02 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.  

Kathy Ertug from Leicestershire 

What is your role as an official?
I am a Level 1 track judge and sometimes take part as ancillary official.

How long have you been officiating?
Less than 2 years.

What inspired you to become an official?
Volunteering is a good way of giving back. My grandson is a para athlete in long jump discipline; during his trainings, instead of watching him, I offered to help scraping the sand pit to give coaches more time to talk to their athletes. One of the clubs we went to in Hertfordshire actively encouraged parents and grandparents to get involved, and also organised regular health & safety classes for us to attend.

What would you say to anyone wanting to get into officiating?
The backbone of future success of competitions are the next generation of young officials. They can learn fast, have had some knowledge about athletics during their education, good eyesight, fast reaction time, better fitness level than most of us who are retirees.

What has been the highlight of your officiating career?
In my level, almost every competition enables me to learn something new, working with my peers would have counted as the highlight of my officiating career so far.

Find out more about International Women’s Day here. 

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