SCAA Track & Field Officials’ Secretary 2016.
It has been a better year of getting officials for the County Championships.
We have had a couple of higher graded officials transfer in, a couple of upgradings and happily several youngsters and parents attending courses and going on to obtain qualification.
In November we held a Level 2 training course and had attendees on Timekeeping, Track judging and Field judging.
There were some deactivating officials due mainly to not renewing DBS Certificates.
As at January 2016 our officials numbered:
Discipline / Trainee / Level 2a (Club) / Level 2b (County) / Level 2 c (Region) / Level 3 / Total2016
FIELD
2015 / 14
2 / 13
8 / 14
13 / 3
1 / 3
2 / 47
26
2016
TRACK
2015 / 6
1 / 2
2 / 5
4 / 2
2 / 2
2 / 17
11
2016
TIMEKEEPER
2015 / 5
1 / 0
1 / 4
3 / 4
5 / 0
0 / 13
10
2016 WALKING
2015 / 2
LEVEL 5
1 / 2
1
2016
STARTERS
2015 / 3
3 / 3
3
2016
ST. ASSIST.
2015 / 4
4 / 1
1 / 5
5
2016
PHOTO FIN.
2015 / 1
0 / 1
1 / 2
1
2016
TOTAL
2015 / 26
4 / 15
11 / 30
27 / 11
10 / 7
5 / 89
57
There are areas in these figures that indicate we do have critical areas of shortfall and also remembering that some of our officials have been working for many years it is always a delight to welcome new officials. We can offer training and some assistance towards the cost of attending courses.
My thanks to all the officials for their work in the past year and I look forward to seeing them all in 2016.
Mike Oakley
Endurance Report 2015
2015 has seen a few changes and we have now 45 officials who are on the active list. As from 1st April 2016 UKA will be realigning the grades once again and if you are on the non active list and wish to renew it must be done before April.
Those officials who have not yet done the risk assessment course which was supposed to be online at the end of December has now been delay till end of June but if anybody wishes to do the course please let me know and I will arranged a course.
As at January 2016 our Officials are:-
Discipline / NO Grade / Level 2a (Club) / Level 2b (County) / Level 2 c (Region) / Level 3 / Total2016
OFFICIALS
2015 / 36
36 / 5
5 / 3
3 / 2
2 / 46
46
2016
REFEREE
2015 / 5
5 / 3
3 / 2
2 / 10
10
2016
TMO
2015 / 6
2 / 2
2 / 1
2 / 0
0 / 1
1 / 10
7
2016
ADJUDICATOR
2015 / 4
2 / 3
3 / 1
1 / 0
0 / 1
1 / 9
7
2016
TOTAL
2015 / 10
4 / 41
41 / 12
13 / 6
6 / 6
6 / 75
70
From these figures you can see that we are not getting any more officials within the county and also they are all getting older. So please encourage some younger ones to come along and get graded.
Many thanks to all those Officials that helped at the cross country champs and all the road races throughout the year.
Joe Mower
Report from Suffolk Cross Country Championships 2014/15
Ickworth Park 4th January 2015
The set up on the Saturday went very well, with many thanks to those who turned up to help. The gazebos were provided by Ickworth House and we are very grateful to them for their provision.
For the first time it was agreed to include the under 11’s, this would be a combined race with both boy and girls taking part together, This proved very popular indeed and should be included in future years.
The main racing has hampered a little bit by, as it turned out, to be quite a difficult course with a water crossing for most races where one or two got very wet. The racing in general was up to a high standard.
A PA system was used for the first time and it help a lot.
The clean-up after the race went very well and it was noted that little or no damage had been done to the course and there were no tyre marks left anywhere on the course. I did not see where the cars were being parked, so I cannot comment on whether or not that that area was cut up.
When I ask Ickworth Park to book us in for the 2015/16 championships I was told that it would not be possible as the ground had been left in a cut up state and the Sheppard had complained. The outcome being that the Park could not be used for cross country running between the 1st December 2015 until 1st March 2016.
I do believe that they was another cross country event after ours and that they MAY have caused the problem.
I am enclosing my report for the 2015/16 as I firmly believe that at the 2016 AGM a report should be read from over a year previous, instead of the current 2015/16 season.
Heveningham Hall 10th January 2016.
