Launceston's Kay Knee receives Little Athletics Tasmania life membership

She's become the seventh person to receive a Little Athletics Tasmania (LATas) life membership - an organisation which is about to turn 50. Knee got a wonderful surprise when she saw her daughter Brittany - who flew from Newcastle - at the award presentation on Saturday.

It was fitting given Brittany got her mum involved in the sport when she joined up in under-8s.

"It's an honour, you don't really do it to get things like this because it's just been part of your life," Knee said. "You just enjoy doing it and helping."

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Knee first joined the LATas board as membership director in 2002.

"We didn't have an office back then," she said.

"We were running out of the storage sheds. We were using our own phones and things like that, there was no office for anyone to go to.

"We just had pickup points for different athletics centres or we would drop stuff off at centres such as badges for the kids and bags and registration material."

The athletics stalwart, who went on to be publicity officer and education director, remained on the board until 2016 and jumped back on for a stint from 2017-2018.

She has enjoyed seeing changes and hearing new ideas across the years.

"I've been on the board with lots of different members and everyone works hard at what they do," she said.

Although no longer on the board, she continues to volunteer at state events.

Talented Tassie athletes of the past two decades would know her well as she was state team manager at 14 Australian Little Athletics Championships from 2000-2021. "That's probably the hardest role because you have to do a budget," she said.

"You've got a number of children you take away, you've got to book airline tickets and you're booking those 12 months out to try and get your budget to let each child know how much it's going to be," she said.

On top of her that, Knee has been team manager for seven under 14 teams at events such as the Australia Cup in Brisbane, Hunter Classic in Newcastle and Dubbo New Year's Day Carnival.

Her duties have also taken her overseas and she was manager for City of Launceston teams at the International Games in Lake Macquarie (2014) and Taipei, Taiwan (2016).

"(In 2014), that's the first time that event had ever been held in the southern hemisphere, it's a northern hemisphere event," she said.

"We got to stay with the Russian gymnast team and Canadian soccer team in our accommodation. It was really quite a good experience for the kids."

Another of her highlights has been helping at 16 under 12 or under 13 coaching camps where she has either been a coach, official, hut parent or camp coordinator.

She was a hut parent on her first camp with Brittany and returned year-after-year.

Knee said friendships and seeing youngsters develop had kept her in the sport so long.

"You make a lot of friends through athletics and you like to see the kids enjoy themselves," she said.

"Little Athletics is a fantastic sport for that. Not only that, you see the ones that go on but you see the other ones that just go there to enjoy themselves and for the social aspect - not everyone's an athlete."

Athletics Tasmania life member Brian Roe noted Knee received the merit award of Athletics Tasmania in 2014.

He said this year she would receive the silver medallion for 20 years service to Athletics Australia.

"Her long-term involvement in team management for Little Athletics Tasmania and Athletics Tasmania means she's known by a generation of athletes, many of whom now proudly introduce their children when they bring them to Little Athletics," he said.

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