Parent Helpers

This season MLAC is adopting a new model of conducting weekly competitions. We will be requesting help from parents to run the events and to lead the age groups to their events.

How will this work?

Each week we will be asking for parents to add their names into the sign-up roster below. We would like to see different parents put their hands up each week.

It is a good opportunity to look at the program, see which events your children are competing in and choose to officiate at that event for the night.

There are a number of roles to fill each week:

Set-up crew - assist with settting the events up prior to competition starting.
Age group leader - will take the athletes to their event and assist the event official.
Track starter - must have completed the Introduction to Starting course.
Track timekeeper - use the RaceHQ software to record race results.
Track marshall - hand out place cards as athletes cross the finish line.
High jump official - ensure the athletes are using correct technique and measure jumps.
Long jump official - ensure the athletes are using correct technique and measure jumps.
Triple jump official - ensure the athletes are using correct technique and measure jumps.
Shot put official - ensure the athletes are using correct technique and measure throws.
Discus official - ensure the athletes are using correct technique and measure throws.
Javelin official - ensure the athletes are using correct technique and measure throws.

Why is MLAC doing this?

Unlike other sports, athletics competitions require many helpers to ensure the events run smoothly. In the past, the centre has relied on too few parents to meet these demands. Some of these people are no longer at the centre, while others will be leaving the centre within the next few years. This has lead to the situation where we do not have enough people to run our competition nights.

There are numerous benefits to having parents run events:

There are more parents trained and able to assist.
The centre is able to continually rotate helpers as older athletes leave the centre.
The centre is less reliant on a few people to run the competitions.
We are able to cover for people being away.
When it comes to special events such as Open Day or Championship Day you will already have the knowledge to assist.
You will gain some insights in how to help your child improve.

How can we achieve this?

The implementation has not been very smooth so far. To try to improve the situation we would like to do the following:

Have a couple of our more experienced people walking around helping the officials rather than running events themselves.
Run a couple of training sessions for parents. We strongly encourage all parents to atttend one of these sessions:

Saturday October 26, 11:00am
Saturday October 26, 1:00pm
We will run more sessions in consultation with parents