24 March 2019 

International Women’s Day is celebrated on 8 March every year and is a focal point in the movement of women’s rights.  This year’s campaign theme of #BalanceforBetter is a call-to-action for driving gender balance across the world. 

Athletics prides itself on being a gender balanced sport and our officials play a major part in achieving this, where currently there are 59% male and 41% female officials in the UK.  In support of International Women’s Day 2019, throughout March, we will feature Officials across the UK to celebrate them and their commitment to athletics.  

Sylvia Campbell

What is your role as an official?
I am a Field Judge.

How long have you been officiating?
20 years.

What inspired you to become an official?
Progression from young athlete coach, helping club to understand the rules and ensure kids were safe. There were no qualified officials in club at higher level for competitions. There were a good bunch of people who were willing to teach you.

What would you say to anyone wanting to get into officiating?
Give it a try it’s worth it, you get a lot of respect from athletes and meet many different people with a lot of experience. You get to appreciate the often difficult role an official does.

What has been the highlight of your officiating career?
Being at the UKA Championships (just after an Olympics) and although I was in the calling area, checking equipment etc., the excitement was fantastic.

What can we do as a sport to achieve a #BetterBalance in officiating?
I think the public need to made more aware of the job we do and that it is voluntary. A better look for uniforms would be nice.

Find out more about International Women’s Day here. 

If you want to get involved in officiating, find out more information here.