What is the role of the events team at an England Athletics Championships?
Ahead of this weekend's Age Group Combined Events and Para Championships, let's look behind the scenes at what makes such championships possible. Lots of the work is completed by our events team, headed up by Nichola Skedgel, Competition and Partnerships Manager. We caught up with her following our Age Group Indoor Championships to find out more about the role of the events team in the lead up to, during and after a championships.
The importance of feedback
"After each event we have, we get feedback from coaches, athletes and officials. We then appraise that feedback and alter the event to see how it can be improved. Sometimes we will make changes and then the event day is really to see whether those changes have made a difference."
At the recent Age Group Indoor Championships, changes were made to increase the size of the warm up area following previous feedback from athletes.
"Part of our role during the weekend was to look at that area to see if it is working by assessing whether we have the right signage, are the athletes enjoying the area and is the coaches’ feedback good. To be honest, that’s worked really well for us, so that’s a big tick.
"Again, after this event we’ll go back through the feedback, see what people are saying and then if any other changes need to be made then we’ll look and work with the venue to see how we can execute that for next year."
As well as gathering feedback from the people attending the event, the events team themselves will walk round to ensure there are no problems, but also to review how different areas and parts of the event are working to help plan and improve for future events.
"Sometimes you might just see us stood there and we might look like we’re staring into space, but we’re not. We’re looking at each area to see what the flow is like, what the reaction is to medal ceremonies or the officials walk out, it could be anything to do with event presentation, the announcements, we could be listening in to the sound system. We’re listening to see how it’s going and whether it can be improved."
"We can do walk rounds and it can be as silly as an area asking for a bin. So, we’ll look to obviously make that happen on the day, but then in our notes when we’re reviewing the event, we’ll make sure that area has a bin the next time."
Ensuring the timetable runs smoothly
Vicky Griffiths, Team Operations Manager, oversees everything athlete-related both in the lead up and during a championship event. Her role is to ensure that the athletes get all the information they need and have a positive competition experience.
"The team led by Vicky work closely with the officials over the event weekend regarding the timetable, delays, getting any information out to athletes, or if there are any athlete withdrawals. They also check the results on Roster for the field events to make sure they’re all ok before they are published online."
The support of volunteers
Without the support from a team of volunteers, it would not be possible for the events team to execute the championship events. The team of volunteers at the Age Group Indoor Championships comprised of England Athletics staff, students from Sheffield Hallam University and all the officials.
"These guys volunteer their time for us and spend their time on things like medal ceremonies, coach accreditation and spectator entry. This allows the events team time to troubleshoot and really evaluate the event. All the officials are volunteers as well, so the number of volunteers it takes to run these competitions should not be underestimated."
"As soon as the competition starts, we hand over field of play to the officials; they’re the ones with the expert knowledge. They handle everything on that field of play, so for us it's just handling and working with anything that we need to do outside of that field of play."
Go behind the scenes with other staff roles at the England Athletics Indoor Age Group Championships.