As part of a regular series, the Development Team is continuing to provide updates across key areas of the directorate including; Coaching Development, Officials Development, Clean Athletics, Facilities, Safeguarding and Rules & Procedures.

It has been busy start to the year and the remainder of 2022 promises to be an a truly exciting year for the sport with, from a track and field perspective, key major events including; the World Athletics Championships (Oregon, USA), the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the European Athletics Championships (Munich, GER) to look forward to. The back-to-back nature of these championships over the summer months will provide the opportunity for the sport to be showcased at its very best and it is imperative that, as a sport we capitalise on this accordingly.

Following the last update towards the end of 2021, there has been a number of key developments which are outlined in more detail below;

Coaching Development

There has been a huge amount of activity and developments taking place in relation to coaching activity in the first few months of the year. The start of 2022 has seen each of the seven Advisory Panels meeting, in person, for the first time. All have offered some excellent thought, discussion and insight to help shape future thinking and our thanks must go to each of the Advisory Panel chairs and all panel members for all of their support and contributions to date. Further information relating to the Advisory Panels and members can be found here.

The ‘Meet the Coaches’ profiles have continued to be hugely popular, showcasing the great work and dedication of so many coaches and leaders from across the UK. To view all profiles and to catch up on the series, including the latest profile (Lucy Griffiths) please click here.

We have continued to work closely with all home countries to communicate updates and changes to requirements moving forward relating to both First Aid and the tiered approach adopted in relation to Safeguarding as appropriate. The next quarter will see further developments of the qualification pathway with more dynamic and accessible delivery model adopted to ensure that we, working collaboratively with the Home Country Athletics Federations, continue to support flexible delivery options across the pathway.

For additional information relating to coaching and coach development please see the latest coaching update (from 25^th March 2022) which can be found here.

Officials Development

Following on from the successful launch of the UK wide Officials Strategy towards the end of 2021, progress has been made across key projects. In the first three months of 2022, the initial ‘Communities of Practice’ webinars and engagement sessions were held and have proven to be a huge success. The sessions saw well over 200 officials register, with an attendance rate of over 83%. By comparison, and proving even more popular, the Competition Management Award (CMA) webinars had an attendance rate of 90%. These figures demonstrate that there is an appetite for the content and this method of engagement. We would like to thank all those that were involved from an attendance perspective as well as express our sincere gratitude to all those directly involved in the facilitation and delivery of these opportunities. Looking forward, the next few months looks set to be another exciting period for these communities of practice to evolve and develop accordingly.

In our continued commitment to improving environments across the sport, at the end of February we outlined and communicated the new requirements relating to Safeguarding Training for Technical Officials which came into effect from 1^st April 2022 for newly qualifying officials and will be implemented from 1^st July 2022 for existing officials (at the point of relicensing). As a result, and directly aligned to this, the ‘Safeguarding in Athletics’ module has been revised and updated. Further information and more detail can be found here.

Through the Meet the Officials series which started at the end of 2021, we continue to profile the amazing efforts and commitment of so many individuals across the sport across both the website and other digital platforms. The latest instalment in this series features Steve Ouseley (Pembrokshire Harriers, Wales) and can be found here. I am sure that as a sport we are all looking forward to another exciting summer of athletics with competitions taking place across the country at all levels.

In other positive news, later in the year, we will have a strong representation at both the European Athletics Technical Delegates Course and Evaluation at the end of the month as well as the European Athletics Young Leaders Forum taking place in Munich alongside the European Championships in August.

Clean Athletics

We have continued to work closely with UK Anti Doping in relation to the UKAD Assurance Framework and the UKA Clean Athletics Education Strategy and Implementation Plan are in the final stages of completion. Part of this implementation will see the continued delivery and development of essential education and training activities with the extended Clean Athletics team engaging more widely throughout the summer period at events across the UK.

As highlighted earlier, it is set to be an important and action-packed summer of athletics and, as such, the Clean Athletics team are encouraging all Commonwealth Games athletes from across the UK to ensure that they are fully aware of their responsibilities. The pool of athletes that fall under the remit of the National TUE Pool has increased. Further details can be found here.

Additional information relating to all Clean Athletics activity and support resources can be found in the comprehensive Clean Athletics section of the site.

Facilities

As we now start to enter the 2022 track & field season, the TrackMark accreditation process continues to develop with many facility operators and providers gearing up for a full and busy summer of sport. We now have over 50 venues accredited with many working towards accreditation in line with the April 2023 deadline.

Related to the improving standards and quality assurance, in recent months we have seen a number of cage upgrades take place across the UK as well as a new throws cage communication and guidance relating to the World Athletics certification system was produced and disseminated across the sport.

Further information and all supporting documentation relating to facilities can be found on the UKA facilities page or to receive additional information relating to TrackMark accreditation, please email: TrackMark@uka.org.uk

Safeguarding

The safeguarding team continues to be busy which indicates that the referral process is working effectively and that there is an increased confidence in the athletics community in the new safeguarding systems.

As announced in January, UKA have undertaken the process of recruiting a specialist caseworker with a remit to focus on reviewing previously reported cases where there has not been a permanent ban or disqualification in relation to safeguarding concerns of sexual activity or grooming with a child or an adult at risk. We are pleased to announce that, as part of this review of safeguarding sanctions, this caseworker will start work on this project this month.

In relation to athletics codes of conduct, a UKA and HCAF Joint statement relating to the behavioural codes of conduct for the sport was issued and featured on the UKA website at the start of February.

The safeguarding training programme is progressing and on schedule with the roll out of mandatory training for new officials (those newly entering the qualifications pathway) from 1^st April 2022 and 1^st July 2022 for existing officials that are relicensing (as outlined above). The next phase of this rollout focusses on tier 2; a new face-to-face (virtual), athletics focused safeguarding module which we are currently in the process of recruiting specialist tutors and staff to deliver.

We are also delighted to announce that the first meeting of our independent Safeguarding Advisory Panel took place in March this year. This group has been established to provide a source of independent support and advice on safeguarding policies, procedures and practices to the UKA Safeguarding Team, the UKA Executive & Board, as well as to seek to ensure the effective implementation of UKA’s safeguarding policies, procedures, good practice and education / training guidance.

Rules & Procedures

Following a busy period towards the end of 2021 for the Rules Group (and after gaining agreement from the UKA Board meeting held in December) the UKA Rules for Competition, incorporating World Athletics rules (effective from 1^st April 2022) can be found on the Rules of Competition page. In addition, a summary of the changes can be found here.

At the start of March UKA Disciplinary Rules and Procedures as well as new Coach and Officials licence terms and condition were updated and circulated to all licensed technical officials and coaches. A copy of the Disciplinary Rules and Procedures as well as the latest License Terms and Conditions for both Coaches and Technical Officials can be found on the Policies and Regulations page.

For further information or and questions related to this update, please contact Chris Moss (Interim Development Director) on email: cmoss@uka.org.uk