Athletics Weekly, June 26 th 2008 Ref:- Poor Timing-Alan Garton.
Gateshead.
In response to Alan Garton's comments on slow time-keeping in the North East I would like to stress that all graded timekeepers are assessed against electronic systems, not only in the North East but throughout the UK. The maximum error allowed is a 10 th of a second. Errors of our North East graded timekeepers are in the low hundredths, 1/00 th to 5/00 th being the average. At a Gateshead meeting earlier this year my own average over all track events was 1.92 hundredths of a second.
To achieve a time which corresponds to an electronic time the “stop” button on the watch is “started“ to be stopped as the athlete's torso crosses the line (no question of waiting for a trailing leg). Obviously the button will be fully depressed some fraction of a second later but this compensates for the timekeeper's response to the flash of the gun at the beginning of the race, typically 0.25 to 0.35 seconds.
When two athletes are given the same time but are visibly a metre apart, this is because the rules associated with hand times state that all 100 ths below 10th of a second have to be rounded up to that 10 th, e.g. 12.51 becomes 12.6 and likewise 12.59 also becomes 12.6.
A Chief Timekeeper can only work with the number of timekeepers he is given. At a recent 4 team Schools Inter Counties match there were 6 timekeepers, 3 of whom recorded the time of the winner, this is required to ratify records, the other 3 were given 2 nd, 3 rd and 4 th place to record. Of the 3 times submitted for the winner, the average is accepted and rounded up as stated above.
In sprint races a timekeeper should only be given one place to time, over 400m it may be necessary for a timekeeper to take a second time. On occasion due to insufficient timekeepers being available, there may be a necessity for someone to record a second sprint place but this would never be of a prime position in the race.
If as Alan says, athletes are being given faster times outside the North East, and I have no influence over this, it does the athletes themselves no favour, for when they are eventually timed electronically they will have a rude awakening. I would suggest he should be proud of the high standard of time-keeping in the North East region. We would be happy to have Alan join the timekeepers at Gateshead should he wish to improve his timekeeping skills and possibly go on to assist in League and Open meetings elsewhere. Charles Stuart
Middlesbrough AC ( Mandale )
Level 4 Timekeeper,
Level 4 Sprints Coach Performance
'Tees Valley Sport' course dates 2008
There are various generic courses available, held at different locations and dates, funding for the course' are under negotiation with 'Tees Valley Sport'.
Course details
Booking Form
Any one intrested please contcat
secretary@middlesbroughac.org.uk
Basic information about Officiating at events.
If you want to get involved, you'll need to get onto the UK Athletics Level 1 course the following is covered:
- Measure distances and times
- Make and share judgments
- Record observations, judgments and data
- Ensure safety and report concerns
- Liaise and communicate with other officials and athletes
- Report rule infringements, follow procedures and apply rules
As well the teaching official rules and procedures, the award helps candidates to be athlete-centred fair, unobtrusive, sensitive, diplomatic, systematic, firm, focused, objective, decisive, consistent and calm.
After the course you will be given the opportunity to apply your new skills at an event, you will be provided with a log, if you wish to progress to higher levels this needs to be completed and passed on to be scrutinised, contact any of the club officials at an event for further information.
Courses are always advertised here and are available at various locations throughout the year.
Dear Coach,
Just a reminder for your athletes that the closing date for entries to the Northern Athletics Track & Field Championships to be held at Robin Park Stadium. Wigan, for U15/U17 age groups is 28th April . The meeting takes place Saturday May 24th (day 1) and Sunday 25th (day 2)
Senior/U20 Championships to be held at Sport City, Manchester has an entries closing date of 19th May , the meeting will be held on Saturday 14th June and Sunday 15th June.
