In our journey on this spinning planet, can there be any good to come from a state of inertia? As a nation regarded as the sprint capital of the world, we would greatly appreciate the simplistic philosophy of growth/death, making us either predisposed by our actions or lack thereof to either getting better or getting worse. As has been posited by the late Thomas Edison, failure is only truly upon us when we cease trying. Getting undesired results can be viewed as the discovery of additional ways we cannot successfully conduct an activity, a failing your way to success kind of scenario. The obvious caution though is staying clear of repeating the same error and simultaneously refusing to profit from notes of said activity.
In recent years, our sport has been going through a series of changes. This includes the not very subtle renaming/ rebranding of the global body. The International Association of Athletics Federations emerged from the 2019 meeting of Congress as the then freshly minted World Athletics (WA). T his, coupled with a raft of changes to the global competition system, has resulted in significant amounts of consequential changes in officiating and by extension officials.
According to the WA rules, key officials must be appointed at all international competitions. With the advent of world ranking competitions, more emphasis is placed on having internationally certified officials at significantly more track and field meets, especially where ranking points are being sought. This is in a bid to have the athletes’ valid performances be recognised as such.
In short, our major athletics championships have shifted to providing a platform for the sport’s best/top ranked athletes to compete before a global audience. Ranking points are gained over the qualification period from meets designated as World Ranking Competitions. The WA Council may produce regulations governing the conduct of such competition. This is intended to include designating representative(s) to attend each world ranking competition, in order to ensure that it is conducted in accordance with the rules of athletics.
In July 2022, the WA Council approved a new World Athletics Referee Education and Certification System (WARECS). This includes the change of name of International Technical Official (ITO) to the more easily understood title of World Athletics Referee. Major objectives of these changes include:
Congress is the highest authority/decision making body in the sport of athletics. It consists of all member federations and meets biannually at the time of the outdoor World Championships.
WA Council is a body of 26 elected members responsible for governing the sport of athletics, the overall conduct and management of the sport and its disciplines.
- Clearer development and education pathway to attract and support the progression of those who want to attain qualifications and officiate within athletics (from grassroots through to the global stage).
- Promoting more diverse gender and regional balance among qualified referees.
- Maintaining the highest levels of excellence within referees and reflecting enhanced requirements for qualified personnel to ensure integrity of new World Tours, recognised performances, and the avoidance of event manipulation.\
TECHNICAL OFFICIALS EDUCATION CERTIFICATION SYSTEM (TOECS) VERSUS WARECS
| TOECS – 2022 and Prior | WARECS – 2023 and beyond |
|---|---|
| TOECS Level 1 | National Athletics Referee (NAR) Level |
| World Athletics Referee – Bronze Level (Introduced in 2023) | |
| TOECS Level 2 | World Athletics Referee – Silver Level |
| TOECS Level 3 | World Athletics Referee – Gold Level |
The large and still growing number of designated meetings and races has necessitated the need for a larger pool of World Athletics Referees (WARs) which has in the first instance been to create the WAR – Bronze Level.
WARs are appointed to World Athletics Series (WAS) Events and as Technical Delegates to World Athletics one-day meetings – Wanda Diamond League, Continental Tour, Cross Country, Combined Events and Race-Walking Tours and Road Race Label events – as well as the athletics competitions of the Olympic Games to ensure fair and proper conduct of those events.
There are no limitations on maximum numbers of candidates from the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) who seek to obtain the qualification for NAR. However, gender balance is strongly recommended/ requested by WA. This course is available online via WA ELearning hub in English, French and Spanish with additional languages to be added. From this start line one can move further along the development path in playing one’s part in the fair and proper conduct of our sport globally.
WAS include World Athletics Championships for outdoor, indoor, U20, relays, cross country, race walking and road running during World Championships cycles and/or World Cup events for each of these types of competition.
The official(s) responsible for ensuring that all technical arrangements are in complete conformity with the Technical Rules and the World Athletics Track and Field Facilities Manual. Rule 5 of the WA Competition Rules.
Currently, projected to end by 2026, NAR are allowed to operate as Referees and Chief Judges at National Championships and Challenger Sr. Competitions which are global ranking events. 2026 and beyond these positions will be filled only by certified WARs.
So in the vein of growing with our beloved sport, join the ranks of the few who selflessly serve at the start line of track and field officiating (https://elearning.worldathletics. org) and get in touch with the JAAA to volunteer on the pathway to providing service to the world’s finest athletes.