The Oceania Athletics Association is now calling for officials to be appointed to Oceania Open Area Championships to be conducted in Cairns, 23-25 September 2010. The Oceania Athletics Association would be pleased if any interested official would nominate on the attached nomination form with details of all necessary experience. 

Nominations for Officials will close at the OAA Office on the 28^th May 2010 and appointments are expected to be communicated by mid-June to ensure sufficient time for officials to make travel and accommodation bookings.  Positions to be filled are indicated at the end of this circular - Officials must complete the Call for Officials form at the end of this Circular.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CIRCULAR NOW

There are many opportunities that stem from being an official... just ask one of our own...

Jim has been with Athletics Australia for over 40 years. He was originally involved with athletics as a junior and then become involved with his daughters at the Ross River Athletic Club.  Over the years he has officiated at club level and in various major athletic meets held locally and around Australia. He has travelled extensively to officiate all over Queensland and Australia at State and National Championship Meets for Athletics Australia and for School competitions.

1991 Arafura Games - Jim has travelled to Darwin 4 times to officiate at these Games as a Track  Referee

1994 World Masters Championships - Track/Jump/Throws

1996 World Junior Championships - Jumps Referee

1996 Oceania Championships Tracks Referee

2000 Sydney Olympics:  Jumps Referee

2001 Goodwill Games: Brisbane: Referee Combined Events

2004 Oceania Championships ATO

2006 Commonwealth Games: Melbourne: Referee Combined Events

2008 Oceania Masters Championships: Area Technical Official and Jury of Appeal

 Jim is also actively involved in teaching Officials in Clubs and at Schools as an IAAF accredited Level 2 Area Technical Official. In this role Jim travels from Cairns to Rockhampton and west to Mt Isa, covering the whole North Queensland Athletics region. Jim’s commitment to Athletics in North Queensland and Queensland Athletics is outstanding. He has officiated at many major carnivals and is always prepared to share his extensive knowledge and help with new officials, however it is his commitment to teaching new officials through conducting Officials Courses as a Level 2 Technical Information Official.  Jim’s knowledge and enthusiasm for the sport of Athletics is inspiring to those who work closely with him and he has helped many other officials become more involved with Officiating and travelling as officials to major competitions both in Australia and overseas. So although Jim has dedicated a large part of his life to helping others in the sport of athletics to grow as both officials and athletes in over 30 clubs in the region when we asked him has he had enough of it yet? Jim replied with "NO WAY!!!".  

Other achievements...

 Platinum 40 years Service with Australian Athletics

1988 Life Member Ross River Athletics

1991 QA Life Member

1996 to 2006 Athletics North Queensland Board Member as a Administration Director.

2002 elected on to the Queensland Athletics Officials Commission.

2007 ANQ Life Member 

2009 Queensland Athletics: Tom Blue Award   : meritous service to Athletics in Queensland

2009 Athletics Australia Life Member

 Officials are the backbone of Australian Athletics.

Become an Official

Introduction

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.

To find out more about Athletics Australia's Officials Education Scheme, please refer to the related documents at the end of this page for a copy of the Athletics Australia Officials Education Scheme General Guidelines document.


How to Become an Official

If you would like to become an official, the first step is to contact Athletics North Queensland and speak to Jim Mnehane, who can be contacted via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . You may wish to go to your local club 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:

• Level C
  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.
   
• Level B
  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.
   
• Level A
  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 Qld Athletics.

To find out more about Athletics Australia's Officials Education Scheme, please refer to the related documents at the end of this page for a copy of the Athletics Australia Officials Education Scheme General Guidelines document.


Queensland Officials Education

Officials courses in Queensland are conducted each year and all over North Qld. Speak to Jim Minehane for more info!
 

DOWNLOADS:

  Athletics Australia Officials Education Scheme (AAOES) - General Guidelines


LINKS:

Athletics Australia:  http://www.athletics.com.au/competition/2469

Recent News - Jim Minehane awarded with Athletics Australia Life Membership - CLICK HERE for more info.

Contact Jim Minehane at ANQ on 07 4728 1365 

Congratulations to Andrew Welsh, Brittany Smith, Shannon Smith and Cameron Clayton on completing their Level C Officials Course as well as Cara Bousted for completing her Level B!!!

Jim Minehane has recently been award with two prestigous awards for his great service to the support.

The Tom Blue Award for meritous service to Athletics in Queensland and Athletics Australia Life Membership

To read more about Jim please CLICK HERE - Officials Profile of Jim Minehane

December 2009

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August /September 2009

July 2009