ON LINE ENTRIES, for all events, are available at
www.athleticsdata.com
Combined Events NB, A single entry form is now required for entry into the England Open Combined Events Championships & Northern Combinded Events Championships:
Entry forms available at
www.englandathletics.org or
www.northernathletics.org.uk
Senior/U20 Combined Events Champs , Men & Women, to be held at Alexander Stadium, Birmingham, Saturday 31st May/Sunday 1st June has a closing date of 5th May.
U17/U15 Combined Events Champs U17 Men Decathlon, U15 Heptathlon, U17 Women Heptathlon & U15 Girls Pentathlon to be held at Alexander Stadium on Saturday 16th/Sunday17th August has a closing date for entries of 21st July.
Hope this helps. With Best Regards Charles.
A full list of all the track and field meetings, including the above can be found here.
more>>
The following entry prices will be operating from 1st April at Clairville Stadium.
£1.85 for club members and young people 17 or under, full time students and anyone on a recognised list of benefits *****as long as they purchase a Leisure Link Card***** which runs 1st September - 31st August each year - £2.00 proof required once. Membership Card or Leisure Link Card must be shown each visit in order to get reduced rate.
£2.35 for non club members or anyone listed above who does not purchase a Leisure Link card, proof required each time they visit, this applies to anyone wishing to use the track.
£3.00 for adult (18 and over) club members or anyone with a Full Leisure Link Card.
£3.50 any adult wishing to use the track who has neither a Club Card or Leisure Link Card.
Leisure Link appication form. more >>
FREE Officials Courses
For any one who is intrested in becoming a qualified official.
Level 2 Officials Courses
26th March 2008 Morpeth (7-9) Generic Module
2nd April 2008 Morpeth (7-9) Field Event Module
5th April 2008 Gateshead Stadium Generic + Field Module
12th April 2008 Clairville Stadium, Middlesbrough Generic + Field Module
For those not wanting to do the field event module, the following options are available:
23rd April Gateshead Stadium (1) Track Judging (2) Timekeeping (3) Starters & Starters Assistant.
For an application form contact
(direct) Richard Hunter
rhunter@englandathletics.org or our club
secretary, Jackie at
secretary@middlesbroughac.org.uk
for further assistance.
Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) and how it effects you
Sporting organisations already require police checks on those involved in sport with young people, all our coaches are all Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checked; we would encourage all volunteers to apply for
CRB verification which is free.
Shortly it will be Middlesbrough Borough Council's policy that all adults, using Clairville Stadiums facilities and working with young persons to be CRB certificated as part of an overall child protection policy.
A CRB check is free and valid for 3 years; a guide can be downloaded here to how to apply, if you are not sure about this, please speak to our Club verifier for CRB
Jill King.
This England athletics number along with ours remains with you for life so eventually you will get a number.
The meetings will start with the findings from the questionnaire and give some news from a recent meeting with UKA and their thoughts.
We will not make any proposals directly but we may give you some idea of our thoughts if asked or needed to get talks moving, so I suspect that they will not be necessary.
Each meeting is planned to start at 7.00pm and should last no more than two hours.
Officials Education and Training
LEVEL 2 Technical Officials Course
3rd February, Clairville Stadium, 10.00 - 4.00.
This course is for volunteers who wish to become qualified Athletics Officials. Level 1 is NOT a prerequisite for attending Level 2.
Participants can choose from track judging, timekeeping, field judging or starting/marking.
The course is free of charge and lunch will be provided.
Closing date for applications 22nd January
email
jarthur@englandathletics.org for a form or see Eve at Clairville.
Officials Health & Safety Workshop
15th February, Clairville Stadium, 7.00pm - 9.30pm
Attendance at this workshop is required on the UKA Officials licence. If anyone has already attended the course in 2002 they need not attend.
There is a limit of 15 places on this workshop. It is free of charge and light refreshments will be available.
Closing date for applications 9th February
email
jarthur@englandathletics.org or see Eve at Clairville
Please support the club by attending these courses. If you have officiated for us at Young Athletes League matches, this is your opportunity to get recognition and a qualification.
