procedures and of the highest quality, we encourage parents/guardians to familiarise themselves with the following points:

1. Before the class starts, children are encouraged to free play with the shooting stars (bean bags) or foam javelins. Please note, the Didee's age group (2-3.5 years) must not play with the foam javelins. However, parents are fully responsible for their children. Coaches may not be able to supervise, as this will be a time when they are available to speak to parents regarding special requirements etc.

2. Please inform the coach of any medical conditions and/or special requirements your child may have before the session starts.

3. Please keep prams, belongings and non-participating children away from the play zone at all times.

4. Children should come in suitable sports wear including trainers, shorts/tracksuit bottoms and Mini Athletics vest.

5. Hydration is important for Mini Athletes! Please bring a drink along, as it can be thirsty work! Please do not bring any food to a session as some Mini Athletes may have severe food allergies.

6. Where possible we ask parents and guardians to keep noise to a minimum to ensure the children can hear coach instructions.

7. To protect children, please refrain from taking photographs. This is in accordance with government child protection guidelines.

8. Sometimes our coaches may request a child to have a time out with their parent in order to calm down. This is perfectly normal.

9. During covid restrictions there will be certain regulations that all adults will need to adhere to. The coach/franchisee will make these clear before you arrive.

10. We may need to film the class for training and educational purposes. If you are not happy with this please let the franchisee know at the time of your booking or at least 4 hours before your first session. Filming is very infrequent but does happen from time to time.  As long as you have let the franchisee know then we will offer credit for the session that will be filmed.

11. Parents need to be present at every session and are also fully responsible for their child at all times. Please read our very important guidelines below regarding parent participation for each of our age groups:

What to expect from your first class

Didee Athletes 2-3.5 years

This class is the perfect introduction to athletics based movement, confidence building fun and learning instructions. Parent participation is needed. Initially your child may be apprehensive to follow class instructions. This is totally normally and expected (please don’t worry!). Our coaching team help parents to encourage children to participate within the structure of the class. Very often it takes 2-3 weeks for children to become familiar with the class routine. However, with parental support, patience and guidance they soon become active members of the class and have so much fun!

Little Athletes 3.5-5 years

In this class, our athletics based activities emphasise teamwork, competition and social interaction. Through team participation and working together children’s confidence grows session to session. If this is your child’s first experience of Mini Athletics then they may be apprehensive to join in or follow the structure of the class. This is perfectly normal and it may take a little parent participation to lead them in the right direction. This is normal and usually only occurs for the first few weeks while children are getting used to each other. By week 3-4 children are co-operating together.

Mini Athletes 5-7 years

Our Mini Athletes class introduces children to athletics events through game based activities. This class has the added element of teaching children athletic skills that can be used in all sports throughout life. Parents/Guardians are required to be present at all times.

Holiday Clubs

Holiday clubs operate slightly different to our weekly classes.  They are for 4-8 years, last 3 hours per day and Parents/Guardians do not need to be present.  There are certain guidelines that Parents/Guardians need to be aware of:

• In order to attend the club, the child must be able to go to the toilet independently. When a child needs the toilet, a member of staff will remain outside the toilet. At no point will the coach enter the toilet with the child unless they are in difficulty.
• Any medical needs must be declared in advance of the summer club when signing up via the ‘medical conditions’ box.
• Any medication that needs to be with the athlete must be in a plastic zip type bag and clearly labelled and a medical consent form completed.  Please contact the franchisee directly for this.
• Parents/Guardians will provide all snacks and drinks for children.
• Parents/Guardians must provide details of any allergies in the medical box when signing their child up for the club.
• If the club is held outside, Parents/Guardians are advised to provide their child with a hat, apply a high factor sun cream (before they arrive to club) and a cold-water bottle for refilling.