Behind the scenes with staff at the England Athletics Age Group Championships 2025

Last weekend the best junior athletes from across the country all travelled to Sheffield to compete for national junior titles. But what does it take from the team at England Athletics to make the Age Group Championships a success? Here is a snapshot of the action behind the scenes with the events team and wider England Athletics staff.

Enabling and evaluating the success of the event

The role of the event team starts long before the competition day itself with the planning process and continues beyond the pack down of the venue to evaluate and improve for next year. Look behind the scenes to see how they keep an event running and continue to make improvements year on year.

Nichola Skedgel – Competition and Partnerships Manager

“Event days for us as the events team is where we see our months of work come to fruition. On event days, in the main part we are there to troubleshoot, review the event, see what isn’t working to then help with our planning for next year.

“After an event, everybody gives feedback and we appraise that feedback and try to alter the event to see how it can be improved. For example, this year at the Age Group Indoor Championships, we changed athlete entry, the position of athlete registration and the exhibitor area all to try and make the warm up area bigger, which is feedback we received last year from the athletes. Part of our role then on the weekend was to look at that area and see if it was working.”

Vicky Griffiths – Team Operations Manager

“Prior to the event, my role involves setting up and approving entries on Roster, an innovative online entry and competition management platform, which was over 1000 entries for this event, and then sending out the information to athletes. I also work with the competition director to plan the timetable and chief officials to ensure everything athlete related is sorted.

“During the competition weekend I help to set up and break down the event, alongside being available to troubleshoot and support with any decisions involving athletes. I continue to liaise with the competition director on the timetable, for example any changes, or a plan for running late. It is also my job to double check all the results inputted into Roster before the medals can be awarded."

Ensuring a positive athlete and spectator experience

Nichola Skedgel describes the important of a wider volunteer team behind the scenes to create a positive experience of the competition not only for the athletes, but also for their coaches and any spectators.

“We have a big team of volunteers, a lot of whom are from England Athletics, and this year we had some volunteers from Sheffield Hallam University. They spend time on medal ceremonies, coach accreditation, and spectator entry. All the officials are volunteers as well, so the number of volunteers it takes to run these competitions should not be underestimated.”

Hayley Cooper – Member Engagement Officer

“My role here today is checking in all the spectators that have come along to watch the athletes. We’ve had quite a few today, so I have been quite busy.”

Matthew Dalton – Chair of England Council and Board Member

“I’m here in my capacity as a member of the Board, volunteering at our U15, U17 and U20 Championships. I had great fun doing the Roster entry for the field events a little bit earlier and here I am having the privilege of presenting medals to our great winners today. It has been a fantastic day.”

Exploring the wider sport in the exhibitor area

This year our exhibitor area could be found in the hall opposite athlete registration. This area played host to our partner, Kukri, Clean Athletics, Scarborough College, as well as different functions of England Athletics looking to engage all the event attendees.

Tracey Francis – Participation and Programmes Manager

“I look after funetics, which is our primary school offer for children aged 4-11. So, here at the championships we’ve got our activation zone, which is a combination of run, jump and throw. It is open to all family members, especially children . You can come and turn up any time and have a go. So, that’s what we have been doing this weekend and we take our roadshow all around the country.”

Heidi Bradley – Club Support Manager

“I’m here today manning the club support stand, so we’re here just to help anybody from clubs, coaches, parents, athletes with any queries that they might have about their club.”

Amy Weaver-Tyler – Foundation Manager for Personal Best Foundation, England Athletics’ official charity

“We’re here today at the English Indoor Champs to raise awareness about the charity, as we’re still a really new charity. So, we’re here chatting to people and talking about the work we do to help change young lives through the power of athletics.”