Powering modern championships: how SEAA and Roster are transforming athletics events

Over the past three years, the South of England Athletics Association (SEAA) has been rolling out Roster across its championships, marking a major step forward in how events are delivered. Through a strong programme of mentoring and on-the-job shadowing, SEAA has invested in its people as well as its technology. We spoke to technical officials involved in delivering the SEAA Indoor Championships to explore how Roster has positively transformed their day-to-day operations.

Seamless athlete registration: where efficiency begins

Athlete registration is the heart of any successful championship, and Roster has streamlined this process from the very first interaction. Athletes enter online ahead of the event and, on the day, simply provide their name at registration. Registration officials can instantly retrieve their details via a simple search function, allowing athletes to collect their bib numbers and focus on competing, with no additional paperwork required. From that moment, a fully electronic information trail is created, improving accuracy and traceability throughout the event.

Instant results at everyone’s fingertips

For most users, results are where the journey ends - and Roster excels here. Results are available instantly via the Roster app or website, removing the need for the usual manual website updates altogether.

At SEAA competitions, photofinish is fully integrated with Roster, allowing race times to be available almost immediately. There’s no need for paper printouts pinned to noticeboards, saving time and resources. Athletes can check qualifications for semi-finals or finals - often scheduled for the following day - conveniently online, whether they’re on their way home or relaxing after competition.

Field event officials can combine their duties (for example, if on scoreboard) with Roster inputting – or additional volunteers can be used to be dedicated inputters. This dramatically reduces transcription errors and keeps information flowing in real time. Coaches and spectators can follow performances as they happen, enhancing the experience even if they can’t be at the event site.

Positive frontline feedback

Officials on the ground have been quick to recognise the benefits. One experienced field official noted that having a Roster operator at the scoreboard made it easy to spot personal bests or qualifying standards during the competition, helping officials congratulate athletes in real time and build stronger rapport.

Chief Track Judge, Emily Whybrow, highlighted Roster’s value when resolving queries efficiently:

"If there was a lane query it's easy to use Roster to look up why an athlete is in a specific lane, especially at events like the SEAA Championships where the rules call for randomised lanes."

Even announcers feel the difference. At the Senior and U20 Championships, the announcer explained that Roster has reduced the need to read out lengthy results over the microphone:

"I can just tell people to look on the Roster App!"

Speeding up seeding

Roster’s seeding functionality allows the official to select the appropriate seeding procedure from a drop‑down menu, with heats seeded automatically - saving a huge amount of time and chance of human error.

Once seeded, the information can be shared instantly with the Call Room, announcer, photofinish team and track referee, provided they have access to a tablet or laptop. In the Call Room itself, any last-minute corrections to bib numbers or athlete details can be made quickly and without delaying competitors.

Keeping tabs on the times

Timekeepers also benefit from Roster’s real-time data flow. At the SEAA Senior and U20 Championships, Timekeepers' Steward Jane Pattle explained:

"I can quickly check on Roster how many heats there are for the next race, see the finish times from photofinish almost immediately and can cross check the times recorded by each timekeeper."

Where digital devices are used, tablets are particularly popular thanks to their larger screens - enabling officials to verify results with just a glance.

A more connected future

Overall, Roster has dramatically reduced paperwork, improved the speed and accuracy of information sharing, and created a more inclusive experience for everyone involved. Officials work more efficiently, athletes stay better informed, coaches gain real-time insights and spectators feel more connected to the action.

The SEAA’s experience with Roster points clearly toward a future where athletics events are smarter, smoother and more connected than ever before.

With many thanks to all the officials at these SEAA Championships who took the time to give their opinions and contribute to this article. Note The North of England AA and England Athletics are also using Roster. Midlands Counties AA has been using a similar system 'E4Sport' for a number of years.