A look back on the last 12 months of the Technical Official Program in NSW
2023-2024 was another busy season for our technical team. Fifty AusTriathlon Technical Officials (TOs) officiated at open sanctioned multi-sport events in NSW over the 2023-24 season keeping races safe and fair.
Let’s look at the numbers more closely. Forty-six NSW Triathlon officials attended 43 commercial events this season. Some were available for a couple while others did over ten events. Our team members travelled to events all over NSW like Kingscliff, Port Macquarie, Wollongong, Hillston, Orange, the Snowy Mountains and of course Forster for Club Champs to name a few. Some races only needed one official while bigger events like IM Australia needed a team of twenty officials. We looked after beginners to pros and kids to retirees. Everyone and anyone likes to be a part of triathlon.
Six officials came from interstate to help at NSW events whilst twelve NSW officials headed to events in Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania to further develop their skills. Three of our senior officials were appointed to lead roles at World Triathlon events in Australia and New Zealand. One of these events was the World Triathlon World Cup Wollongong where we saw a team of over 30 International and National TOs work together to run the Elite races.
In Australia we have 3 levels of AusTriathlon accreditation. The top level is an Australian Technical Official (ATO) and we congratulate three of our TOs who were awarded this level during the season by AusTriathlon. The next level is Regional Technical Official (RTO) and we were pleased to accredit one of our officials. The starting level is a Local Technical Official and this season sixteen candidates completed Module 10 of the Local Technical Official (LTO) course, either online or at a face-to-face session. Nine of our candidates have gone on and completed their practical sessions to receive full LTO accreditation, while the rest have the chance to do their practical component early next season.
Continuing development of our officials is an important part of their growth. Six of our LTO level officials were challenged by getting their first opportunity in a senior role, giving them an insight to the pathways ahead. Each were assigned a phone-a-friend who was available to answer questions and give guidance when it was sought. We encourage all officials to participate in a mentee/mentor relationship so they have someone to chat with and discuss their journey, and as their interests in officiating change they are welcome to change mentors too.
Each month we circulate a newsletter to keep our officials up to date on what’s happening as well as reminders of safe behaviour and the craft of officiating. In January we had a special guest speaker at our Annual Forum. Lyndell Murray, an ATO from Queensland, shared her journey in officiating from a local official all the way to being the Triathlon Head Referee at the Paris Olympics this year, encouraging us to say Yes to opportunities. At the forum we also celebrated the contributions of officials who have volunteered for 5, 10, 15 and 20 years with a Years of Service pin and certificate.
Our 2023-24 season is now over but we have already started planning 2024-25! It might not be until later next year, but we are very excited that NSW is hosting the World Triathlon Grand Final in Wollongong October 2025.
Please don’t forget to say Hi to an official at a race and ask questions if you aren’t sure about something or if you would like some information on how to become a technical official. Alternatively, please feel free to contact me at sue.horsburgh@nsw.triathlon.org.au. There is a reason so many of us enjoy this job.
