Peer Group Members 2008/09

A huge thank you to the outgoing Peer Group members John Gandee, Keith Flint, John Pickles and Wendy Haxell.

Your Peer Group members for 2008/09 are as follows;

Field – Rob Walker, Liz Wilder, Dean Williams

Starter – Margaret Werrett, Gordon Staines, Angus Cameron

Timekeeper – Colin Jacks, Alan Vincent, Pat Lockley

Track – Linda Turner, Finlay Galloway, Roz Randle

We welcome the new Peer Group members Dean Williams, Angus Cameron, Pat Lockley and Roz Randle (all highlighted in the list above).

Medical Cover at Events Under UKA Rules

In the recent past there have been a number of instances when volunteers providing medical cover, at bona fide athletics events, have told event managers that competition must cease during any period that the medical supervisory staff are off site dealing with a casualty.

Following due and careful consideration by the UKA Health and Safety Group, along with the advice of the appropriate insurers, it can be confirmed that any decision to suspend competition rests solely with the event director in consultation with the Competition Referee(s).

September 2008

Level 3 Courses 2008/09

The Officials Level 3 National Course Programme has been finalised and we now have 12 level 3 Officials courses taking place across the country between October 2008 and January 2009.  To view the course matrix please click here.

UK Athletics – Disability Sport Events – Technical Officials

UK Athletics and Disability Sport Events (DSE) have recently reached an agreement whereby from the start of the competition season in 2009 only licensed UK Athletics Technical Officials will be used at DSE athletics events. The DSE have also accepted that a Criminal Record Bureau enhanced disclosure completed for UK Athletics will be sufficient for their safeguarding policy and will not require a further disclosure to be completed. General volunteers will still be most welcome but dealt with by a different process.

Important information for Officials wishing to apply for accreditation to New Level 3.

The application form to apply for accreditation at New Level 3 can be found on the officials education and training section of the website

Guidelines for assessment of level 3 logbooks have also been added to the Education and Training section of the website. 

June 2008

2009 UK Athletics Officials’ Conference

The 2009 UK Athletics Officials’ Conference will be held on Sunday 19th April 2009.  The venue for the Officials Conference will be the St. Johns Hotel, Solihull.

May 2008

Police Records Disclosures (CRB, POCVA, Disclosure Scotland)

All UK Athletics licenced officials’ should now hold an enhanced police records disclosure check.  Currently over 3500 existing licenced officials have already completed this process. 

Officials in England and Wales should click this link to view the information sheet on how to apply for an enhanced Police Records Dislclosure. 

Officials in Scotland and Northern Ireland should contact Scottish Athletics or Northern Ireland Athletics who will be able to provide you with the process for completing the disclosure.

The disclosure will not cost you anything as long as you operate as a volunteer.

Summer Selections 2008

The UKA Summer Outdoor Selections for Domestic and Televised events have now been added to the website.  Please click to view the selections.

ICOG and IOG Groups

The updated ICOG and IOG Officials groups 2008 have been added to the International Officials page.  Click here to view the ICOG and IOG Officials Groups for 2008.

UK Athletics Officials Conference 2008

The UK Athletics 5th Officials’ Conference took place at the Heart of England Conference Centre, Fillongley,  Coventry on Sunday 20th April 2008.  The title of this years conference was ‘Preparing for 2012: Learning from Olympic and Paralympic Experiences’

This years conference attracted over 250 registrations which led us to increase the number of delegates from 200 to 230.

UK Athletics Chief Executive Niels de Vos opened the conference with the Welcoming Address and outlined UK Athletics’ committment to Officials.

Xavier Gonzalex, Chief Executive Officer of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) then gave an interesting presentation titled ‘Technical Delivery of a Paralympic Event’, outlining his role within the IPC and explaining how the International Paralympic Commmittee delivers across 9 different sports.

Workshop session one enabled the delegates to split into 5 different workshop groups; Disability officiating (Field), Technical Information Centre, Final Call, Mentoring and Assessment.

Dr. Moira Gallaghers’ presentation ‘Officials Developement’ outlined the new officials education structure and detailed the officials’ pathway.

John Trower (Coach to Olympic Athletes) led the Guest speaker session after lunch detailing experiences at an Olympic event through the eyes of a coach and providing a useful insight into how coaches’ and officials could learn from one another.

Drawing on his years of experience as a coach and having observed the interaction between coaches, athletes and officials he urged the gathering to ensure there was consistency across the board. With 2012 approaching at speed, Trower encouraged the delegates to ensure that there was a synergy between GB athletes and GB officials at the London Games – not, of course, to gain an unfair advantage – but to ensure every aspect of an athletes preparation in the moments leading up to and during an event are respected.

GB Olympic athlete, Jason Gardener provided the delegates with a privileged insight into his personal experiences at the Olympic Games.

Workshop session 2 enabled a second delivery of the workshop sessions with delegates able to attend a different workshop to the first.

UK Athletics would like to extend their thanks to the Guest Speakers for taking time from their busy schedules to attend the conference and to the volunteer workshop leaders for writing and delivering the various workshops.

Presentations for all Guest speakers and workshops can be downloaded from the Conference 2008 page of the website.

Cessation of transfer from Grades to Levels   

The transfer from grades to levels has ceased. If you wish to discuss this further please contact Paula Gowing, Senior Co-ordinator – Officials Development at UK Athletics by email pgowing@ukathletics.org.uk or telephone 0121 713 8407.

Current Position in Respect of Upgrading Education and Governance of Officials

Over the past year changes have occurred in the Governance, Regulation and Education of Officials and these are outlined in the Education and Training Section.

Current Position in Respect of Upgrading, Education & Governance of Officials

The current position of UKA in regards to Upgrading, Education & Governance of Officials is now avaliable….View Report 

Further Update on Selection & Records of Officials within England

England Athletics at their Council meeting held on Friday 14 December 2007 made certain decisions regarding the selection and records of Officials within England. These decisions are available at England Update.