So this is all a bit weird for us to be setting up a website, Instagram and YouTube account and post thoughts on being a Technical Official, but we really hoped it would be a resource for anyone to use. Which is why there’s a lot of info on it… Hopefully you can pick out what you need, and if not, as always, ping us and we’ll see what we can do.
What kicked all this off? Originally it started off as word doc with some reminders of what I needed to reference for each comp. A quick cheat sheet if you like. I wanted to do that because I wanted to be as best a TO as I possibly could be for the athletes. I asked Jess to take a look and add anything she might think appropriate and she loved the idea and we agreed we’d create a proper document so that we could share it. Then Jess came up with the great idea of making it easily available by putting it on a website and, well here we are. But while the primary function of all this is to help educate others, there’s also a selfish side to it all for me because I also hoped it would help me learn and develop as a TO to fulfil some personal Officiating goals; To Officiate at a World Championships or the Olympic Games. This has never been my desire until recently. How did reffing at a couple of local comps a year minifest into wanting to TO at the highest level? Well, I thought I would detail my TO background and what my next steps are as it may help you understand the progression path and what’s required (you can also see the BWL pathways section for more details too).
The beginning:
Firstly, I spent the first couple years competing totally oblivious to the officials at competitions, and I think most of us do. And I don’t mean in so much as to not say hello or ask them question regarding good/bad lifts, but more that I didn’t appreciate that they were volunteers, that they had different certifications and so on. I turned up, lifted, maybe on occasion helped load, and then went out for celebratory dinner with friends. That was that. Jobs a good’un.
Then randomly, I read one of the newsletters from BWL about becoming a TO and I started looking into it a bit more. Selfishly, I actually wanted to do the course so that I could understand the rules better so that I knew what I might get called out for at comp as well as helping out occasionally at club comps. And that was that, I spent my first 2 or so years as a Level 2 just gaining knowledge and experience and enjoying helping out at competitions. I never had lofty ambitions of refereeing at national or international level so I was content at club Tier 3 events and Southern Masters comps. One year I volunteered to help out at the British Masters which was great fun. And this is where things changed for me. I started to experience the different roles as well as realise how difficult it was in attracting volunteers to help officiate at Tier 1 & 2 events due to the requirement of more TO’s (marshalls, TC, timekeeper etc). This was a real mindset shift for me in how I saw being a TO. Instead of rocking up and refereeing 1 or 2 sessions, it became a day or weekend of Officiating. And I loved it.
The development:
Once I had volunteered a couple of times for the British Masters as well as BWL Tier 1 & 2 comps, the confidence grew. Don’t get me wrong, if all you can volunteer for is 1 session, it’s massively appreciated, but the more you do, the more experience you get. While it’s not a ‘who you know’ environment in any shape or form, it really helps getting your face out there and being ‘noticed’, so for me, Officiating for the weekend or the whole day did just that. What you wont realise is that the organisers are flat out working tirelessly to make comps run smooth and sometimes you have to be a bit persistent with volunteering your services. This has certainly changed over the past few years with BWL as they have recruited more people to help organise, co-ordinate and run comps, but the British Masters affiliation is still all volunteer based so sometimes its a case of knowing the right person to add you to the right distribution email group. Then once you’re in it, there’s not escaping haha.
Once I had badgered and hounded both affiliations enough, I then started doing the same with the European Masters organisers. Being lucky enough to officiate at the European Masters for a week in Poland was a wonderful experience and I gained an incredible amount of knowledge. It was at this point that I was eligible to go for my Level 3, which I did and passed. So, now it’s on to my Level 4 (IWF Category 2) cert which I hope to complete by the end of 2023. Then it’s another hard slog of volunteering as much as possible to get as much experience at the Senior and Youth age groups so that in a couple of years time, I can apply for the IWF 1 certification.
The next chapter:
How does all this experience and officiating help get me to the Worlds or Olympics? Well, in a nutshell, it does and it doesn’t. Even if I get to IWF Cat 1, the process for selection is hard. EWF or IWF ask BWL to nominate x number of officials for each major competition (Worlds, Europeans, Olympics, Grand Prix events etc). BWL then send out a letter of interest that you, as a category 1 or 2 IWF TO, fill in and return. Then, based on the replies, they select who they think is appropriate for the competition. Therefore, if BWL have 10 letters of interest, but only 1 spot to fill at the Worlds, then I’ll have to wait another year. If it’s the Olympics, yep… you try again in another 4 years. Hopefully now you can see it’s a long process that’s not guaranteed… But imagine if you do get selected!!
So why do all of this? Firstly I love the sport and it’s given me so much that I feel like I owe it. For all the comps, for all the coaching, for all the support from volunteers I’ve received when at competitions, this is my way of returning the favour. Secondly, without volunteers, competitions simply can not run. It’s heartbreaking for me to see organisers scrambling round asking for TO’s at events when we have such a strong athlete and coaching base. They also struggle to get loaders, but then maybe that’s not surprising considering it’s by far the hardest job of the day!! So, again, I do it so that others can continue to compete in the sport we all love.
Finally, I’ll never get to the Olympics as an athlete. At 48, that boat has long sailed haha. But, what’s the next best thing? Being in the stands supporting? Or officiating at an event and being up and close next to your favourite lifters? It’s a no brainer for me. I can’t wait to be in the mix of it all. Being on the marshalls table knowing what Toma’s 3rd Clean and Jerk will be before anyone else or standing next to Li Dayin as TC waiting for his name to be called before he goes out and smashes a world record? Or hitting the white button that gives Mattie Rogers a medal at the World Championships?? I honestly can’t wait!!
