30 January 2025 · By Dan Perrin
It all started one sunny evening at Rugby Athletic Track! I was nervously waiting around for my first run for HAC in a Masters League meeting when it was tactfully suggested to me that I could make myself useful by helping the officials at the Long Jump by making sure the measuring tape didn’t get twisted. I thought this might be something I was capable of, despite my total lack of experience at anything to do with long-jumping.
Little did I realise that there was also one person who called out the names for the jumping order, and noted the results, one person whose eyes were solely focussed on the board to flag up a no-jump or fair jump (they needed to know the difference between a white flag and a red one!), one person with one end of the tape, one person with the other end of the tape to call out the distance jumped, and two people to rake the pit after the jumper had left the pit and the distance had been measured. That’s 7 people for the one event!
And I really enjoyed it. It was so interesting seeing just what is involved in field athletics, the skills involved and the different techniques people have, and most of all the enthusiasm of everyone who was taking part, whether as an official or as a competitor, or both. I decided then to take the Level 1 Field Official qualification so I could help out at events and actually make myself useful. Field events are all the jumps (long, high, triple and pole-vaulting), and all the throws (discus, javelin-beware of these!- and shot putt) All field events I now realise involve one official watching the competitors’ feet! Other tasks are retrieving what has been thrown, measuring, keeping people safe and happy and making sure that everything runs smoothly.
The actual qualification process is interesting. Some of it is online on Zoom with other people from anywhere in the country, and most of it is actually helping at events and doing the practical work, and for this you can choose your own competitions as long as you cover all the events and roles. There are always people around you to help and support you, and who are more than willing to share their knowledge and experience with you.
I have particularly enjoyed working as part of a team, as there is a great spirit at these events. In order for a club to compete in a league, they have to provide a team of officials, so it’s given me the opportunity to meet people in HAC who I didn’t know because we run in different training groups but work as a team when officiating. Also I’ve met people from other clubs as sometimes two clubs are providing officials for one event too. I especially enjoy the Masters competitions, as it’s inspirational to see people sometimes in their eighties defying the stereotypes of what is possible, and also the Juniors at the other end of the age spectrum with the same enthusiasm and commitment.
I now am much more able to appreciate what goes on behind the scenes at an athletics event at any level, and it has certainly altered my perspective when I’m watching athletics, whether it’s at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham or at Nuneaton and Loughborough stadiums! So if you’re interested, do have a go. It’s fun, it’s fascinating and it’s inspiring too.
