Dear Officials,
I am new to the role of VP Personnel, and it has been a quiet transition. We just recently had our first Strategic planning meeting in Calgary for the Board. I am excited to help with the planning of our future.
But today is about you, the Officials. 2015 was the most amazing year in Athletics as far as competitions go. The top meets in Canada, happened here, and they happened all summer. Those meets would not have happened or even been possible, without you, the Officials. I must say that you all stepped up huge, and made us very proud, as a Province. Every event was covered, and although most of you were probably quite tired by the end, you still filled your roles, volunteered your time, and did so in a friendly and professional way. You did Alberta and yourselves proud. Congratulations.
But in my role as coach, I would also like to commend you, the officials, on how you handled the day to day normal meets throughout the year. For the young or novice athletes, no matter what their age, competition is a huge and scary thing. This year, I found our officials to be more patient and encouraging to the athletes. Competitions became less of stress to them as there was always an official, willing to help out or share their knowledge with our athletes. This means a lot to the athletes but also to the coaches, who can do the job of coaching and not deal with athletes terrified by officials talking to them. You have become educators as well. You are the ambassadors of our competitions and play a huge role in athlete development on the competition side. I saw many more happy faces at the end of the competitions this year, than ever before. Once again thank you.
I hope that you have an excellent day and year, and I look forward to seeing you all at the next track meet, which by the way is not that long from now.
Thank you,
Christine Laverty
Athletics Alberta
VP Personnel
Read the rest of the December Bulletin 2015.
IAAF Rule Changes and Updates
