Enfield Harriers Officials
Officiating
Becoming an official is a great way to be involved in athletics – you will be involved in the competition and often from the best seats in the house! Australia has a very successful officials program with a strong network of people who travel to events to ensure the competitions run smoothly and to the rules. At each interclub competition Enfield Harriers is required to supply a number of officials to assist with these duties. There are many jobs to assist with from measuring a throw, to raking a jumping pit or ensuring the event is performed correctly.
Enfield Harriers will pay the costs for official's registration.
How to Become an Official
If you would like to become an official, the first step is to contact an Enfield Harriers committee member or Brenda Pearl at ASA. You may wish to go to interclub competition and officiate for a few sessions to see if you enjoy it. To officiate at a state or national championship event or one of Athletics Australia's Telstra A-series events, you will need experience, formal training and qualification.
There are three levels for officials in Australia
C Level
To achieve this level of qualification, you will need to have a few days experience, then sit for a series paper. This is a multiple choice, open book exam which is based on the IAAF Handbook. Officials can also be tested for this exam verbally. C Level qualifications are the minimum required to officiate at a state championships or Athletics Australia event.
B Level
To achieve a B Level qualification, you will need to have held your C Level qualification for at least 12 months before sitting for the B Level exam. The B Level test is similar to the C Level in that it is a written test. The knowledge required to achieve B Level is significantly greater.
A Level
This is the top qualification level in Australia. To achieve an A Level, you will need to have held your B Level qualification for at least 2 years before sitting for the A Level exam. The exam is an in-depth written exam that tests not only knowledge of the rules, but a person's ability to interpret the rules and make decisions about certain incidents based on them. This ability to interpret the rules is tested because this is the key part of being an event referee or chief. The highest level of official qualification in the world is an International Technical Official (ITO). Australia has three ITOs. Officiating for walks and out of stadium events is slightly different to this. To find out more information, please contact ASA.
Officials Education
Brenda Pearl is South Australia's officials' education liaison officer who runs education and up-to-date seminars.
For more information on officials' seminars, please contact Athletics South Australia.