Athletics Nova Scotia is on track for bigger and better things.

“Since COVID, somehow we’ve managed to come back stronger,” said ANS executive director Anitra Stevens. “We didn’t lose any officials, our volunteers have come back and we’ve got two new clubs in the past year, so we now have clubs from Yarmouth to Cape Breton.”

Stevens said membership has increased 35 per cent from last year and that has allowed it to add another member to its full-time staff, bringing the total to three. She noted there are several reasons for the uptick in numbers.

“We’re a low-cost sport, so that could be seen as a more attractive option for people given where things are right now with the state of the economy,” Stevens said. “All you need is a t-shirt and shorts and a good pair of shoes, maybe a set of spikes, and you’re set. The only other cost involved would be in renting a facility, and we’ve seen a huge interest in the development of facilities for outdoor meets, which has also helped lower that barrier to entry.

Stevens also noted there’s been a lot of interest at the under-12 level and a lot of that stems from what schools are doing with their physical education and after school programs. 

“We have a new club, Grit Athletics, based out of Porters Lake that trains out of the Canada Games Centre in the winter and Beazley Field in Dartmouth in the summer, and their under-12 program has just taken off,” said Stevens. “Their goal was 20 in the first year and I think they’re up to about 100 now in their first two years, and they’re at the point now where they can afford to pay coaches an honorarium, and that makes a big difference when it comes to attracting people who want to be involved.”

It’s been a perfect storm of factors that have resulted in what Stevens calls “wonderful growing pains” for athletics in the province.

“We’re growing, but we’re not ready quite just yet to take that next step, but with another year of consistent growth, we should be able to do more,” she said. “We’re getting to the point where we have to pick and choose what we do. Before it would be like, ‘Yes, we’ll do anything,’ but now we just don’t have time in our weeks to do everything we want to do. 

 “Indoor facilities are our biggest need right now. You can do running and jumping events at the Canada Games Centre (in Halifax) but you can’t do any throwing. Right now, we’re using the Cougar Dome in Truro for that. We can’t host an indoor provincial level meet because we just don’t have the room. But there’s a group in the Dartmouth area looking at a multi-use recreational facility and we’ve been working with them on possibly getting that equipped to host indoor meets and training.”

Stevens also noted that athletes and coaches are constantly putting in work, instead of just during the outdoor season.

“Our athletes are upping their games every year,” she said. “Last year, there were 75 new provincial records set and this year, I think there’s been close to 30 set so far.

“There really isn’t a lot of down time any more. Our athletes are training year-round and our coaches are coaching year-round.”