Soon we will be seeking nominations for Age Group Managers for the 2017-18 Season. The information on this page provides from details for interested parents on this role.
Running field events at Saturday meets In order to run the field events at our meets, its important that age managers understand the rules regarding those events in your age group (noting that not all age groups compete in all events). For Little Athletics, there are not a great deal of highly technical rules for events, so don't worry! The most important things to remember are:
1. Correct weight for throws - its important the athletes throw the correct weight shot, discus and javelin for their age and gender. All caddies at throws have these listed for your reference. 2. Correct hurdle height and distance - hurdle heights do change by age. Senior athletes run a longer distance also 3. Correct measurement for long jump and triple jump - measuring can be from the foot or the front of the board. 4. Recognising foul jumps and throws.
There are a number of information sources for Age Managers looking for guidance on field events -
Our Club Handbook for fact sheets on each of the field events, including how to set up events, how to measure and how to determine foul jumps or throws.
Recording sheet will provide information on the correct weight for throws events - make sure you check this to ensure that athletes are throwing the correct shot put, discus and javelins.
Many of our Committee members are knowledgable on events and can answer questions at meets.
Email our Age Group Manager Coordinator during the week with questions for up-coming meets if you are unsure as to what to do.
Recording Results Each Saturday morning your folder will include record sheets for each event your age group is competing in that day. These sheets have all athletes' names (not split into A/B groups), as well as technical information for that event (weights etc), Centre records and each athlete's PB in that event.
Our Assistant Recorder enters all the field event results from the sheets into the online results database each week. To make this process as accurate and quick as possible, we ask age group managers to make sure you record the BEST RESULT for all field events on the record sheet. For throws, this is easy as we only measure once. For Jumps, please ensure you fill in the Best performance column after the conclusion of the third jump.
High Jump recording High jump record sheets are set out differently than other sheets to allow for three attempts at a series of heights. When recording for high jump:
1. To avoid confusion use the following markings - X = foul jump O = Cleared at that height (successful jump) - = Passed at that height (did not jump but went to the next height).
2. Clearly Record Heights On the High jump sheet, the Manager or parent recording needs to clearly label at the top of each column the height being jumped. The usual progression of heights is by 5cm increments, however you can go up by 2cm increments near the end of the event, at your discretion, and/or the request of the athletes. Starting heights for each age group are listed in the club handbook.
WEEKLY PROGRAM AND EVENT ORDER The Program for each Saturday meet is set up to have each age group moving around the oval competing in events in a particular order. For field events, age groups are allocated particular jumping or throwing areas.
We ask managers to following the program order, particularly for field events. 'Skipping' over an event, or doing an event earlier can cause problems later in the program for other groups. In particular, high jump, triple jump, Javelin and throws have designated areas and are scheduled in the program in a particular order. Please do not skip over high jump, in particular, and expect the mat will be free later!
We know there are times when there are line up on the tracks - in these cases, if you are able to run hurdles in your program, and the hurdle track has a shorter line, this is an option you can take (only for 60 metre hurdles races, 80 metre and 90 metre events for older athletes must be run at the end of the program as we adjust the track for these).
There are times when the straight track is quiet, and in these instances you can slot in a straight track event if you have one on your program (for instance, if you are waiting for long jump or high jump).
On the round track, we will always run 800 metre races first - followed by 200 metre races. Some weeks we will also run 400 metre races but these will always be at the end of the program. On weeks when we have 400 metres on the program, please do not delay any 200 metre races you have on your program, as you may find the starter has left the 200 metre start position to commence 400 metre starts.
If you are unsure, please check the program and ask a Committee member for advice on event order.
Age Group Managers FAQs
What if I don't have enough parent helpers? If are short of helpers on the day, we recommend you ask parents who may be spectating to help you - even if it is for a single event if parents are watching events they can be helping. At announcements if you are concerned you can speak to the Committee member doing announcements who can seek helpers for you. If you regularly find yourself short of helpers, email our Age Group Manager Coordinator and we can encourage more parent helpers in our weekly newsletter.
What do I do if I can't make it on a Saturday? If there are meets in the calendar which you are aware that you can't attend please speak with other parents and see if someone may be able to fill in for you. If you are not able to do this, please email us and we will seek a replacement on the morning of the meet.
