We’re publishing personal accounts by some of the officials who support our Track and Field Competitions. They’re ordinary people who volunteer to ensure our athletes can compete safely and fairly.

If you want to be part of the team, please email Carol Wright ([email protected]), or volunteer to help on a competition day.

Noel Moss

Noel (LHS) officiating at the London Paralympics

My children joined C&C in 1984, and when I went with them to an EYAL match I was asked if I could help with the long jump with some of the club coaches. I helped out on that day and thought that if I was going to help the club, I had better learn to do it properly.

In those days, there was a tutored course followed by an exam, after which I was a first-level qualified official. I found it quite enjoyable and a good break from the day job, and when the county association wanted help, I started assisting at the county championships and quickly qualified to the next level as a County Official.

Because I enjoyed it as a hobby, I was then able to become a regional official and then, after another exam and some reports, I became a national official. The culmination of that was judging at the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

I’m still judging at the age of 80, now mainly at club and local level, and I still enjoy it.

It has provided me with new friends all over the country and is a relaxing hobby which fitted nicely in with work because it is mainly at weekends.

The initial courses are online nowadays, and there are no exams at lower levels so you can stay at home and qualify very easily.

Not everyone would necessarily want to go to the higher levels, but in doing so, I met a lot of top field event athletes such as Steve Backley, Dalton Grant, Greg Rutherford etc.

C&C and the Cambridgeshire Athletic Association depend on volunteer officials, and without them, the league events and championships could not take place. If it hadn’t been for my children and C&C, I would almost certainly have missed the chance to do something I love.

Give it a go – you can stay at whatever level suits you, and who knows, you might enjoy it.

Above all it’s helping young people to progress at the sport and achieve their ambitions, which is really important. 

It all starts with helping out at club level. 

Steve Green

After spending most of my ’serious’ competing time in athletics on the track, becoming a field official was a nice way for me to get some variety and re-acquaint myself with some events I did as a young athlete.

I like being outside ‘in the weather’ (usually nice – athletics is a summer sport, after all!) and officiating is a good way to do this with a purpose. It gives our young athletes opportunities to compete, which will help them grow and potentially stay with them for life.

I got a lot out of athletics when I was younger, so I feel it’s important to help keep the sport going and give the current generation of young athletes the same opportunities I had.

Get involved to meet people, get up close to the sport and the joy, pain and pride of the athletes as they compete against each other and themselves!