After several visits to the hall with Joe Mower & Chris Corley. Chris Corley came up with a course which was acceptable at this time may point out if anyone has complaints about the hills, then blame me, I seem to like walking up hills.
Build up on Saturday was very busy and we could have done with some more help as the course was spread out over a large area with the 4km being largest loop with the 3km & 2km loops within the 4km loop.
Race day the course was checked and several slight changes were made. Marshals turned up on time and the chief marshal issued them with their instructions their new SCAA marshalling waistcoats and a foil blanket. Unfortunately the marshals goody bag of food was put in the registration room so some of the marshals did not get their packed lunch, which by the way was very good as I managed to find one. A MUST FOR NEXT YEAR, PACKED LUNCHES MUS BE IN THE “MARSHALS REPORT AREA. One other point on marshalling, some clubs still do not answer the request to provide 2 marshals if they are taking part in the event.
As far as I know all races started on time and no complaints were made about the course. During the event some questions were asked for the meeting manager to answer, these questions SHOULD have directed to the RACE REFEREE to reply.
All marshals were asked at the end of the event to bring all course marking equipment to various areas for collection and this was done very well. Well done to the marshals. Clear up went very well.
One final point, thanks must go to Bungay Black Dog for not only help setting up the course and doing a of background jobs i.e. toilets, parking, food etc. Also Framlingham Flyers for providing the Tents and a 4 wheel drive vehicle to move the equipment about. If I have missed someone out, I apologise.
The term “never again” comes to mind, but I’ve said that before, dare say I’ll be there next year
Paul Felton
Cross Country Secretary.
Treasurers report 2015
The balance at the end of the financial year stands at £17921.86. This shows a loss over the year of £1115.42 however this was due to £2883.45 being paid into the main account in the last financial year and being transferred this financial year into the network account.
The network balance stands at £1745.66. This is a profit of £89.32 but as the account was boosted by the transfer of funds it actually shows a working loss of around £2800.
More details will be available at the AGM.
A Cheatham
SCAA AGM ROAD REPORT 2015
The whole year has been one of full events, strong competition and high level of club commitment. There is no doubt that slowly, the hard work being by club officials and coaches with young and old athletes alike, is improving the depth and quality of Suffolk road running. Throughout the year new young talent has started to force its way to the front of races, and, the more senior runners are swelling the ranks to prove that age, size and shape are not the boundaries they once were.
So what is driving this improvement? Is it UKA lead policies for running groups?
I believe in the main it is down to our strong club events which year on year strive to improve their race facilities, courses and infrastructure. This leads to a better quality event that creates an enjoyable experience for all athletes and creates fun, friendship and a bit of rivalry, long may it continue.
The County road championships and Suffolk grand prix are gaining in popularity with larger entry and better recognition for the hosting clubs. In 2016 we will be holding the first Marathon county championships for many a year at the Bungay event in April. It is hoped that there will be a strong entry and we will see a high quality event. There have been a number of county records broken at various distances in the last few years which is an encouraging sign that our top athletes are entering these events. This year at the Suffolk grand prix we saw the emergence of Haverhill as a new dominant force, this was tremendous considering that just a few years ago they struggled to have any real presence in events. Well done to all their club officials for the development work they have done.
It is hoped they will be a continued trend of increased entry to these type of events and with the new 20 mile inter county championships taking place at Langham in early March, our long distance athletes will have a target in future years to gain a Suffolk vest. I am certain if it is a success there may be a call for other inter county events in the future, and hopefully Suffolk ill play its part in there development.
What were our top events for 2015? Well there have been many excellent races, the Framlingham10k , Woodbridge 10k, Felixstowe coastal 10 and many others. Sadly I did not manage to visit Haverhill or Waveney events but the general feeling was that these again were well run events. But I believe that our stand out event for 2015 was the Ekiden relay organised by Ipswich Jaffa. This is a tremendous flag ship for the county with fantastic number of clubs and organisations taking part. Robin Belsom and his organising team have done a brilliant job in growing this event to over 150 teams, and, now has the addition of the Junior Ekidenrelay making it available to all ages of club members. The tents and club flags on the day made for a carnival type appearance and all the clubs cheering on not just their own club members, but friends and rivals from other clubs. This is a model event that Ipswich Jaffa and Suffolk should be proud of.
Terry Back
SCAA Road Race Sec