Ian Atkinson – Northern Ireland

How did you become an official?

I have been an official for around 12 to 14 years. I do remember that it was in 2011 that I reached a level where I could officiate at national events. I am not entirely sure how I got started in officiating – I had never really been into sport as a child but then as an adult I decided I needed to lose a bit of weight and started running in 2002. I joined North Down AC in Bangor in Northern Ireland where I got involved in coaching some youngsters. But my heart wasn’t really in it but I did want to stay involved in athletics so I segued into officiating.

Describe your officiating journey

I really enjoyed officiating and so progressed through the levels. I have mostly officiated on the track. In 2011 I did the Commonwealth Youth Games which I thoroughly enjoyed but it included a significant moment for me as I had to report a line infringement for a young 16 year old Australian athlete as she stepped on the line in the 400m so she was disqualified – it really hit home to me the impact that officials can have on athletes, so I decided I wanted to continue with officiating and do it properly. I worked my way up to level four.

After that I took a phone call from Keith Davis who said, “I’d like to invite you to a party we are having in London next year!” I realised afterwards he was inviting me to officiate at the Olympics! It was a surreal moment.

I went to the London Olympics and have officiated at many championships since including Competitions Director for the Police and Fire Games in Belfast, track official at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, World Championships in London in 2017, the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham and then the Commonwealth Games again in Birmingham this summer. I never saw myself doing anything other than the track.

But in recent times I became Clerk of the Course, where I was the only track official in a team of field officials, at the Birmingham Diamond League and the Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham. And I have really enjoyed this as you see the full picture of all that is involved in the event.

What do you love most about officiating?

I love what I do. We are having fun and we do have a laugh but never forget that we are doing a really important job and work really hard. It is about being as dedicated to the full-time professional athlete as those 13 and 14 year olds at the Mary Peters track in Belfast on a wet, Saturday afternoon.

I like being able to bring my personality to the officiating and sense of achievement in that you can help kids and full-time athletes. I am very dedicated and committed to doing things well. Officiating helps me be self-aware and it is a huge change to my day job, it provides me with a lot of self-care for which I am ever grateful.

That said, we must enjoy ourselves and remember we are volunteers and to have fun. It is about doing the courses, doing what I do as well as I can and having fun at the same time.

What is your favourite moment as an official?

Standing with 13 to 15 year olds showing them what they need to know about the rules that will help them avoid infringements in the future.  Coaches do not always have the time to focus on the smaller details of the rules and can lead to real disappointments further down the line, so I think it is key to give them that information early.

Changing a young person’s life by helping them avoid a potential disaster in the future is the best bit about being an official.

What is your ambition as an official?

I would like to be the first level four track official to become a Technical Manager at a major event. The technical team tends to be very field event heavy with the manager usually from a field event background. I would like to break that mould and be the first from a track background.  I am doing my field event qualifications as well which will support this ambition.

What would you tell others who are considering being an official?

If you have the time, the interest, the dedication and the commitment to stand in all weathers then definitely do it. You need to really believe in why you’re doing it and a good sense of humour helps!

We do really need people to come out at all levels and help us out, be it a parent of a young athlete or a retired person it really can be rewarding.

In just three words what does officiating mean to me?

Making a difference.