2015 IAAF World Athletics Day (© IAAF)
Now in its 20th year, the IAAF World Athletics Day is the sport’s annual worldwide festival of youth and one of the busiest programmes of competitions on the athletics calendar.
With 118 member federations already signed up to take part, World Athletics Day offers the opportunity to promote the sport through youth participation in clubs and schools.
When it began in 1996, the IAAF World Athletics Day was initially planned exclusively for youngsters who were members of clubs affiliated to IAAF member federations. But in recent years, the scope of the project has broadened to include the participation of school children in team competitions and has now become a complete and an important event which promotes the sport around the world.
The goal of the IAAF World Athletics Day is to firmly establish an important link between the youth, our sport, and environmental conservation.
Once again in 2015, World Athletics Day will be part of the IAAF's social responsibility project 'Athletics for a Better World' (ABW). As in 2014, ABW will harness the extraordinary commitment and energy of the worldwide athletics family to inspire lasting development.
ABW supports projects in areas ranging from health, peace and social inclusion as well as the environment. World Athletics Day, Kids’ Athletics, the Green Project, as well as new initiatives, contribute to achieve the ABW goals. Therefore, we once again strongly encourage, in addition to the WAD, the implementation of the existing IAAF / Nestle Kids’ Athletics programme and other social responsibility initiatives to help build a better world.
World Athletics Day 2015 will take place in May, preferably the weekend of 9-10 May, and will involve youth age group children from clubs who were born in 1998-1999 (16-17 years old).
In accordance with the IAAF's goal to make athletics the No.1 sport in schools, World Athletics Day is also being organised in close cooperation with the relevant national ministry which is in charge of school sport in each country.
The age group for these school team activities is boys and girls born in 2000-2002 (13-15 years old).
IAAF