Volunteers

As with all amateur sporting organisations Illawarra Blue Stars Athletic Club relies very much on the help and expertise of volunteers.

There are many areas of the club where volunteers can assist including:

• taking a position on the management committee

• assisting with club functions or fund raising activities

• helping on club competition days

Club competition days in particular rely very much on volunteers to take out and put away equipment and to assist with the running of all the events. People who assist with officiating are given help and guidance by members who are Athletics Australia accredited technical officials.

If you have any skills that you believe would assist the club, please let us know via the contact form or by speaking directly to one of the management committee members.

Becoming a Qualified Athletic Official

If you are interested in learning more about becoming qualified, there is an education scheme in place for training officials.

As a result of a joint venture agreement between Athletics Australia and Little Athletics Australia a five-level system, creating a transparent pathway for officials from club/school level through to the international level, is now in place. The system is common across all athletics organisations with qualifications being recognised by both senior and junior bodies.

Basic training courses and modules can be completed online at home in your own time. Level 0 provides you with an introduction to officiating. A Level 1 qualification will allow you to officiate at centre and regional level competitions and carnivals. Courses and qualifications are for individual events e.g. track, long jump, discus, etc.

For those wanting to officiate at state level competitions and carnivals you can progress through to Level 2 and higher accreditation. Level 2 involves a combination of online modules, a workshop attendance and practical experience at 15 events under the supervision of a qualified official.

More information on the various levels and on gaining accreditation can be found on the Athletics Australia website at http://www.athletics.ocom.au. There is a section on “Officiating” under “Get Involved” that explains all about the system. 

NB: Candidates will need to be familiar with the relevant sections of the latest IAAF Competition Rules Handbook (currently 2018-19). This can be found on the Athletics Australia website at the “Rules, Technical Information & Officiating Resources” link under “Officiating”.  Printed copies can generally be purchased from Athletics Australia or Athletics NSW. 

IBS encourages all members to consider at least gaining accreditation in their areas of interest.

Athletics Australia Qualified Technical Officials

The following is an alphabetical listing of Illawarra Blue Stars Athletic Club members who are current Athletics Australia accredited technical officials:

Janet Munro 1.7.45 - 9.3.17

The late Janet Munro provides an example of where volunteering can lead.

Janet joined IBS in 1995 with the aim of getting involved as a master’s athlete, not having been involved with athletics since her school days. However, as is the case with so many people who join the club, she was soon helping out with officiating on Sunday afternoons.

From this basic beginning she became a very capable and highly respected technical official for Athletics NSW and Athletics Australia. She officiated at both state and national events and championships on a regular basis, primarily on field events in summer and cross country in winter.

She also officiated at Oceania Championships and would have certainly been selected for the 2018 Commonwealth Games had she not passed away unexpectedly. (Four other officials from IBS were also chosen for this event out of a total of 43 selected from NSW - Neville Fenn, Ann Grimm, John Munro & Jodie Sundstrom)).

Janet was named NSW Official of the Year for 2016-17, having been a finalist twice before. However, what meant just as much to her was seeing the progress of other officials who she had mentored, advised or encouraged and the positive feedback she received from athletes, coaches and parents of junior athletes.