For over 65 years, YCW Harriers athletics club has been a stalwart of Ballarat’s running scene.
Our membership includes over 400 junior and 100 senior athletes who enjoy activities such as:
- Cross country running
- Track and field
- Road running
- Athletics coaching
- Little Athletics
Ballarat YCW caters for athletes of every age: from our under five junior harriers to 60 year olds. In fact, some of our more senior members have been associated with the club for over 40 years.
We’re also a very social and family-oriented running club. There are many third generation family members competing with the club and often whole families will compete in the same race. This can result in some tight sprint finishes, as parents try to hold off their fast finishing offspring. The Blood family, for example, has had four generations wear the red and white singlet, with Andrew, Tim, Gary and Bernard Blood still competing. The van Raaphorst family have also been fantastic club supporters, with six siblings and two in-laws currently competing.
Over the years, we’ve also been proud to see many of our members go on to the national and global stage. Steve Moneghetti – a household name in Australia – was a Ballarat YCW member. As were former Olympics and Commonwealth Games competitors Tony Benson, Shaun Creighton, Sharon Russell (nee Stewart), Shane Nankervis and Jared Tallent.
