From: Martin Johnson [mailto:
Sent: Sunday, November 01, 2015 10:03 AM
To: Martin Johnson
Subject: Colorado Official's Newsletter 2015-6
Hi Folks,
This is the sixth, and probably last, newsletter of this calendar year. I hope you have all had a busy and rewarding summer working track meets, and that you have been able to get out and work some of our local youth cross country meets. The last big meet of the year for these athletes will be the Colorado Association Youth Cross Country Championships on November 7 at Fountain Creek Park in Fountain, CO. If you are interested in working this meet, please see our web page and contact Don Sinclair or Ross Cargo. We don’t need a ton of officials for this meet, but a few certified folks to work the chute and oversee the course are always needed. Remember the old cross country adage – “Never wear new shoes to work the chute”! The cross country season will be closely followed by the indoor season, and the schedules are posted on the USATF Colorado website.
Clinics
We will be having new official’s clinics at USAFA and CU as we start the indoor seasons. In addition to the clinics for new officials, there will be refresher clinics for officials at USAFA, CU and CSU. Your official’s coordinators for those venues will have final details but the current schedule is as follows:
USAFA New Official Clinic on December 13, 2015
CU New Official Clinic on January 09, 2016.
Refresher clinics will be held before the first home NCAA meets at each venue. Make sure you keep yourself up to date on rule changes as there are sure to be some tweaks when the new books are published. We’ll know more after the USATF Annual Meeting in early December when the rules committees have their final meetings. As always, make sure you know the proper rules for each meet you are working. The only way to stay on top is to READ, REVIEW, and NEVER BE AFRAID TO CHECK THE RULEBOOK!!!
Upcoming Events - Local
A complete listing of localYouthandMastersevents can be found by selecting the links.
SAFETY
I’m going to foot stomp safety in every one of these newsletters. Cross country meets are prone to spectator/runner interactions. Typically we have a cyclist lead the athletes around the course, and they can help keep folks out of the way by verbal commands, but when you are running a race in a city park you can’t clear the entire park or make sure that everyone in the park is aware there is a race going on. As officials we can help by stationing ourselves at critical turns in the course and by proactively warning folks (nicely) that runners will be coming through momentarily. Be alert! Even in large races with a police presence closing off streets, spectators, cars, dogs, and cyclists can cause accidents. Cross country can be as much of a test as an indoor meet.
Championship Officiating Opportunities
As a Colorado official, there are plenty of opportunities to work local and regional conference championship meets for NCAA D1 and D2 schools. Applications for RMAC and MW conference meets can be found on the USATF Colorado Officials webpage. Please take a look there first when you are setting your schedule for the year. These meets can use good officials, so give them your consideration.
If you’d like to work a national championship meet to gain experience at that level, and to build your officiating resume, see the information below on championship meets around the country. For details and applications, go to:https://my.usatfofficials.com/applications
Awards
Please give your congratulations to John Carmony and Amos Norman. They were given awards by the USATF National Official’s Committee for their service to the sport of track and field in Colorado. Well deserved, gentlemen!
SafeSport Training
SafeSport training will be required in the near future for all certified officials. Currently coaches are required to get background checks and complete SafeSport training or equivalent as mandated by local governing bodies. USATF has extended this requirement to officials working national championships for 2015 and beyond. The SafeSport training is a one-time requirement and can be found at:http://safesport.org/The SafeSport initial training is free – simply go to the store on the website and add the course to your cart. The cost is “free”. Officials selected for national championships in 2015 were given a link to get background checks with the cost covered by USATF. If this continues in 2016, I will pass the information along.
In conclusion
The USATF national official’s shirt will probably change in 2016. USATF told us last year that one will be provided to all certified officials – look for this sometime in 2016.
We will continue to add links for applications to meets as they become available to our USATF Colorado Official’s tab on the USATF Colorado webpage. We currently have applications on the webpage for RMAC and MW conference championships, and there is also a link to the National Official’s page where you can find events needing officials all across the country. Maybe add a meet to an upcoming vacation – part of the travel might even be tax-deductible as part of a charitable contribution. Check with your tax advisor on that. Please keep in mind all that our Youth, Masters, and Open divisions can all use your help at meets all over the state. Have a great end to the cross country season, and I hope to see you at a meet somewhere soon!
Marty
Martin Johnson
Officials Chair
USA Track & Field, Colorado Association
(719)209-1892 (cell)