By Mikayla van Loon
Charlotte May, a Grade 6 student from Mount Evelyn, loves most sports but it was the discovery of shot put that led her to compete at nationals among some of the best athletes in her age group.
And she did all of this while pushing through an extremely rare condition called Juvenile Neutrophilic Eccrine Hidradenitis (JNEH), of which she is the only known case in Australia, something that brings on sharp pain in her feet and saw her at one stage using a wheelchair.
But the 11-year-old returned from the School Sport Australia competition, held in Sydney from 28 to 30 November, with a finishing position of eighth.
Having qualified for nationals as one of three from Victoria to do so, it came off the back of a second place finish in the state competition.
Charlotte’s best throw was recorded at 10.69m at nationals scoring her the top eight place.
“It starts with however many (competitors) so at nationals, it was 14, and everyone does three throws and then after that, there’s the top eight people,” she said.
“Then those top eight people get another throw to get higher up. I didn’t do very well on that throw. But then those eight people do their one extra throw, and then they figure that out first, second, third.
“The Queenslanders were throwing at 12 and a half metres.”
Marking that distance as something to work towards, Charlotte said she just loved being among other athletes.
“It was really good because I got to have competition not just in Victoria, which I’ve had a lot, but more like the whole of Australia, which was really good because then I got to meet others,” Charlotte said.
Having made her best throw with the two kilogram weighted shot put at division, scoring 11.60 metres, Charlotte will move up to the three kilogram level when she turns 12-years-old.
With the coaching help of her primary school PE teacher Paul Harris and Yarra Ranges Little Athletics throwing coach Graeme Woolridge, Charlotte has eyes on nationals next year.
“Dad keeps saying Olympics 2032,” she said.
Charlotte’s mum Danielle said without the support of Paul and Graeme, Charlotte probably wouldn’t have done what she did.
“Without Mr P (as the kids call him), her sports teacher at school, she probably wouldn’t have even tried to start this whole experience,” Danielle said.
“He was Charlotte’s first coach. He was amazing, doing it out of his own time. He would come here to meet Charlotte on the track and train with her.
“And Graeme, he just does it out of his love. He doesn’t ask for money. He comes down here every Monday and Wednesday for an hour and he’ll train the kids and go through the motions. He’s got Charlotte’s technique really, really lovely. He just does it all to see these kids get somewhere.”
Although not having come through little athletics, Danielle said the support and guidance shown by those at Yarra Ranges Athletics and the broader Victorian team was incredible.
Playing a range of sports from rugby to netball, Charlotte’s journey into shot put started with the discovery of her distance throwing of a vortex in Prep to Grade 2.
“In Grade 3, everyone moved to either shot put or discus so that’s where I found out I was good at shot put,” she said.
Topping the list as one of her favourite sports, aside from rugby, Charlotte said it was the uniqueness that she loved most.
“It’s a bit unique. A lot of my friends do running and high jump and long jump and stuff like that but shot put is a lot different to running or basketball or any sports like that,” she said.
Despite the ongoing pain caused by JNEH, Charlotte didn’t let that stop her from competing, coming second in the regional competition while on crutches and state where she had to use a wheelchair but still managed to place fourth in 2023.
Danielle said to have seen Charlotte compete on a national stage, knowing the everyday pain she goes through, was something any parent would be proud of.
“When I know how much of a struggle Charlotte’s had with her feet to see her up there is incredible. Some days I’ll pick her up from school, and she’s in absolute tears and agony and saying ‘please, mum don’t make me get up because my feet hurt. I can’t do this’.
“But generally, most of the time it’s like, ‘come on, Charlotte, you’ll be alright’ and she gets up, she pushes through.
“How can you not be so proud of your child knowing they have done this incredible thing to come first Victoria, to then get up there and throw with every single child in Australia.
“She did this all by herself, she worked hard, trained really hard. She’s not a little athletics kid. She just loves sport, found a passion, had some great support behind her, and just loves what she does.”
